Hello from Massachusetts!

Introduce yourself here, tell us about your house and interests. Share some pictures.
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Stitch
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Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Stitch »

I am so excited to have found this forum. I've been a lurker for a few months, and I decided it's finally time I come out of the shadows to introduce myself and say hello :)

I closed on my house in May, so I'm a little over two months into ownership. I've posted some pictures of my house in my photo album, because we all love pictures, right? Comments and insights are welcome! More photos to come, but a few are there to get started.

This is my very first home, and I am just over the moon. I started my home search a few years ago, but was never quite ready to commit to it until recently. As they say, the stars just sort of aligned and here I am.

I've always loved older homes, and living in New England, there is no shortage of them. Well, no shortage from the perspective of existence, but finding them for sale is a whole other story haha. I knew what I wanted in an older home, and hoped to find one with very minimal and insensitive updates. I know that is almost impossible in this day and age, so I went into my search with the realistic expectation that I would not find a home with its original kitchen and/or bathroom likely in tact. It was a compromise I was okay making, knowing that if the rest of the house was relatively untouched, I'd be happy. The moment I walked into this house, I got that feeling that everyone tells you that you'll get when you find "the one".

The previous owners are a lovely young couple with two small children, and this house just radiated positivity and warmth to me. I love the style of the house, the layout, the character, just everything. I told my agent to "make it mine" and she did haha. They did update the kitchen and sorta did the upstairs bath (more on that later). However, I can live with it, as it's not totally obnoxious and it's functional.

Public records show the house was built in 1930. I can only trace the deeds online back to the late 70's. The house was originally red, and is wood shake singles not vinyl or aluminum thankfully! The only blasphemous thing that was done is the fairly recent addition of vinyl windows. The 2007 Google street view shows the original windows in tact. I cried a little about that. However, the previous owners offered to have the house painted as a condition of the sale, which was great. They let me chose the color. I'm quite happy with the grey, and the neighbors I've met have approved as well (whew).

As with any older home, I know that I will have lots of projects, and surprises along the way. I'm okay with that. The house has been very well maintained over the years, thankfully. Does it still have some issues? Oh yes. Biggest upcoming expenses are a new roof in the next year, and some work on the electrical. I'm pretty handy, but I also know when to bow out and defer to the professionals haha.

I'm looking forward to participating in this awesome online community!

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Mick_VT
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Mick_VT »

:wave: :wave: Hello Stitch, welcome to The District! :thumbup:
Mick...

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Manalto
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Manalto »

Hi Stitch, welcome. I can see why you chose your house; it has a lot of warmth and charm. You're lucky to have the natural woodwork. I look forward to reading about your future adventures!

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Gothichome
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Gothichome »

Stitch, welcome to the District. Looking at your new home I see a rubble stone foundation. The home looks to be newer than my vision of homes with rubblestone. The home looks very nice, I'm sure you will be comfortable, looks to be very sound both inside and out. Wish I was as fortunate as you with unpainted interior trim. Look forward to what ever you plan to do. If I can give a piece of advice that gets repeated often here, live with the home a while before charging into any major projects and keep your plans flexible.

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Stitch
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Stitch »

Thank you all for the warm welcome and comments!

Wow, Gothichome, see you are already teaching me things that I did not know about my foundation. I didn't know it was also called rubblestone, or that a house built at the time mine was supposedly built would have this type of foundation. In all the docs I've read, they reference it as fieldstone. One in the same?

You will be also happy to know that the only improvements I will be doing are some light patching to some of the plaster where things were hung by previous owners and some painting. The interior paint hasn't been done in some time, and it's pretty tired.

When I had the home inspection, the inspector suggested that I change out the front door and the mudroom door, as they appeared to be original to the home, and thus drafty. I was like, "Ah. No. I'll live with the drafts." No way I'm getting rid of those doors! They work just fine!

I am so very happy that the majority of the woodwork has escaped being painted. Two of the three bedrooms upstairs got the white paint treatment, though. And the bathroom. I need to get the pics of those rooms posted.

I am very lucky indeed that the house has been very well maintained throughout the years. Outside of the kitchen and bath re-dos, and the vinyl windows, the house seems to have escaped major renovations. I love it just the way it is, and only plan to make simple changes like painting and changing out some light fixtures.

I've got lots of questions about things, and there are so many kind people here willing to share their knowledge, experience and opinions. All are welcome to me!

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Lily left the valley »

Welcome, Stitch, from another Massachusetts folk. :wave: So nice to see another bungalow here on the District! :happy-jumpgreen: Thank you for all the pictures. We're actually right next door to another bungalow, and that one is also red, which I think it always was (still in the same family since original build, as ours was until we bought it).

Your home is quite lovely! I am a bit envious of your enclosed porch entrance and sunroom. Our 1935 bungalow that we closed on in March has the long open porch instead. Is yours a floor and a 1/2 with the walk out cellar, or a full two story? I'm guessing 1 1/2. Really nice that your shakes are still exposed though! Our siding is still under a later Asbestos Cement layer we hope to be getting rid of in the next few years.

Did you check your attic yet? We have a tiny hatch to ours, and there is not one stitch of insulation up there. We're going to be fixing that before this winter.

I have one small favor to ask, knowing your build year and location...please check inside your drawers in the dining room built-in when you have a chance, and see if there is an "A" Maker's Mark in there. If my guess is correct, it would look like this:
Image
A better image is from one of their catalogs I was lucky enough to find online:
Image

I think you might also have some Angel woodwork in your home. Our drawer pulls are different than yours, but I think we have the same on the doors. We don't have the corner unit, ours is in the parlor next to a very thin coat closet. If I'm right, that'd be kind of neat!

The overall look of much of your wood is like ours, right down to the French Doors. Your trim is a bit fancier than ours, and you have a Newel cap that is different too, though our posts could be twinsies. Your stair rail style is the turned ones you can see in the catalog I linked above, we have the plainer. The wood floors I can see also look similar. All of our interior wood trim is still shellac finished--no poly--which I don't know if you have as well or not. If you have any "alligatoring" (like their hide), you likely still have shellac and it will need a refresh. We have some spots where that will need doing when time allows.

We still have our original front door (French style), but the side door is a recent steel change out which I hope to get rid of some time down the road for another wood door. We were very, very lucky in that we still have all our original windows save one basement that was taken out for a badly done dryer vent plug. We do have aluminum storm add ons, though. Not any original storms or screens.

Sorry to be doing comparatives so much, but I find it exciting to meet another bungalow owner in MA where a lot looks very familiar! :D

If no one has mentioned it already...take some time when you can to listen to what your house wants to tell you. You learn the neatest things that way. I'm very happy to hear you are also someone who likes the older bits, and isn't one to modernize the look.

I hope you have many happy years ahead of you in your bungalow, and I'm glad you also found this great site--I feel the same way since I found it too.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Gothichome
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Gothichome »

Stitch, field stone and rubble, pretty much the same thing. This is what I have in my head as far as homes with fieldstone.
Image

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Stitch
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Stitch »

Hi Lily! Thank you for the warm welcome! I'm in Central MA, too. I love my little bungalow to bits! Yours is very lovely, and much more original than mine. Your kitchen is especially fantastic. Mine has been updated and is quite modern. However, they did a good job with it and I do like it. I won't be ripping it out anytime soon.

Yes, it's 1 1/2 stories, as the bedrooms are under the roofline in the dormers. The ceilings all slope. I posted some pictures of the master bedroom. There are three bedrooms total, and the full bath is upstairs as well.

Oh, that bathroom. Sigh. It's clean, relatively updated and functions. It needs help, though. They moved the toilet, which is fine. But they installed double sinks in what I feel is a very insensitive manner. I'll post pictures of it soon, but it's probably the worst crime committed next to the vinyl windows haha.

I love the enclosed porch and sunroom at the front of the house, too. I posted some pictures of the enclosed porch for you. The sad thing is that both rooms need the floors jacked and properly supported, as the support columns have rotted and the floors are being held up with cinder blocks and make-do columns.

I was so happy to walk into the garage and find all the original screen panels for the porch. I let out a little yelp of joy that startled my agent haha. I was also secretly hoping to find that the previous owners may have possibly kept the old windows, too, as the garage also has a basement at the back 7'. No luck, but to be fair, I haven't ventured all the way into that basement just yet. It's dark, dank and dirty down there!

I did get a chance to poke around the attic a bit. There is very little insulation left, and I haven't seen anything super interesting left behind. There is some old knob and tube up there though. There is also an access panel above the enclosed porch, and I'm kinda itching to get up into that one!

I couldn't find any markings on the dining room cabinet built in. That catalog you linked to is so cool. I love looking through old catalogs like that, and go down rabbit holes like that all the time haha. The hardware on the cabinet is definitely not original. It looks like the drawers possibly had half moon pulls at some point, given the scars I can see.

Luckily, no alligatoring on any of my wood trim. It's all in really good shape. I seriously do not know how all the woodwork has survived all the previous owners, other than they were all just sensitive home owners.

Compare and share away. I love it. It's why I joined the forum, to talk about my house, to learn new things, and to hear about other homes from their owners.

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Stitch
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by Stitch »

Thanks for that reference picture, gothichome. I did a little searching online after you pointed it out to me about being a bit unexpected on a home my age. It's got me really curious now, because apparently, the use of fieldstone for foundations supposedly went out of fashion, so to speak, many years before my house was built.

I hope to take some time on my vacation this year to get to the assessors office one day and pull all the papers on the house. I only got so far online, but I've got enough that I can ask for the right records, I think.

I did manage to find my street on the 1930 census, but not my house number, nor the name of the family which I suspect were the possible original owners. They apparently owned a bunch of the lots on my street, as I also looked up the deed to my neighbors on the South side of the house and they named the same family as the original owners of the land and lots.

heartwood
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Re: Hello from Massachusetts!

Post by heartwood »

welcome stitch!
you have brought with you a lovely home into our neighborhood....
lived in the suburbs north of boston, spent years in Cambridge/Somerville, 10 years in provincetown and now 17 years in rural western mass which suits me best....
...jade

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