The Historic District

You're probably correct on the age and it being for an automobile. Then again, it's slightly possible it is original to the house in 1904. South Bend is home to Studebaker who built carriages for decades a 5 minutes walk down the road and were making automobiles starting in 1902. The original owners...

We've fixed the lean mostly before I started refinishing the outside but additional support wouldn't hurt. Not that I'm going for everything to be authentic (especially since carriage houses were unlikely to be finished inside), but in general would diagonal be a common enough layout back then? The ...

Yeah decided to take a little break from the house and enjoy the summer, plus my next project is replacing rotten column bases on the porch which had a 8 week lead time.

So you're saying, 1) tongue and groove regardless, 2) Cedar or Fir, 3) On the bias means horizontal? Thanks as always Gothichome

I have a single stall garage/carriage house on our 1904 Queen Anne. I was hoping to finish and insulate the thing even though it is detached and has not been for 117 years. Would like to do it with an appropriate material for the period. I'm fine with expensive options as its maybe something I can p...

My porch column bases/plinths are rotten. Numerous years of no one properly taking care of the rot and multiple coats of Duration created a water balloon effect. One stab with a awl and they deflated into water soaked mush. There's 14 bases to replace. I've priced out 8 different manufacturers or so...

To confirm, we bought the green shade separately that is on it, but regardless you think that it was born electric? When you say cased glass you mean like this I assume? If so I'll be sure to keep an eye on eBay for when the lamp ends up on a desk but needed some well displaced light at the moment.

Hi South Bend, You've got some nice looking lamps. One style that I'm fond of is commonly called a student lamp. It's a classic style that endured for generations. Originally, the cylindrical tank would hold kerosene or lamp oil; today they're usually electrified, as you see here. (The leaded glass...

SouthBend - I've scanned a 1903 Sears Roebuck Electrical Goods and Supplies catalog from my personal library. It has quite a few illustrations of electric and combination fixtures that are very typical of the styling during the era your house was built. PM me and I'll send it to your email. Greatly...

Oh, one other question is that a heritage designation plaque I see on the front steps? That would be a plaque for a local historic landmark in my county. The street is on the national registry then with my house/carriage house as a contributing property. Nothing else worth pursuing then right? My u...

Was the home built originally with gas then electrified? That would explain the mix of lighting. That's what I'm thinking as well. Looks like they may have added electricity a little later, but kept the gas as backup for a while. Guess there's no way of knowing if it was built with electricity? 190...