What era was this house built?

[Ruskie]

Agree with Ruskie although I've never been to Manchester but very 'Coronation Street' i.e. building original but moving with the times on windows & door.

Love those old buildings but not as much as the much older type 

Annie

A bit posher than Corrie Annie. These have a front garden, hedges etc whereas the houses in Coronation St are right on the road.  I agree though - you can't beat the character of old houses. I love them (but I also prefer them with their original windows and doors) 

If you look at google street view or the old maps you can see that the houses around Cowper St have a yard at the back, presumably front door into hall with a front room off the hall, reception room behind that, kitchen directly ahead  of the front door, with a door opening to the back yard which contained an outhouse, coal store (or similar). From the front door, hallway, straight upstairs to landing, with maybe a box room at the front of the house and two bedrooms, and a bathroom off the landing .... or maybe that description is for a slightly larger terrace house?

Please ignore the old-maps link on my previous post (it is wrong). This one should work:
https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/388780/405480/12/100674

If you have the family living there in the 1911 census this will tell you how many rooms they have and should help with your impression of the house.

I wonder if the housing was built for the mill workers? Seem to be lots of mills in the vicinity.

[Rosinish]

Ruskie...I was meaning the brickwork look 

No houses like that where I am as I live in a 'New Town'...not so new now of course 

Annie

[Ruskie]

Ah yes, definitely the red brick - very nice is is too. I am not sure what that pebble dash area is under the window of the OP's house - I had a bit of a look on google street view but couldn't see any others with the same.

[rosie99]

If you look at google street view or the old maps you can see that the houses around Cowper St have a yard at the back, presumably front door into hall with a front room off the hall, reception room behind that, kitchen directly ahead  of the front door, with a door opening to the back yard which contained an outhouse, coal store (or similar). From the front door, hallway, straight upstairs to landing, with maybe a box room at the front of the house and two bedrooms, and a bathroom off the landing .... or maybe that description is for a slightly larger terrace house?

My grandparents lived in a similar house built between 1901 & 1911 but the 'bathroom' was downstairs.  I suspect there was no bath as such though as I recall a tin bath before a proper bathroom was installed in the 1950's.  The toilet was outside

[Ruskie]

Yes Rosie, I think I was thinking of a slightly larger terrace in my suggested layout of the rooms in this house. 

I did look at the back of the houses across the road from 5 Cowper St (because you can't see the back of 5 Cowper St from Google Streetview). From looking at the maps we know that the houses opposite 5 Cowper were built slightly earlier than the row where No 5 is situated. I believe the houses are the same though - probably built to the same plan. Looking down the back alley you can see the backs of the houses, and what is most likely a bathroom window at the back. So I assume that was originally bathroom when the houses were built.

I would have expected to see sash windows on houses of that era however it looks like all of the houses in Cowper and surrounding streets have the 60s looking windows with the narrow bit at the top and the large fixed pane at the bottom. The windows at 5 Laurel St caught my eye - they look authentic and would explain the fact that there are no 50/50 split style sash windows (even replacement ones) on any houses in the vicinity).

Regarding the doors, I think there is an original on the house round the corner at 59 Mills Hill Road. This is the only one I have found (so far).

Rubymelia, if you can imagine those features on your house at No 5, I think that is how it would have looked when your relatives lived there. 

[heywood]

Usually the bathrooms are later additions and are taken from part of a bedroom.

[Ruskie]

Usually the bathrooms are later additions and are taken from part of a bedroom.

Yes, that is true, and the same is happening today to add extra bathrooms and ensuites. How times have changed. An indoor bathroom used to be a luxury - these days two bathrooms are expected and an ensuite per bedroom is not unheard of. 

[Chilternbirder]

I'm not sure if this link will work, but that row of houses is not there in 1909, though others in the vicinity are:
https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/392500/404500/12/100674

(that area was undeveloped (no houses were removed to build it) so the one you see today must be the house they lived in - it would have been brand new in 1911)

I wouldn't always rely on the OS for that degree of accuracy unless you have a full survey. My parents' house (built 1953) still wasn't shown in updates from the 1960s

[medpat]

Very like the area in the Midlands where I lived, houses built late 1890s to WW1. Ours had a date of 1898.

Know they were built prior to WW1 as a bomb was dropped nearby, from a Zeppelin, and many had minor damage (including ours).