This Odd House

I'm rather swamped this week and next with work. We're finishing off one paper today and am knee deep in the research for a second paper. It's all good. As Russell Arben Fox frequently notes, I'm really lucky to be doing something that I like so much.

In an effort to reduce time spent monitoring comments, I'm avoiding posts that generate huge controversy, even though it's hard to predict what's going to draw the heat. Non-controversial topic #1 - My house.

When we first saw this house two years ago, we had been through nine months of house hunting. We had seen the house decorated in Elvis posters, the house with a pool for a backyard, and all the little boxes that were still out of our range. When we saw this house, we were able to see through the stinky carpet and wood paneling and immediately put a bid on the house. One of the reasons that we loved it was all the original molding that dates back to 1916.

There are a lot of old houses in our town. A house around the corner from us was a set for the TV show, Ed, which was all about the virtues in a sleepy, little town. Steve and I enjoy driving around and picking out our favorites homes; I'm a sucker for the houses built entirely of river rock.

I'm finally getting to know more people in the community, some of whom have old houses like ours. Their ideas about what to do with these old houses are so different from ours. They're ripping out the old moldings and plaster. They complain that their plaster is chipped and cold. They're completely reconfiguring the layout to make room for massive media rooms. It's killing me.

And, we're just trying to bring the house back to what it looked like before some guy in the 70s put in all those drop ceilings in the house. I'm refinishing a 100 year old mahogany door that the neighbors were throwing away and picking out years of polyurethane from its cracks.

Neighbor guy -- You want this door? Why?
Me -- It's, like, original. Man, look at that patina. [Not that I'm entirely sure what patina is, but I know that it's a good thing.]
Neighbor guy -- But it's got a big glass front.
Me -- I know. It's so Brooklyn. Look it's got beveled glass.
Neighbor guy -- But people are going to be able to see in your house.
Me -- I'll put up a little curtain. Can I have it?
Neighbor guy -- Sure.

Yeah, we're totally pretentious, but I'm having fun with it.

Comments

[Helen]

The door's beautiful.

My neighbours threw out a beautiful, pristine suite of metal-and-laminex 50s table and chairs-- all matching, red, mint condition - the sort cafes liked to use in the 80s. Instead, they bought a green plastic set, the kind you buy at a hardware barn, to use as the stop gap until they found what they really wanted. You'd think they'd settle for the classic red setting until then... People are strange.
Also, the whole kitchen was that period - also pristine-- so they ripped it out, ditto the bathroom. I got their 50s bathtub and pedestal hand basin.

[kip]

Door looks great. We are in the same sort of spot with our neighbor building a 3 story addition becuase they don;t have enough room for the three members of their family.

[Lilian]

I like the door, but I like even better your home's wood panelling. That stained glass window by the stairs is beautiful too!

[jen]

We have the same front door! Don't worry about people seeing in -- the curtain has worked fine for us for years. And I also love the stained glass.

[J]

So saving the world is done by avoiding controversy... or is Saving the world a "figure of speech"

Rockin'

[AAYOR]

Beautiful hardwood floors.

[Emma Jane]

Wow! This post actually dovetails well with your bargain hunting above, eh? What a score, and what clueless neighbors. I saw a front door like that for sale at a salvage place in Rust City -- Rust City, where there's, um, a little too much architectural salvage available, due to decades of economic collapse and depopulation -- for $800.

And my goodness, but your woodwork's lovely.

[Laura]

heh. I'm on a bargain theme here at 11D.

Yes, we got a bargain when we got this old house. The floors were completed covered in cat pee rugs and several layers of linoleum. My family helped us pull up and we had some guys finish it for us. In the picture of stairway, you can see the problem ceiling. That's because there was an ugly closet there that covered the railing and a huge window. We still have to get someone help put the rungs back in the staircase and fix the ceiling. When we finish the front door, we'll take care of all that.

I have to admit that I'm fascinated by how we're increased the value of our home by doing these improvements. Steve and I spend a lot of time speculating on how we've increased our investment.

[jen]

The investment aspect is very interesting. My husband is an at-home dad who does a ton of work on our Victorian. I once calculated his salary in terms of market value of services rendered, and when I included his home repair work it was an impressive number. Now I jokingly call him "the economic juggernaut".