Wednesday, April 29, 2009

a diamond in the rough...

I fell in love. Seriously. You all *might* think I am crazy and all you see is a dilapidated old house... but I can see past the plaster repair, the peeling wallpaper, etc... and see great bones, huge rooms, gorgeous woodwork. (The exterior of this house I will post later... it is the area of concern). I wish I won the lottery because this would me mine, all mine.

Yesterday, Steven and I were houseshopping for his mother, when we came across this 3 story Victorian built in the 1860s... here are a few interior shots...


With the level of craftsmanship in this fireplace, I am betting it was created in a big city like Chicago and shipped here. The wood is in perfect condition. The tiles just need a good scrubbing (The relief is still gorgeous). And the ornate insert is so much more ornate than the Humphrey I found in my basement.


A slightly blurry shot of the tiles and Humphrey.
The fireplace room, perhaps at one time a cozy parlor, has 3 sets of amazing pocket doors. Note the millwork above this one. Gorgeous!
Here is the main stairway. This house has stained glass windows everywhere, but this is the largest one. I wish the sun wasn't blazing through it. This entire window is stained glass. The glass panels were perfect and just needed to be releaded.
The leather pads on the stairs were in perfect condition! Many of the stairs still had the original brass corner dust guards! (See the middle step - to the left... that triangle is the dirty brass plate.)
Looking down the stairs. All the spindles are there, which is nice.
Every door had a transom and the hardware is all in perfect working condition!
This was likely the master bedroom. (All the bedrooms, except for servant quarters, are on the second floor). It has a little sitting area you can see to the left. Oh, most of the shutters are in the house. I recall maybe one or two missing. And that is a lot of windows!
Here is the dumb waiter on the second floor. Also note, the outside corners all have this beautiful trimwork to keep the plaster from being damaged.
Here are the servants' stairs. Not a bad stairway for the help at all. The pads on these stairs are also perfect.
The attic is the entire 3rd floor... jsut massive. And beautiful. The light was streaming in, illuminating a few hidden treaures. This space could easily be finished as a child's play room.
A little silver pitcher in the attic.



A pile of brass crown molding. Just needs to be matched back up and reinstalled.

A little suitcase I was brave enough to open. I imagined a big mouse popping out! It had the owners name and address on the label. What a darling little case!

9 comments:

mimi said...

So lovely and intriguing, these old ladies. I have the same yearning for an old house and search the real estate ads constantly, and so impractically, because where would I ever get the money to fix one up??
Donations? Anyone? (Ha!)

Don't worry, someday your ship will come in.

puck said...

Definitely, Mimi. Usually, banks will want 20% down, and your ability to show that you have deep pockets enough to restore it.

While the electrical may be "grandfathered" in... the termite damage is not... so yeah...

This house is priced extremely low (and in half off!) because it was foreclosed and the bank has to get it off their books.

Of course, my own renovation takes all mine time so I don't really have the time to invest in another property now.

Someday... someday...

Helen said...

Amazing old home .... so many folks are thinking the same as you
'if only I had the money, time ,etc.' It would be soooooo much fun restoring her to her beautiful self.

kathleen said...

I find old houses to be absolutely fascinating. Enjoyed the photos of this one. Thanks for the peek.

The Spicers said...

What a beautiful place!
By the way, I'm curious about your comment on Decorno. How does a service animal help with avoiding insulin? I have a son who's diabetic and am just wondering what that's about.

puck said...

iheartfashion -

I have a service dog that hangs with me 24/7. My dog can sense changes in my sugar levels, etc and can sense when my levels are going out of whack. my dog alerts me, I meter - the dog is always right. I know when I need a snack to get me back in line. :) No shots!

tamerajane said...

heart attack!!! what a stunning house.

Livinia Redlips said...

Where is this?

puck said...

Livinia -

With $80K and the urge to live in Ottawa Kansas - this beauty could be yours!

Yes! Only 80K! The bank owns this, as a foreclosure, and needs it off the books. It is going to half of what it is worth, easily. It actually has a gorgeous new roof with big Victorian-styled shingles. :)