Have you seen this house - Aranwen in Bronwydd Arms/Pentre Morgan, near Carmarthen and perhaps thinking of taking a look or even making an offer? Then perhaps, you should think again!! I spent seven years living there and here are some of the serious things you need to look into.
1. Where’s the sun?
Catching sunshine at the house is not a common situation, at any time of the year. Now this is not because it’s Wales but because of the house’s location.
You see in winter you’ll barely see the sun and it’s not great in summer either. Even when the rest of Carmarthen is basking in that rare winter sunshine, Aranwen does not. You’ll drive around the corner from a sunny Cymdwyfran and into shadow and that’s pretty much what you’ll get from September to March/April. Trust me, it will seriously make you feel miserable.
Then come summer, the sun arises and stays over to the right, just above the trees. About 11:00am, it creeps over the roof top and shines down to the back garden. That is until about 15:00 when it disappears around the back of that single tree in the rear field for half an hour or so. That is until 17:30 when it disappears behind the top of the valley at which point you’ll go in again as it gets cold. You’re definitely not sipping evening margueritas on the patio - that’s for sure.
2. Do you like being cold?
The lack of meaningful direct sunlight through the year and the fact that the house is just cold, means you’ll need the heating on almost continuously from early November to at least mid-April. Even then, in Spring, you’ll struggle to be comfortable warm and will put the heating on intermittently.
In fact, in winter, even with the heating on, you’ll still feel cold and you’ll be going to bed with at least two layers on. Indeed, the house itself won’t really warm up until mid-July/ early August.
3. Make sure you have a tumble dryer
Because you’ll use it, even when the sun’s out, especially if there are a few of you in the house. Even in summer you get so little sun that drying clothes naturally is a real challenge.
And for god’s sake don’t put wet washing on radiators, if you value your health. Even those heating airers don’t work very well in this environment - yes we’ve tried.
4. Do you like water? You’d better!
Take a look at the field behind the house and imagine the water coming down the hill straight through the garden. There was drainage on the field but the people who own it, just left it and now it’s destroyed.
You’ll be able to enjoy a nice running stream down the garden path as well as flooding on the left hand side of the garden, turning it into a swamp. You’ll also be walking through an inch to two inches of water on the bottom path outside the back door. And with the amount of water coming down, you have to question the integrity of that retaining wall.
The drain for the washing machine, which is located near the rear garage door, doesn’t soakaway. Run the washer and all that waste water will pool on the path and it takes hours to dissipate.
5. Walk on the patio, take your life in your hands
All of the edging flagstones are dangerously loose, put your weight on them and you’ll fall. They can be cemented back in place, but that water running through the garden will loosen them again - it’s just a matter of time.
6. That’s a nice chimney. When will it fall in?
Ever since moving into the house, the chimney has done nothing but leak and I mean leak. It makes some of the kitchen cupboards stink, and it’s also run under the lounge carpet and made that smell too.
Because rain has soaked the entire chimney stack for years, it has seriously compromised the brickwork. We were told it risked collapsing into the house and needed taking down. Painting the outside did nothing to fix the integrity of the internal stack.
7. Bulging and cracked lounge ceiling
Look closely at the ceiling and you’ll notice where damp has blown it and cracked it too, most notably in the far and near right hand corners. At some point they are going to fall in. Oh and check the far left too for the crack that's showing up there
8. It’s damp and mouldy
Precious little sun and lots of water make the house really damp and as a result you’ll see damp in every room. Hang clothes up anywhere but the fitted wardrobes and they’ll soon start showing mould blooms.
It really is a health concern and I would recommend you thoroughly check this out, especially if you have kids.
9. Broken soffits, facias and scurrying feet
Check the soffit and facia boards as these were supposed to have been replaced in 2019 but never have been. There were bats in the space above the garage and later the scurrying of not so tiny feet as rats were using the loft as a home from home.
10. And finally, the gardens
Plant flowers and don’t consider using them as usable lawns. The back garden gets waterlogged and the slope precludes most leisure activity. Kids will just fall and hurt themselves.
Overall
You buy this place then make sure that either the fixable issues are actually fixed beforehand or that you get the place for a song and are prepared to splash out between £20k and £40k to fix it.
But no matter what you do and how much you spend, you still can’t move the sun or remove the trees. It’s always going to be a house in the shadows.