I think that use of the pole-lathe relies on the woood being green and sappy. Doesn't furniture made on one of these tend to warp with time? I can imagine all the chair-legs falling out...

Back to the main point of this thread, I remember once going to an auction of an old and decrepit farmhouse with a friend. We looked round very circumspectly, 'cos there was a 6-inch gap between the edge of the floor and the wall where subsidence had caused movement. "Hmmm," said my friend, "I should avoid this place if I were you: it'll need tons of bodging-paste to make it good."