Old Nail?

Exciting to see a nail sticking out of the trim. This helps prove the trim detail is original.

Moving Day

7:00 AM: It has warmed up to 14 degrees a little windy but the sun is out. It could definitely be worse. We hired professional movers to take care of all the heavy stuff and get as much as possible into the 24’ moving truck. We were told that for a 3bed 2 bath 1600 Sq. Ft. bath home everything should fit in a 24’ truck and take three hours to load and two hours to unload based on history. Well that was before we they moved us. 4 hours later the truck was completely full and there was still enough stuff counting the contents of garage and garden shed to do a second trip. Luckily we were only moving 1 ½ miles away and had several weeks before the tenant would be moving into our existing house.
My sister, brother-n-law and their two kids came to help us and watch Eli while we packed furiously. They came over the day before to help pack and my brother-n-law came to the new house to help me do some work. We needed to replace several supply lines as the house was empty for about two years with the water shut-off; so seals and valve seats had become hard and brittle and developed leaks. The downstairs toilet flapper needed to be replaced as it would not seal at all. We replaced the vintage upstairs toilet with an inexpensive new one as I did not trust the copper lined wooden tank. (I am storing this toilet to be re-installed after a restoration someday) The shower in the parlor bathroom area drain had been leaking into the basement so I just removed the shower nozzle and capped it off as our plan is to abandon the shower on this floor anyway and it is not likely to have been original to the home. This got the house mostly functioning for living in. The boiler was not yet operational. This was Sunday and the previous owner had removed the space heaters (after the house recorded at the county) on Friday. I had oil delivered on Saturday and the fill guy said he would get the boiler going for me as I had it tested as part of the inspection and it worked then. He tried and tried but it would not keep running as he said there was air in the lines from having the oil tank pumped empty and cleaned before adding fresh oil. After a half hour of trying to bleed the system he gave up and left I shrugged it off as I had technician coming out on Tuesday anyway to service the boiler. We would just have to bundle up without heat on the main floor and basement (remember there are electric wall units in the bedrooms upstairs)
Back to moving. The movers showed up after having lunch (and not disappearing as I had feared) and began to bring in our contents into the even colder house as the door was constantly open. First step was to set-up my sons room so he would have a place to sleep and then set-up our bedroom. Problem #1 our queen box spring would not go up the stairs as the stairs made a 180 degree turn a few steps up. Problem #2 the tall dresser we have would not make that corner either. The movers were getting clearly exhausted and we opted to put it in the parlor for now and figure out a solution later. Some other unfortunate incidents happened during the move-in. My antique safe that I had acquired from an estate sale had to be brought up several steps from the street to get in the front door. First the movers hooked straps to it and tried lifting it they got it up but one of them could not keep it up. (He was the bigger guy too) so they heaved it on a dolly and tried pushing it up the steps. No go; so they asked for help from me and my brother-n-law. The two of us pulling and the two movers pushing we made it up the steps into the house but a section of the brick steps lost its hold and collapsed, which made for fun navigating future boxes up the steps. The next mishap was my vintage refrigerator that I had modified into the “beer fridge”. This unit was also pretty heavy they had no trouble carrying it with straps but it would not go down the basement steps from the kitchen so it would have to go down the steps to the basement from outside. The steps down were too narrow for the fridge to go down so the next solution was to lift it down from above (without their straps) bypassing the steps. The weight of the fridge was just too much for these lads and the fridge came crashing down from an estimated drop of 4’ denting the door and tweaking the door frame so it would not seal anymore. After up righting and squeezing it through the door I plugged it in and what do you know it still works. One of our filing cabinets was basically destroyed I have no idea how that happened. The movers finished up, we wrote them a check and I wondered if proper etiquette says you should give a tip. Call me a bastard but they didn’t get one after busting our stuff.
The house now with just the three of us all exhausted sitting on our sofa with no heat and no resemblance of a feeling of home other then the sofa itself gave us an unsettling feeling. This was rectified quickly by a trip to get some Chinese take-out and some friends came by for some needed counsel. The house with all the doors shut warmed up to an even 48 degrees. A tad better then outside which was in the teens. We went to bed and hoped the pipes didn’t freeze.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the house. Most of these were taken during showings and off the listing ad.

This is a picture we got off the county records from 1974. This picture best illustrates the style of the home and is actually the best shot I have as the mature landscaping blocks most of the view as the below pictures will show.

To give an idea for scale the front door is 4’ wide.

Southside showing the brick detail and windows with the Southside porch covered in Ivy and trees growing into the roof. The bay windows are 7’ tall. The first several rows of brick are wider than the brick tapers in where the color changes.

Typical mature landscaping. Looks very rural for an urban environment, but perhaps not very safe as you can’t see in from the street. I’m sure a feature desired from previous owners.

Foyer. This gives the best image upon entry of the Arts and Crafts detail.

The living room ceiling with box beam ceilings and light fixtures. The main light fixture appears to be original.

The fireplace is a little ugly

The dining room built-in side-board. The mirror may not have been there originally and been a pass thru from the kitchen for serving and what not.

Stained glass windows facing the west. Not original; beautiful when the sun shines through them but makes the room very dark without the sun. Future plans of stripping the wallpaper and a brighter paint will help. I would just as well replace them with clear glass but I haven’t won that argument yet with my wife who wants to keep them a mute point since we can’t afford to replace them anyway.

Swinging door into the kitchen. Definitely original and surprised it has survived 102 years of swinging back in forth. The stained glass window is amazing although a little loose in the frame. One of the projects I will need to tackle right away so it does not fall out. Luckily the door can be propped open so we should be good for awhile. Anyone know what this door and hardware might be worth? (not that we would ever sell it)

Kitchen. Has taken on a 80’s transformation into a umm strange cooking area with a butlers style pantry for food storage with open cabinets that were not designed to hold anything bigger then a tall can of food. Cearal boxes must be place on their side to fit. Well planned Mr. Remodeler. One of the two reproductions ovens currently works and the range top while top of the line in its day works but just down exhausts into the basement closet. The brick surround while may have sounded good at the time just collects with food spoil-overs and absorbs into the brick pores. The lack of a place for a fridge and general choppiness of the layout is begging me to gut it and at least replace it with in-expensive cabinets and countertops.

Stair access from upstairs to the kitchen. Pretty quirky but a cool architectural element. This will have to stay no matter how we do the kitchen.

Parlor with small bathroom. This originally may been a hallway to the back porch. Or always a small bathroom we need to do more investigating here

Upstairs bedroom and Bathroom

Basement with Media area and telephone system (and neon)

A Description of the House

Nestled away in one of the downtown old neighborhoods was the hidden jewel. The house had been on the market for a while but unless you were looking it was hard to find. The yard, while beautifully landscaped at one time was now over grown. Standing in the street looking straight at the front door...literally all you could see was the front door. The lot is large – a double lot – not an every day occurrence in downtown neighborhoods. Overgrown ivy flanked the entry way and now tree-sized shrubs blocked the view of the large windows on either side of the porch. There was a brick path that curved around the house and a covered side entry that would be perfect for the porch swing my father had built for me many years ago.

We had been looking for a bigger home for some time. We had found a few that we liked but something was always missing. We (I) had three criteria for the next house...1) a formal dining room 2) an entry/foyer and 3) to be able get to the back yard for outdoor entertaining without having to walk through a garage.

The only other item we were always looking for was the perfect spot to place the antique sideboard that my husband had inherited from his mother. It is a great piece and was certainly one of the focal points in our current tiny living room. In looking at previous houses - even if they didn't meet my three criteria above - if there was a place for the sideboard - than the house had potential.

Well - the garage on this property was detached (1 down 2 to go).

When our realtor opened the front door - it was easy to see that the entry/foyer was a check too. I don't want to exaggerate but it was a grand entry. The front door was huge - there would be no problem moving big pieces of furniture inside. (Ok - so not to jump to the end of the story - but obviously we bought the place - right!?!??) So - I could just get out the tape measure and tell you the exact dimensions of the foyer but who has time for that - let me just say - it was bigger than the kitchen on our old house.) The ceilings were 12-foot ceilings (I could already see big Christmas trees in our future) and the woodwork detailing was awesome. Everything was a dark - espresso colored stain. There was a built-in bench in the front entry - perfect for putting on the little one's boots before running out to play! Now the one thing I noticed is that there is no closet for coats anywhere in sight...and I can tell you even with a closet close to the entry in our old house we never managed to ALWAYS put our coats away - so I can tell that not having a closet anywhere in sight is going to take a bit of getting use to.

To the right of the entry is the "study" or "parlor". It has a beautiful fireplace and great built in bookshelves on either side the front window. The window has a stained glass design of a lady and a star. We have seen a picture of the house taken in the 50s - so don't get too excited over the stained glass - at least this piece is not original...so eventually when it goes I won’t be to heart-broken...(just to throw in here - the stain glass is broken too). The study has dark burgundy wallpaper. It is period wallpaper - reproduction - not original. Ok - technically this is a strike - I spent hundreds of hours steaming wallpaper off the walls in the old house - this is not fun! There is carpet on the floor - beige with pink roses. Good news here - the sideboard is going to be perfect in this room - but will look a little dwarfed here - odd since it was always over powering in our tiny house.

In the back of the study is a tiny bathroom. Now according to the real estate posting for this house - the study is being marketed as the master suite...REALLY?!?!?! The bathroom is a mere closet with a shower, a toilet that when seated your knees touch the wall and a vanity that looks like a small antique dresser with a marble top and it literally is wall-to-wall in this tiny bathroom. It reminds me of the concept of building a ship in a bottle - not sure how they got it in there - and pretty sure the only way to get it out is to break the bottle - or the walls in case of this vanity. Now the study is "land locked" in the house - there is only one entry unless you decide to dive out the window...kind of makes for an odd flow...something to think about for the future.

Back to the entry - and opposite the study is the living room. This room has beautiful boxed beam/coffered ceilings. We can't tell for sure - but we are betting these are original. There is a beautiful leaded glass - diamond paned window and four other large floor-to-ceiling windows. The windows are great - but they are single pane and at this point the landscaping is so overgrown - they aren't offering anything in the way of a view. The stairwell leads off this room and there is a large fireplace. I wish I could say the fireplace is beautiful and we have later learned that it is some type of quartz - but really - all I am thinking when I see it - is WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!?!? (Flash forward here - still not a pretty fireplace - but it is pretty cool to see the stocking hung by the chimney with care for our first Christmas!)

The living is separated from the dining room by pocket doors. Ok - here is 3 out of 3 - a formal dining room. The dining has wanes coating and plate rail modeling. There are three dark red/yellow/orange stained glass windows with the most breath taking hand painted blue birds. There is a built-in china cabinet. (Ok another flash forward here - the top section of the china cabinet is too shallow for a full size plate to be stored....interesting). This room has the same dark burgundy wallpaper that is found in the study. With the dark wood, dark wallpaper, and dark stained glass windows - see a pattern here - the room is - well - it is dark...really dark.

The kitchen is through the dining and there is a swinging door with a stained glass insert separating the two rooms. (Beautiful but not a plus when you have tiny fingers in the house.) We found a certificate in the house indicating that in the mid-80s the house won an award for the best historic preservation. Ok - that was only 20+ years ago.... but really this kitchen is not ideal. The flooring doesn't match anything else on the main floor. There is very little counter space, the cabinet, at least top section in open faced, the sink base cabinet is setting in the middle of the floor, there is no dishwasher, there are two tiny reproduction ovens, a range top, (all built into a brick wall)...and there is basically no room for a refrigerator. Ok - this room is going to be a challenge. The basement steps take off from the kitchen. There is a stairwell that leads back to the main entry - and behind the "brick" stove/oven wall - is a sunroom.

The sunroom is single paned stained glass. It is a plus for me – I envision a chaise lounge, coffee, and a good book. Ok – did I mention the single paned – I guess I should throw in mittens, stocking cap, and a wool coat into my vision?

Upstairs are three bedrooms with each entry having a stained glass transom above the door. The one I pick out for the little guy faces the front of the house. It has a good size closet but no door on it. It has pink and blue roses on the wallpaper. Ok – more steaming in my future.

The second bedroom is “creepy” in my view and I am not sure why. It is the one room in the house that all the beautiful wood trim has been painted (white and green.) It has floor-to-ceiling mirrors on one wall, a unique “cubby” with mirrors and florescent light (the only light in the room) and strange bits of newspaper and magazine clippings glued onto the wall. There are two closets, one with a door one with out.

The third bedroom faces the back yard. It is in the evening when we are seeing the house for the first time and there is a great view of the setting sun. This isn’t the largest of the three bedrooms but I know it will be the master. The floor in this room is unfinished, has paint splatters all over and doesn’t match anything in the rest of the house. It is even about 1/8 to ¼ inch higher than the rest of the floors. (Ok – we have dreams of a master suite so we will just live with the floors in this shape for a while.) There is a pretty good size closet in this room – big enough that we may be able to actually share. (My shoes will never fit in here though.)

Now the bathroom…It has dark stained wanes coating and dark red paint on the wall. The tub is almost (but not quite) in the center of the room. It is a claw foot tub – but you can’t tell this because it has a wanes coating surround built around it topped off with white marble. There is an additional shelf like system attached also with the dark stained wanes coating and white marble – all attached to the tub. (Ok probably not a great description – just think ODD…) The toilet has a wood tank lined with copper. The sink/vanity is dark with a multi-tiered white marble top. The sink is full of rocks. Yes rocks. The floor in this bathroom matches the horrible floor in the kitchen. (Somebody must have gotten a deal.)

Did I mention that the only source of heat upstairs is non-thermostat controlled electric wall heaters in each of the rooms?

The basement is large and finished. In two of the main rooms (office/media/family-type rooms) there is burgundy carpet, burnt orange walls and red neon lights bordering the ceiling. Now technically I like the wall color and the carpet is in good shape - but this color combination will never work. And neon – Really?!?!? There is a common space area that is tiled with nice gray flagstone type tiles and pleasant enough sage green paint on the walls. There is a good size storage closet, a laundry room, a full bathroom, and the “heating” room all off this common area.

I need take a minute to describe two of the rooms to you – the bathroom and the “heating room”.

The bathroom is huge, but for the most part nothing is in it. There is a vanity – very big – with a white marble top. It is that type of vanity that looks like a piece of furniture. Just in the back of the bathroom there is the shower and toilet room. It feels like a tomb. It is floor-to-ceiling white marble tiles. In order to make the shower “work” in the basement, the height is quite short – I am 5’6” and can barely stand straight up in it. There are candle-like light fixtures/sconces on the wall. In this room there is also a giant closet. It is cedar lined floor-to-ceiling. It is a great closet but in an odd location. It would/could be a great sauna – ok that is a bit of dreaming on my part – I will need the closet space.

The “heating” room houses the old oil-fired boiler. The heat on the main floor and basement is hot water radiators. The boiler is a beast and takes up most of the space in this room. In the far back corner is an old telephone switchboard…not sure how or why it is in this house.


The first time we saw the house – our first thoughts were that it is a bit to grand for us…our furniture is way to small for this house…and ok – technically it is out of our price range. Fast forward 8 months or so and several price drops and well we can buy new furniture. We bought the house…now comes the hard part.