One great-grandmother is selling off her family home that she’s lived in for 102 after her parents bought it for £200 back in the 1920s.
Nancy ‘Joan’ Gifford is celebrating her 104th birthday today, March 21, by putting her beloved terraced house on the market - over a century after she moved in.
Nancy has lived in the three-bed property through the Great Depression, Second World War, the space race, the first man on the Moon, the invention of TV, the discovery of Tutankhamun, the new millennia, invention of the internet, the Covid pandemic and more.
Her family first bought the property in Street, Somerset, 1921, when she was a baby, and they paid just £200 for it.
Today it’s on sale for £169,950 and the widow has decided to move out to St Benedict’s Nursing Home, in Glastonbury, due to declining health.
When Nancy moved in as a two-year-old with her parents, the kitchen, toilet, and wash area were all exposed to the elements and a tin bath hung on the wall outside.
In the century since then, the house has been improved, walls have been built, the kitchen modernised and an extension added.
Growing up, Nancy went to the Convent School, in Glastonbury, and was taught by nuns and it was here she met her future husband.
This happened in the mid-1930s when she was walking out with friends and future partner Bert, whistled at her - an encounter that later blossomed into marriage.
During their time together at the end-terrace house, Nancy and Bert got married at the start of the Second World War in 1939.
This was before Bert was sent to Scarborough to train as a radio operator but Nancy would spend most of her weekends making the long journey from the now defunct Glastonbury Train Station, to the north coast to visit him.
During the war, the family took in Sylvia, an evacuee from London, who grew up with Nancy and the pair remain in contact to this day.
Nancy and Bert had two children, including son John who still lives in the village with his wife Sue and daughter Mary.
After returning from the war, Bert spent 42 years working at the Clark’s Factory in Street as Nancy worked there too as a stitcher for the world famous shoe maker.
She would later take up part time work in a nearby pub and cake shop, before going onto work in the closing room at Morland’s Sheepskin Factory, in Glastonbury.
She was also a member of the Glastonbury Cycling Club and women’s group at the nearby Baptist Church.
Remembering his childhood at the house, Mrs Gifford’s son John told SomersetLive: “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.”
The home, first built in 1882, originally featured a communal well for the entire road.
Jack Bartram, the manager of Holland and Odam in Street, who's selling the property, said: “Buying and selling houses is the day job for us, but every so often you stumble across a wonderful story, and Mrs Gifford’s is one of those.
“There aren’t many who live to the great age of 104, let alone have lived in the same house for 102 years. That house must hold so many lovely memories for Mrs Gifford and her family, but now, after more than a century, it’s time for another family to make some memories.”
The property’s description reads: “Available for the first time in over 102 years! This much loved Victorian end of terrace home enjoys three generous bedrooms, two reception rooms and offers the potential for prospective buyers to refurbish to their own requirements. No onward chain.”
