Now you see it........

You can easily pass by this front door, a fairly typical one to be found in a terraced street from the inter-war period, in this case from 1926, without a second thought as to what lies behind it or what stories it could tell of its succession of owners and occupiers.

One remarkable thing is that the door is all original having escaped ripping out and replacement with, in the 1970's a hideous aluminium fitting in a hardwood surround (Damn you, Everest Double Glazing) or more recently a fairly plain and featureless UPVC equivalent.

It is in a classic 1920's style with leaded and stained glass inserts and a look of solidity and security but at the same time being welcoming and homely.

Of course, the door glass can be easily broken if anyone is minded to do so and the slim wooden panels either side of the door will run wet in the winter from condensation.

If you look closely the whole frame is just that little bit out of alignment which can be attributed to early years settlement or, in this location in Hull, East Yorkshire, wartime damage.

Just inside the door are some wonderful door chimes, wired up and ready to announce visitors with a sonorous tone.

I seem to remember that my Grandparents may have had similar at their 1930's built house.

None of these multi-tune, populist anthem type chimes or synthetic electro- sounds but a good and melodious resonance that would make opening the door very exciting.

Off the hallway is a large glazed door.


This will have been a later alteration from the original solid panelled doors and probably regarded as quite high-tec and progressive at the time.

Of course, the glazing is very hazardous being of a non-safety grade type.

Another potential hazard by our present day perceptions includes lead paint which was widely used well into the 1960's.

A further door from the hallway leads to the
bathroom, the only one in the house.

It is a small room and in many similar houses has reverted to a living room with sanitary facilities relocated to the more preferred first floor position.

This door features an original leaded and stained glass panel.

The bath is really heavy cast iron and enamelled finished, the sort that could take all of the family in one sitting.

This one is in really good condition with no staining or chipped enamel, actually as good as new.

The splashbacks and tiles are also unblemished but such fittings and finishes are usually the first to go under new ownership.

It seems a bit strange following on with a living room after a bathroom but they are, after all, next to each other although not so aligned as to be able to sit in the tub and be warmed by the open fireplace or get a glimpse of the television.

The surround is more post war in style but again beautifully preserved and giving no indication that it will have been in use just about every day over the lifetime of the house.

The living room bay windows have kept their wooden frames and distinctive leaded glazing.

Looking closer, the small and fragile panes have fractured in places and under the influence of alternate heat and cooling there is quite a distortion to the upper light.

Amazingly, the window as with most of the others, is fully operational.

This kitchen unit will have been much admired by callers to the house.

A large combined unit, it will have been built as a DIY project by the man of the house or through a commission of a local joiner.

Nothing else is really required by way of storage with the upper lockers for dry goods, the sliding display cabinet for crockery and the shelving below for tins and all of the other domestic utensils, pots and pans.

This particular unit remains in authentic paintwork and is still well suited to everyday use.

On a brightish March day the roundels of coloured glass give an almost mystic illumination in the rooms of the house.

In the rest of the rooms much of the original decor is retained including dado and picture rails, Lincrusta papering and beneath the carpets quite a few layers of canvas or linoleum, lining sheets and old newspapers from the last forty years or so.

The house will, when built in 1926, have been more likely a rental than owned as letting was, in that era, the dominant form of occupation.

The Title Deed for the property refers to the developers and financiers as The Alexandra Land, Property, Mortgage and Investment Company and The Minerva Land, Building and Mortgage Co Ltd.


I may have gone a bit gooey-eyed at discovering this property today but I very rarely come across one in such a well maintained and preserved condition.

I am not so naive as to think that the almost museum like status will be preserved and indeed the people for whom I was inspecting the property had big plans to just eradicate anything old and give the whole place a modern and contemporary feel.

Perhaps I am guilty of seeing everything through rose tinted glasses- as they say.

That red stained glass gives a good effect.