Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
From looking at the photos I think you're right on the money with the age of the house. Photo #9 shows woodwork which looks very 1920s. Unfortunately, you don't have a lot of original features (from the photos anyway) left to restore.
So, you could simply replace the bad renovations and features in an appropriate style. Great that you got the place cheap.
If you like arts & crafts for example, you could bring in elements of that. An appropriate kitchen countertop, for example, might be soapstone. It would be a nice contrast to the wood.
The strawlike wall covering sounds like stuff they used to used to cover damaged walls instead of repairing them. I wish I could remember when they used it, but I really doubt it's original.
I know what you mean about the dates they put on old houses. When my mothers' house sold a few years ago I couldn't believe they had it down as 1925. I came across one of the original ads for those houses, they were built in 1908.
Zcold, how old would that straw stuff be? It seems to predate paneling and it hugs the curved walls nicely. I may be crazy but I do not hate it. Not the way I hate 70s paneling.
They must have done a lot of that in the mid 20s to 30s. Perhaps record keeping was haphazard until then.
This house, I found out today, was built in 1919!
2cold, when you say original ads was it a Kit House? I am wondering if this one is.
No, my mother's house was in Philadelphia, in the kind of neighborhood often called a railroad suburb (although it was within city limits).
When the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads stretched out toward the city's limits, there began a massive building project, rows of homes were built street by street. I found the 1908 ad on a Bryn Mawr University site. They built that style house on several blocks, all within a very short time of each other. I always found it interesting, watching the architecture change as the train rolled down the tracks, 1870's, 1880's, 1890's, etc.
I also found an ad for another house my parents owned that was built in the 1920's, in another neighborhood also bordering the suburbs.
I have no information on that straw wall covering, other than your description reminded me of it. I have no idea where I saw the stuff.
It's possible that you could have a kit house, and it's just as possible that you don't. The foursquare style house was extremely popular because it was cheap to build. You got the biggest bang for your buck. Remember, even if the house was cheaper to build, it doesn't mean it had to be cheaply built.
Kit houses are very well built compared to todays homes. They are highly sought after. Especially the Sears houses.
I am glad to see you say you hate the paneling. I think it is terrible, but did nto want to say anything in case you liked it. By the way, we had a room that was "home depoed" (everything but the windows and floot removed and replaced). We found a simlar house being torn down with a simlar sized room and took everything, doors, window casings, door casings, light fixture, switch plates picture rail, base, even the radiator. Presto - remuddled room retruns to 1868 (except the light fixture which was an 1830s whale oil lamp that was elctrified in the 1920s. .
Because people are sheep and very easily led by well planned long term marketing campaigns. If everyone things newer is better, they will keep up the demand for new products.
(Houses are now products. They are throw away items that are usually mass produced just like a TV or a camera. When it gets old, you upgrade to a new one.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
