Part II: The House Tour

My mom brought her camera and documented a few things of the house from my previous post. I think my dad had in mind to sell off a couple of the lots so the yard wasn't so big but the house was awkwardly placed so you would have had to move it over 20 ft in order to develop the rest of the land. Which is apparently what the current owners are going to do if no one bites. Too bad, it was a super, super neat house. Maybe if the current owners get it moved over to a manageable lot size and put it up for sale again it will go back on the maybe list. Or a developer will buy it and rip it down. Darn it! It is priced for the land. If it was simply the house, on a normal lot it would probably be 100K? Maybe?

If one remembers from the last post, it was an architects house so it had a lot of "modern" features for that time. The poured foundation was one of them. My mom didn't get a picture of that? Hmm, I think I should have been in charge of documenting. It was very interesting to see how primitive it looked compared to today's poured foundation but it had worked (probably better than today's) and the house was still very straight.The chimney in the kitchen was kind of ugly. (she didn't get a picture of that either?) as the stove fit right inside so the stove pipe would have been right inside and it had 2 little glass block windows.

The final kicker to why they probably won't be moving in: The walls and ceilings are all cardboard! My parents had this in their basement and servant quarters so we know this was used in the early 1900's. But in the entire house? and I thought my house was cold/hot prior to insulating! We went back to the architect using modern materials. He must have thought this was great. Slap it up and put up the wallpaper. No need for lathing or waiting for plaster to dry! However, this can not be up to code as we also know (from my dad's test when they first moved to their house) it is definitely not fire resistant. The daunting task of removing it all and putting up plaster board did not appeal to my parents nor did the idea of paying someone. I tried to get them to look at the bright side. It would be easy to fix pipes and wiring! 

Lets see what my mom took pictures of anyways:

This is the front porch ceiling. Lots of little Details.

The outside view of a leaded glass window.

The front entry had marble trim (which I wasn't impressed with the way they attached it) and terrazzo tiles. Love those and very mod for 1900. I think, for around here anyway.

Lots of fancy light fixtures everywhere showing off those new fangled electric light bulbs. All of the woodwork (some seen here) in the last post, even the painted stuff, is quartersawn oak. Oh, and you can see one of the cardboard seams on the ceiling, right above the fixture.

My favorite part. Green bathroom fixtures! They were in good shape, just lots of calcium residue. I wanted to clean them so bad to see them all shiny again - that is weird....isn't it....yeah... The main/only bathroom was on the main level, away from the bedrooms. We finally decided this was added in the 20's? (dating the fixtures) in the kitchen pantry and there was no bathroom when it was originally built. This house was way out in the middle of nowhere when it was built so I doubt the city sewers reached this far.

They had a sink (old) and a toilet (newer) upstairs stuffed in a closet and I guess they didn't feel the need to put the pipes/drains inside the walls? Another reason we guessed the bathroom was not original.

One of the ornate vents dated 1900.

The servants quarters were still set up in the attic. Yikes! I'm guessing it wasn't so depressing back then? At least it would have been cleaner.

The house was full of old odds and ends of things - including food from the 60's still in the main cupboard! This was in the basement and made me laugh. Do not spray this on animals but feel free to spray it all over your bed.

Retirement Home? I think not mom and dad!

My dad is retiring in August and my parents have been talking for years about moving down here but they are very picky about what they want in a house. I was thinking they would be downsizing a little and find a nice ranch. Apparently they have something else in mind. I send them house links I spot - some serious, some for fun just because my mom and I like to discuss how we would decorate some crazy houses which pop up. I felt this was an interesting and crazy one for my mom and I to discuss a decorating scheme.

(this is the back? I don't want to know why the don't have a full on front photo)
What I didn't expect was for my parents to ask if I could set up an appointment with the real estate agent because they wanted to check this out and their internet was acting up. Umm, OK. I guess this is the start of their "official" house hunt?

The description makes me wonder about their sanity:

Renovators and/or Developers, this is your chance at a great opportunity an amazing home on over an acre of land right in the middle of town! Originally a Lincoln architect's home, that sat on a much larger parcel of land, now offers a number of possibilities! This grand home is currently in rough shape, but features beautiful woodwork, leaded windows, and spacious rooms all nestled in the heart of the city surrounded by trees. Structurally the home is in great shape and is bursting with historical significance and it's truly worthy of a complete renovation but there's also a lot of potential in the land itself. Don't miss this great opportunity set up your showing today!

"I love the sound of an acre of land in the middle of town!" says my mom.

"Leaded glass windows!?" says my dad. 

They have redone two old houses and are helping my brother and me with our 2 houses so I know they know what they would be getting into. However, I figured they wanted something a little more move in ready and with fewer stairs so they could enjoy their retirement and not worry about trying to redo plumbing, fixing plaster and, um, mowing over an acre of grass! I guess I'll change my search on the real estate listings for them. Anyways, there is plenty of eye candy in this house so I will post more listing photos.

 The hutch obviously was the first thing that caught my eye. The intriguing back? staircase was the next thing.




I call first dibs on that TV! Though my mom got very excited and said it was just like the one she grew up with so I have a feeling she has first dibs.
These walls would be gorgeous in darker colors to highlight the trim (which I'm guessing is just pine and has always been painted to fit with the semi-colonial theme).
 These caught my dad's eye.

I love the wallpaper in this little room. Too bad the wallpaper usually turns out to be water stained and dirty in person!

There are some more random photos of the house on the real estate site. The photos should link to said site.

Our friends own an almost identical house from the same era so I'm guessing it is by the same architect?? There's does have a different layout and it is more craftsman than colonial inside plus it is floor to ceiling Oak. I'm not exaggerating. So this looks like a cheaper version BUT it looks like it has the same 3rd story so if that is the case, and my mom gets up there, we will never get her to leave...

I'm thinking they will come to there senses before they whip out the check book but who knows! They can be a bit eccentric at times. As far as downsizing - I guess this house is 150 sq feet smaller than their current house...