This makes me sad. I lived in this house from the age of thirteen to seventeen.
It was a lovely house, built when there was nothing north of it but open country. . .
I think about 1890. One of our grade schools in town is named for its builder.
My dad bought it in 1944 for $4000. There is a lovely double front door that opens into a vestibule. From there two doors lead into the dining room and the parlor.
I think it was designed to keep cold air out of the main part of the house. Some of the east windows were cut so that the sunlight made rainbows on the wall. The dining room had large pocket doors so that room could be closed off. We used that as a bedroom for my grandparents who came from Iowa to live with us.
Behind the main parlor was another parlor and a small kitchen completed the downstairs. A beautiful curved staircase was behind the two windows you see above each other in the photo. At the back of the house was an enclosed back stairway (for sneaking out at night? I never did.) There was a small basement with a converted furnace - no radiators.
Four bedrooms upstairs around a central hall area and a large bathroom. There were three doors into the bathroom, two from bedrooms and one from the hall. My mom joked about hurrying to close all three doors. My bedroom had French windows and in my closet was a stairway to a floored attic. It was a dream home to live in as a teen. My friend, Jo, said I could come down the stairway and get married in the parlor.
About three years later after my grandfather died, we didn't need the extra room. The floors seemed to be sagging. So, with full disclosure about the floors, it was sold for the asking price of $8000. The war was over and real estate had increased in price. The buyer arrived with cash and my dad's story was, "I told him, 'Let's go to the bank.' " I guess he wanted a witness to the counting of the money!
If my dad had chosen to prop up those floors, I might be living there today. I don't think it would be in such bad shape if we had kept it in the family. By the way, the people who bought it kept it up beautifully. It is just in the past few years that it has deteriorated
I wish someone would repair, paint and restore this grand old house.
The house I grew up in had a stairway to a floored attic in my bedroom too. I used to sit on the stairs and talk on the phone. We had a phone upstairs with a very long cord. I loved going through all the old things in the attic. A favorite thing to do. We are about the same age, I think. What year did you graduate?
ReplyDeleteBalisha
I was a '49er, Balisha. Born in 1931. I think I'm a tad older than you!
ReplyDeleteHave you met the people who lived there yet? We must stalk and visit next time we come to town!! They won't be able to resist the Nutterfield charms.
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