The centenarian who has lived in the same house for 100 years

There was only one place for Dorothy Loveless to celebrate her 100th birthday: the Somerset cottage in which she was born and has lived ever since.

When Miss Loveless, a shepherd’s daughter, first graced the living room of the three-bedroomed house in Closworth on November 5, 1907, there was no bathroom, electricity or running water, and only a fire for heating. She added a bathroom in the 1960s and central heating ten years ago but her home is essentially unchanged.



Miss Loveless occupied the cottage through two world wars, and the deaths of her parents and her siblings. She has no intention of moving. “I have had some good times and some bad times in this house, but I try to remember all the good times,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to spend my 100th birthday anywhere else.”

“I just wish that all my siblings were still around and could celebrate with me but I have plenty of friends and my neighbours have all visited. I miss the noise and the laughter but at least I have the memories.”

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