Chatting to a neighbour (who shall remain anonymous), I discover that her house is considerably older than she thought it was when she bought it. She knew it was old - maybe 18th century or so. But having looked it over thoroughly and burrowed through some of the paperwork, she thinks that parts of it are 15th century, or possibly even earlier.
So, she checked her insurance. And found that insuring very, very old houses is really rather expensive and difficult. It seems likely that at least the last two owners of the place have been a little discreet about its age, at least in public. She plans to follow their example.
I wonder how many other houses this applies to.
So, she checked her insurance. And found that insuring very, very old houses is really rather expensive and difficult. It seems likely that at least the last two owners of the place have been a little discreet about its age, at least in public. She plans to follow their example.
I wonder how many other houses this applies to.
- Current Mood:
cheerful
Comments
I was mostly amused by her being almost as annoyed as interested that the place was older than she had thought.
All relative, of course; when I studied in Rome I lived in the "new" apartment building in the piazza, the one built in the 1700s. Everything else had 2000 year old basements. Nothing like spending your evening smoking in a support vault of Pompey's Theatre to really put your lousy essay in perspective...
During a working day, I like stuff to be more turn-off-and-onable.
A lot of the lanes around here are probably even older - Iron Age - but I don't think you get quite the same feeling of 'Whoa! This is OLD!' from a lane, particularly when it's almost impossible to tell the Iron Age ones from the 19th century ones!
Although if she doesn't / didn't* tell the insurance company, making a claim could be difficult.
And found that insuring very, very old houses is really rather expensive and difficult.
God, I wonder what buildings cover costs for Belvoir Castle. And all the other buildings that are owned by the estate.
I wonder how many other houses this applies to.
I would guess a small but non-trivial proportion of houses have old bits in them.
*I'm not quite sure what position she is in.
This is a house with double glazing and central heating, so it may well be 15th century in a 'my grandfather's axe' kind of way anyway.