[c0l0]

Living in a city in Europe in a very decent apartment in a building that was erected in the 1880s (sic), this article made me chuckle - but also feel bad about how the throwaway society of the 21st century has extended even to things that are supposed to last.

[freefaler]

I live in a house that is at least 110 years old, built around the time Australia became a federation. The house has been repainted and extended several times, but it still has 3.5-meter-high ceilings, ventilation holes with intricate metal bars, and a lot of original details.

Even though the house is really old, it has been taken care of. There is no mold, the doors are still the same original ones, the fireplaces with decorative tiles are still there, and the wooden fireplace parts are still in good condition. I don't know how they did it, but it was built rather well.

Interesting tidbit: on the ceiling there was something like a Star of David. After asking LLMs what it was, one of them said that when Australia became a country, the Federation Star had only six points, denoting the newly incorporated states, but later a seventh point was added. Gemini told me that the frieze details were typical for the 1901-1910 period, and this helped me date the house.

This took about 10 minutes. Before, it would probably have taken me at least several hours of Googling.

[loloquwowndueo]

Did you then Google to corroborate that history LLMs told you with actual references? They could well be confidently wrong as they always are.

[freefaler]

I did, and also it matches what I know from history on how the flag of AU has changed so it matched several facts I knew already. Also mentioned 2 of the producers of freezes and etc in the city back during that time and I've found a some images from their catalog online.

[arethuza]

"Even though the house is really old"

Apart from a brief spell when I was very young and my family lived in a 1950s council house I've never lived in a building as new as that... and I'm 60 and have lived in 11 different properties. But that's the UK and Edinburgh for you...

Edit: Never had any mould problems but then again most of the places I lived had draughty sash windows...

[ranzhh]

Same, the building my apartment is in was built in the 16th century. It holds up great, and I certainly am not a paragon of maintenance.

The only issues are zoning laws which apparently prevent us from fixing "mundane" things - such as the windows making you feel like the people in the square below are actually in your living room. I wish that wasn't the case.

[justbees]

I lived in an apt in Brooklyn for 5 years, a brownstone built in 1931, and I never saw a single roach (they also never raised the rent).

1. we kept it very clean 2. the owners/landlords lived in the building with their children

Thank you "Monika landlord"! (that's how she signed the Christmas cards she would give us - yes, I know how lucky we got)

[mikeocool]

I don’t think you go lucky — renting from small landlords who live in/near building is the way to avoid this. In my experience, say the word “leak” they’ll be there in 10 minutes. And good tenants have value to them.

At two years with a corporate landlord, they’ve done the math and see they can cheaply renovate your apartment, jack up the rent, and make more money than they can by renewing you.

Small landlords also haven’t built software to collude with each other to raise prices.

[user_7832]

Yeah, similar. The place I was in in the Netherlands was a converted office building (originally made iirc in the 1960s or 70s) but refurbished to apartments post the turn of the century.

In the many years I lived there... the place was pretty much identical. Sure, it'd probably need a deep clean for the (faux?) wooden floor that gets dirt into the crevices... but that's it?

Even back home in India, we've lived in buildings made around the 1990s iirc. They're perfectly fine, and apart from outdated floor plans, there's nothing problematic about their age at all.

Though, I just remembered one thing. In India, everything is made of concrete, and even in NL, beyond the outer concrete walls, the inner walls - even though often drywall-like - are very "high quality". They're extremely soundproof and fireproof (the latter of which I unfortunately learnt post a fellow neighbour's fire. Their room was burnt down to the bedframe, the neighbours were just fine. Never leave your cooking unattended, folks!)

[Pay08]

Can't say I share your experience. I lived in a house built sometime in the 18th century and mold, leaks, and ants were all issues.