Woman sells home she’s lived in for 102 years – which her family bought for £200

A 104-year-old woman is selling the house she has lived in since she was two years old – when her family bought it for £200.

Nancy “Joan” Gifford was born months after the end of the First World War and spent 102 years living in a three-bedroom house in the Somerset village of Street.

She is now putting it on the market, having lived in it through the Second World War, the invention of television and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Her family bought the house for £200 in 1921 and it is now priced at £169,950.

According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, £200 in 1921 would be worth £7,750 today.

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‘Everyone was happy’

Mrs Gifford’s son John, 79, still lives in Street.

He said: “When I was a youngster, there were so many lovely families that lived along the road, and we all knew each other.

“The times we had as children were fantastic, going across the fields, jumping over ditches, bird nesting, and swimming in the rivers – so many things children don’t do these days.

“Back in the day most children our age knew everybody, and we all had an open house, and it was fine to leave your door on the latch. We were all poor, but everyone was happy.”

According to the estate agent, the house was built in 1882 and originally featured a communal well for the entire road.

When Mrs Gifford moved in as a two-year-old, the toilet and wash area was exposed to the elements, and a tin bath hung on the wall outside.

The area has since been covered and had a new kitchen installed, but much of the house remains the same.

Mrs Gifford is selling the house and moving to a nursing home in nearby Glastonbury because of her health.

Source : Sky News : https://news.sky.com/story/woman-sells-home-shes-lived-in-for-102-years-which-her-family-bought-for-163200-12839334