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Still peeling away

Here are some pictures of what we have uncovered so far.  We have removed walls that covered original paneling in the keeping room, and removed the layer of bricks that were applied over the surface of the original fireplace.  Of course, the original keeping room fireplace and walls now look like a big mess!  But rest assured, we do know what we are doing.  Cleaned up and restored, all will be well again!

This look had to go!

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before

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after- original brownstone lintel – but hearth is gone :(

It is obvious that this chimney was rebuilt, fooled with, and then some – old bricks were re-used to rebuild the stack.

We peeled away newly framed 2 x 4 and sheetrock walls in the keeping room to reveal original boards beneath – even the door was still in place!

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Keeping room wall, behind it is a staircase to the second floor; to the left is the back of the house.  The door and wall was hidden behind a 2×4 wall with sheetrock over it.  You can see by the green paint that the last time these walls were exposed, they had a kitchen sink and a cupboard applied right over the door!

The wall with the horizontal beaded boards have that awful kitchen window in it – but you can see where two twelve over twelves once sat.  We may remove this wall altogether (between the two posts) and continue the lean-to across the back of the house for a kitchen.  Then this whole space would be ample for a kitchen/dining area or kitchen/family room.

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Horizontal beaded boards are across this exterior wall of the keeping room – you can see the green paint, top right where that cupboard hung over the wall and door. 

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This is the wall to the left of the keeping room fireplace.  The horizontal beaded boards continue into the pantry/borning room.  Can’t wait to clean the paint off!  Where paint has peeled away from the boards you can see the original oxblood red color.

One of the amazing finds in this house is that it has almost all of its original wide pine flooring.  We have peeled away layers (x 10!) to uncover them, but they are mostly in tact.  Some, unfortunately, have been sanded and varnished, but some are untouched and dry as a bone.  How about the colors in this room?!

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white dust – it’s powdery, mildew or something from the underlayment?

and then there’s this amazing paneled wall in here…

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never saw a wall that juts in like this for the fireplace before; and that’s a closet to the left, with featherboarding inside, and some scribbling I can’t quite make out – yet. And, we have the original closet door, and passage door – this one’s a modern replacement

There’s more – but will save for the next post.  I’ll leave you with this – under the front stair (there was a suspicious opening) I found a name written on the stringer – it looks like “Grant” to me – can’t make out the first name (Asa?).  Could be one of the Grants noted for their wonderful CT Valley Doorways.  Have some research to do…

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this is the underside of the front hall stair, going to the 2F; I’ve turned the picture to get a better view of the name on the stringer – if anyone recognizes it – please let me know!

 

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Here we go again…

Now that we’ve saved it from the wrecking ball, we’re going to have to fix this old house.  Where to begin?  Just begin, from the ground up.  Pick a room and start stripping everything that doesn’t belong.  We started in the Beverly jog.  What a delightful fireplace, what a great space, just off the keeping room.  Breakfast nook?  Anytime nook.  I am daydreaming ahead!  First we have to pull up the rug, the linoleum under that, debris, etc to get to the floor boards.  The good news – they are all there!  The bad?  They’ll have to come up to see why they’re sagging (extremely) in the middle.  Broken joists?  Disengaged joists?  Rotted sills?  We expect all of it.  No worries as to falling through, the dirt floor is probably just a foot below.  (Now there’s a selling point!)  Doesn’t bother us, we live with that now in three quarters of our house.  But most buyers are not looking for that.  What to do?  We have a plan.

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Beverly Jog, first floor

Oops – we didn’t find that leg under the debris – carpenter’s still working : ) which is why the room now looks like this, floor uncovered and fireplace open:

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Beverly Jog has its brownstone hearth! And work to do at the back wall…

Some before pictures…

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front room wall was firred out all around, and can you believe – a fake beam was added!  they modernized, then tried to make it look like an old house???

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propane heater installed and exhausted right at the front wall of the house!

Oh my.  This room felt small when we first walked in, the windows were deep and newly framed.  Turned out the whole room had been firred out almost a foot to add insulation.  Even the ceiling and floors were firred up and down.  The good news, under the rug, firring strips, linoleum, tongue and groove flooring, more linoleum, etc. we found the original intact wide board flooring!  They even framed over the coffin door area, with door in place.  Terrible door, guess it was better to incorporate it than dispose of it.  Now here’s what it looks like in there stripped.

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Crooked chairrail of course, lower section of wall is canted out – hmmm, rotted sills and posts, you think?  Of course.  But still can’t get over finding the original flooring in tact.  And – the chairrail has grooves on top and the framing has traces of guides for interior window shutters.  How cool is that?  And, we actually have one of them!  And there’s an original cupboard to the right of the fireplace.  Doors are missing of course, and trim, but the dark original color of the wood lining it is preserved under the neon wallpaper.

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Much to do here.  Can’t wait to see the “after” pictures myself!

Some must be thinking we’re a little crazy.  At this point in our lives, I should to – but instead I find that the discovery and possibilities still excite!  Can’t wait to transform this little gem.

Stay tuned…

 

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Old House Dilemma cont’d

Now it’s for sale!  But if it doesn’t sell before the end of July, the owners will tear it down.  They are showing what they think are the worst shots of the interior – nothing old house enthusiasts haven’t seen, or fixed, before!

Anyone want to live in a peaceful, quiet historic neighborhood along the Connecticut River on almost two acres of land in an 18th century home for $249K?  Of course you will first have to reveal the original treasures to be found beneath peeling paint, later walls,and  do some sill work and other restoration, but in the end you’ll have a historic gem.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1091-Main-St-South-Windsor-CT-06074/57773260_zpid/

or you can weigh in at the save the Olcott House page –

Save Olcott House

 

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a hidden gem – for sale

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Posts are few and far between these days, but came across something so special I just had to mention it to whomever might still be checking in to this blog.  We recently were invited to tour an old home on the market in the Mystic, CT area.  The realtor sent me the link to the listing and when I saw the photo I couldn’t believe it, we had to see it in person.  The 2 story front vestibule, if original, is a rare feature and certainly a sign of 17th century provenance.  The homeowner has done the genealogy and traced it to 1664.  The Culver house, sitting on over 42 of its original acres, still maintains the features and atmosphere of the original owners.  The front entrance mimics its New London neighbor, the Hempsted house, and because the large cooking fireplace in the rear is so close to the back wall of the house it makes me wonder if, like the Hempsted house, it too had a lean-to at the back.

Either way, the large stone fireplace, the exposed beams throughout, the plaster walls, wide board floors, front staircase with stone chimney wall exposed – will tempt you to move to this hidden 17th century paradise!

Yes, it will need some work – but for $399K and 42 acres – goodness, it’s a deal!  It is liveable now, and lived in lovingly by its delightful and knowledgeable owner.  But for most folks, it will need a new kitchen.  There are other items we would address to bring it back to its true original look, but they are optional.   Apparently, it can be subdivided, but gosh, would hate to see that happen.   We did not walk the entire property, but there’s a little bridge and I’m told there are stone walled open meadows beyond.  It may not be in the most popular, and pricier, location close to downtown Mystic, but that can be a good thing!

If you know any purists looking for such a gem, please spread the word.  If anyone needs advice, consultation or restoration for the house – just call us, we know exactly what to do with it.  While we LOVE our own 17th century house, one like this sure was tempting.  It’s a pretty rare find.

http://www.seaportre.com/listing/m9147959-279-colonel-ledyard-hwy-groton-ct-06355/

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history adventures

Finally, Spring.  Time to ready the garden, clean out the cobwebs and best of all go on an adventure.  A simple, New England style one, in search of country ambiance and colonial architecture.   A pleasant drive on a sunny day, at the ready to detour down forgotten roads – what could be better?  Roads with names like Old County, Horse Hill or, like one in my own town –   Beelzebub.  You’re bound to find a story there – a building, a church, a landscape, to stimulate the senses, tickle the imagination.

On a recent drive to Brooklyn, CT, a place we’ve been so often, we decided to take a road never traveled, and happened upon this.

Old Trinity Church How sweet the lines, how bittersweet the atmosphere.  Old Trinity Church.  Google has provided some history, (there’s way too much about hauntings), but I found there several good reasons to return:  Putnam Farm,  Putnam Elms, The Israel Putnam Monument (and grave) and of course a visit inside these gates.

Happy Spring!

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WME0DV_Putnam_Farm_Brooklyn_CT

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDZDY_General_Israel_Putnam_Brooklyn_CT

http://www.putnamelms.org/

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presents

Happy Holidays Everyone!  In the spirit of the season – I have a few presents to share.  First, a book suggestion, from my all time favorite old house photographer, artist and writer, Samuel Chamberlain.  He did a series of books for Hastings House – all photographic documents of how these homes and rooms looked in earlier days, before we truly began modernizing them.  The black and white/sepia photos have a wonderful atmosphere.  I can just imagine him knocking on doors of strangers with his camera, hoping for a peek inside.   His books are beautiful, and an invaluable resource for the homeowner as well as the restorer.  You’re sure to find one in an antique book shop somewhere.  I found this one on Amazon.

Chamberlain Book

And here’s a link to an article about very early Christmases in New England by one of my favorite editors – New England Antiques Journal’s John Fiske.  It’s an interesting and fun read.

https://www.antiquesjournal.com/flipbooks/neajdec13/files/62.html

Lastly, you must try this pumpkin pie recipe!  It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.  It’s from an old cookbook I bought at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston many years ago,”The Fine Arts Cookbook I.”   I hope they don’t mind, and I thank Mrs. Curt Gowdy, of the Ladies Committee, for entering the recipe.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

1 baked pie shell

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin filling)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 package plain gelatin

1/4 cup ice water

3 egg whites*

1/2 cup sugar

1 pint heavy cream

sugar and flavoring to taste

In a saucepan, mix pumpkin, salt, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks and spices, and cook over moderately low heat for 6-7 minutes. /Dissolve gelatin in water. /Stir into hot pumpkin mixture. / Set aside to cool. / Beat egg whites until stiff. / Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff. / Fold into cooled pumpkin mixture and spoon into baked pie shell. / Chill until firm. / To serve, whip cream, adding sugar and flavoring to taste, and pile this on top of pie.

*I first made it years ago with real egg whites and it was delicious.  And obviously – I lived to tell about it.  But because of concerns with raw egg white,  you can substitute meringue or egg white powder.

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when bad things happen…cont’d

I couldn’t resist continuing this conversation after coming across a house that has been castrated, bastardized, sterilized, and all but ripped from its roots.  Sorry about the language folks, but just when I think sometimes I’ve had enough, said enough, this happens.  Of course it’s not the only one, but ohmygosh, all I can ask is why???

http://www.findnewenglandhomes.com/property_information.asp?mls=71518725

Why would anyone turn a house built in 1720 into a sterile cookie cutter concoction?  Why make antique walls flat and straight, clean and new, or sand color, character and wear from floors that took two hundred years to achieve?!  Why expose brick where it was never meant to show, and put ugly wood over fireplaces where surely lovely paneling had been?  What is the mindset here?

Are there really not enough buyers out there looking to live in the real thing?  Is the only way to sell an old house these days to open it up, sand the hell out of it and paint it a sterile white?

I call it Nantucket contemporary.  I’ve seen a lot of them, new and old, in magazines, and in person.  Not quite as bad as this one, but definitely made to look like half asylum, half home.

The bright side? At least it’s still standing.  At least the outside covering is still those wonderful weathered shingles, and the proportions of the house are great.  The chimney seems good – but too bad about that metal flue sticking up.  The walkway, the paving, the garage doors, ugh.

Just had to vent.  If nothing else, this is an example of what not to do to an old house.

Maybe someday, some kind soul will save it, again, the right way.

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out of sight

Micro-switches to turn on lighting can be embedded in the edge of a door casing. Can you see it? The main thing is there is no ugly light switch on the wall!

Micro-switches to turn on lighting can be embedded in the edge of a door casing. Can you see it?

Ambiance – one of the main reasons we choose to live in an old house.  The wood, the plaster, the history, the feeling that when we walk into a room, we’ve just stepped back in time.  To immerse ourselves in that and forget all that’s happening in the modern world outside our doors and small paned windows, we have to make sure that there are few, or no, traces of that world within.

In restoring or reconstructing an old house, one has to allow as little intrusion or change as possible.  If you let the harbingers of progress, aka the electricians, hvac folks and plumbers, have their way, each competing to have their craft stand prouder than the others, goodbye old house.   It’ll still be there, in the basement, in the attic, behind the walls. But the intimate spaces that you treasure will be marred.

I realize that some change is required, but there are ways to subdue it.  However, the homeowner will have to be pro-active.  They will have to walk softly and carry a big stick with the trades.  Inquire as to the least obtrusive areas to place outlets, switches, heat registers.  Think like a sleuth.  Plan like it matters.  You can’t just let the trades have a go with your rooms!  A plumber, who once arrived ahead of us, went right along and cut a hole in a wide plank floor board to run a pipe.  After our shock and subsequent repair we found another, hidden way.   We once let an electrician, who had been with us a long time, place the electric meter on an old house without our being there.  Turns out he let his apprentice do it without his direction.  We were shocked to find the meter on the front corner of the house!  Who does that?  Someone who cares only to get the job done and move on.  To them, I guess, an electric meter is a beautiful thing?  Of course, we moved it around to a less conspicuous spot on the side of the house.

Plan, persuade, rant and rave if you have to!  To maintain the integrity of these old structures, to witness them as they once were, you always have to take the path of most resistance!  And then you get to enjoy that ambiance, forever.

tiny micro-switch

tiny micro-switch

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a little levity

When the world wearies and ceases to satisfy (the pocketbook) – grow a Money Plant.

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Lunaria – money plant, aka honesty (a word rarely used in the same sentence with money) grows by many names.  It is a lovely herb for the garden.  Plant just one, then watch them pop up everywhere two years later.  A biennial, it’ll seed itself and surprise you when you least expect it.   Like finding silver dollars (another of its names) lying in a garden bed.  Its purple blossoms are fragrant, and its green coins when dried and rubbed together, reveal its silver.  Other than being a pretty face in the garden and later in a dried arrangement, that’s about all it’s good for, as far as I know.  Except for the part about how it wards off monsters, holds magical moon-charged dew, and somewhere, in some time, someone ate its roots – yikes.  It’s just fun to watch and participate in – so go plant some money!

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Three Sisters – For Sale

Three of the most exceptional homes in my neighborhood, sited right along the old thoroughfare that was laid out three hundred years ago and called Main Street, are presently for sale.  There is a changing of the guard in this old town.  We old folks are fading.  What, we didn’t think it could happen to us?  Kids grow, we age, the old house ages even more, another chapter beckons.

So here we are hoping that another generation will be enticed by the charms of Main St.  Of course we’re hoping for a lot more than that.  We’re hoping the charms of the house will remain intact – original wood siding, wood or slate roofs, original windows, doorways, chimneys and its entire package of glorious trim.  I know, I’m hoping for a lot.  Landscape too – old trees needn’t be cut down and replaced with newer flowering specimens.

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Enough worry.  Let me tell you about these houses.  First, the Watson house.  All eight thousand square feet of it.  That’s a lot of square feet for a house without an addition.  Instead of sideways, this house goes up.  Way up.  Three amazing stories of antique house – the first of its kind in the CT River Valley.  In 1788 John Watson was a wealthy man, and it showed – pedimented doorways, Palladian windows, decorative cornices, columns, and brownstone steps galore.  Even the privy is elegant!  And the carriage shed, with pilasters and arched openings heavily molded with linen fold key blocks.

Inside is a walk through the history of architectural detail.  Original raised paneling decorates every fireplace wall (large and small), wainscoting, doors, flooring, molded cornices – it’s all there, on all three floors.  Some bedrooms even have original block printed wallpaper – some French, and one that was printed right here in Hartford.

Of course some updating is needed, some mechanical, mostly cosmetic, and very much daunting for a house of this size.  This is why they are asking only $359K.  And the fact that a major thoroughfare is nearby – a negative to some, but an opportunity for many – great spot for a home office.  The exterior needs repair around windows and eaves to prevent any further leaking, and the entire outside needs scraping and painting.  On the inside, some floors have been sanded and the nails sunk to enable the process.  Oh my goodness, I can’t think about that travesty.  But in spite of it, the house has overwhelming character.  Everyone who visits dreams of owning it, perhaps to run as a B&B – which it previously was – or perhaps just to dream.

So now we’re looking for a dreamer.  If there’s one out there, with a passion for history, a love of architecture, and a whole lot of either greased elbows or money – we welcome you with open arms and open hearts!

More pictures & info here –

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1876-Main-St_South-Windsor_CT_06074_M38701-28551

(PS – will add the other two sisters to this post shortly)

Second Sister (oops – this one may not be after all – but someday : )

The mother of all doorways is for sale.  The catch – you have to buy the house it’s attached to.  And the other CT Valley triangular pediments attached to that, the paneling and other meticulous detail that I’m sure is inside, and the slate roof over it all.  Oh, and the acreage.  And the history – the ancestral home and property of the family of Ulysses S. Grant.

Of course, you’ll also have to live in an historic neighborhood, on the east side of the Great River, in CT’s first town.  Hard to find a down side.

The only down side might be the occasional stopping of cars out front to admire the hand carved broken scroll pediment doorway and doors featured prominently in many books, magazines and publications as the premier example of its type in all of New England.

This house had an earlier start than its noted date of 1757, but its renovation and enlargement to a two chimney grand style, certainly did it no harm.  Its interior is probably as rich as its exterior suggests, but we’ll have to wait for those realtor’s pics, or be still my heart – an open house – for more elaboration on that.  I know it’s a gem.  Even if it were gutted on the inside, its place in history is rich and secure and sealed forever in time by the most magnificent 18th century doorway on the planet.

Feast your eyes on this:

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Third Sister

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I have been researching the American Picturesque movement of the 19th century and its reason for being.  Gothic Revival, Carpenter Gothic – known by many names – highly popular movement away from our classical roots in the antebellum days of the 19th century – strongly influenced by the collaboration of noted architect Alexander Jackson Davis and landscapist Andrew Jackson Downing.  Two men with confusingly similar names, kindred spirits in a romantic time.  I had not been a fan of this architecture, but the more I learn, the more I appreciate it – especially its grace and simplicity when compared to the later chaos of Second Empire and High Victorian Gothic.  The only one of its kind in town, and quite possibly in  Hartford County, designed by AJD.  It really is exquisite in its detail, high ceilings, and dare I mention – I had previously posted this – its two story outhouse! (which is attached by the way, so maybe it should be “in”-house?)

Lovely barn, two and a half acres, history, lovely neighbors, local library and post office, everything a soul could want – on the market for $575K.

more pics & info –

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/660-Main-St_South-Windsor_CT_06074_M40846-44187