The Historic District

These are about as simple as an electric appliance can be. There's no temperature control or switch, so the thing is just going to keep getting hotter until the power source is removed. When you use it, just remember that and be sure to keep it clear of anything that could potentially melt or burn. ...

Thanks to all for the welcome. Over the next few months, in addition to working on the house, I hope to make some significant changes to the site. We've done a lot more research and have had some interesting developments, including a visit from the original owner's granddaughter.

City records are notorious for being unreliable. For years we went with 1915 as the build date for our house because that's what was on the deed and what was in the city block books. It took a lot of research, but we later found that our house was actually built in 1918 by a developer and sold as a ...

Congratulations on finding an old picture of your house! You have something that many wish they could find. Hard to tell for sure since it's damaged, but it looks like it was taken with a box camera like a Kodak Brownie or similar model. These were the working-man's cameras of the early 1900s. I'm g...

Most glass tended to get thinner with time. If you compare a sash from the early 1800s with one from, say, 1900 or later, you'd notice immediately that the glass was thinner in the later sash. I've never ordered any of the replica wavy glass, so I can't speak to how well it fits early 20th Century s...

We bought a few of the Classic Accents switches several years ago and I can't say that I'm exactly pleased with them. The quality of construction isn't near what the originals are. We installed them in a couple of places and have noticed they have a springy sound to them instead of the solid "s...

Just wanted to say hello to everyone after joining this site. We were members at the Old House Web forum, but noticed there is not much activity over there anymore. Luckily, we found the link to the "new" forum over there. We started work on our 1918 Georgian Colonial Revival in 2009, but ...