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1905 Vernacular in the PNW
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MillworkersCottage
- Just Arrived
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- Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:42 pm
- Location: Everett, WA
1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Hi everyone! We are living in and thoughtfully renovating our 1905 Millworker's Cottage in Everett, WA... About 30 miles north of Seattle for reference. The house is a Vernacular style common to the area and time period, built before Craftsman bungalows became the preferred working family's residence. The entire structure is wood - foundation, walls, ceilings, floors, etc, and is 1 1/2 stories plus a basement. Our goal is to bring it back to the original look and function as much as possible, while incorporating modern convenience in very subtle ways. I'm so excited to get to know everyone here, and I'm looking forward to sharing our progress!
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Gothichome
- Moderator
- Posts: 4185
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:34 pm
- Location: Chatham Ont
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Well hello and welcome to the District Millwork. Lots of help to be had here. How long have you been in the home?
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mjt
- Shakes a cane at new house owners
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- Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:04 am
- Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Welcome! Looking forward to learning more about your house.
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MillworkersCottage
- Just Arrived
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:42 pm
- Location: Everett, WA
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Gothichome wrote:Well hello and welcome to the District Millwork. Lots of help to be had here. How long have you been in the home?
We've been in the home for nearly two years now. We found out we were pregnant with our first during the same week our offer was accepted, so other than getting it move in ready, projects have been put on the back burner. Now that our baby is becoming more independent, we're refocusing on the house!
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phil
- Has many leather bound books
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- Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
- Location: Near Vancouver BC
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Im near Vancouver so not very far from you but across the border.
the housing styles are very similar in our areas.
one thing I wasn't' immediately aware of is that the houses back in time had wood gutters. there was a plank that was notched into the fascia boards that had the job of supporting these wood gutters. If you really look you may notice old buildings that may have a notch in the fascia boards. It was common practice to then shorten the fascia board slightly and install modern metal gutters. Most of the wood ones rotted away long ago. quite often they do a sort of a return as the fascia boards reach the gutters. It seems common but I'm not sure how many were made that way by roofers or if some were done that way originally. likely a bit of both? how that detail is ended or if it is returned so it faces the opposite side is a little detail you may notice and reflect upon in your observations of others in your area.
yours has a more pointy peak as many around 1908 or so were, mine is 1924 and a craftsman bungalow. Yours has craftsman detail like the roof brackets. mine is designed to not look tall , it was sort of a trademark of that style. another trend was low railings near the front steps. mine are too low to use comfortably. In many they are very low. It was pointed out to me that they weren't designed for old people
Building standards specify higher railings now but if you are grandfathered I think they are ok. If you do a bunch of renos or if you hire a modern carpenter they may wan to make them a more standard height. if you found old photos and did a comparison you may find they have grown in height over some previous reno.
in my house the main floor is all 9' the basement is a bit low but usable at about 6'9 or so, but this is lower than they want for a suite. my attic has low ceilings and towards the edges they are only 4' tall there is an unused space between 4 feet and the lower edge of the roof which forms a triangular space. I made doors and use it for storage. I dont think the attic in my house was orifginally living space and there were no stairs to downstairs so the living area was all 9 feet with two bedrooms. the attic is used which gives me a 3rd bedroom which is quite comfortable but the only windows are on the gables. yours may have originally used the attic as living space and I suspect the ceiling height is a bit higher. Its common to see dormers that were added as this increases usable space. My house has original cedar shingles. I think maybe yours was changed to some type of siding? origionally mine was unpainted with cedar siding and of course a cedar shake roof. Im replacing the roofing , it was already changed to duride Im using IKO Cambridge in "driftwood" which is pretty common.
I was already sheeted with plywood so I am merely changing the roofing material. I added a membrane and a metal drip edge. Shakes look nicer, they are more expensive and fire insurance could be affected because a fire can spread from a neighbor by the embers landing on the roof.
mine is on a busy street so I do get traffic noise. I basically took it apart from the inside to insulate as originally it had no insulation. I used a special type of drywall for sound blocking in the front room and it helped so I can hear the TV instead of traffic noise.
im keeping my original windows, many of this era are gone already and they do affect the appearance. Ill eventually finish the restoration of them and add storm windows and that will help with road noise.
the housing styles are very similar in our areas.
one thing I wasn't' immediately aware of is that the houses back in time had wood gutters. there was a plank that was notched into the fascia boards that had the job of supporting these wood gutters. If you really look you may notice old buildings that may have a notch in the fascia boards. It was common practice to then shorten the fascia board slightly and install modern metal gutters. Most of the wood ones rotted away long ago. quite often they do a sort of a return as the fascia boards reach the gutters. It seems common but I'm not sure how many were made that way by roofers or if some were done that way originally. likely a bit of both? how that detail is ended or if it is returned so it faces the opposite side is a little detail you may notice and reflect upon in your observations of others in your area.
yours has a more pointy peak as many around 1908 or so were, mine is 1924 and a craftsman bungalow. Yours has craftsman detail like the roof brackets. mine is designed to not look tall , it was sort of a trademark of that style. another trend was low railings near the front steps. mine are too low to use comfortably. In many they are very low. It was pointed out to me that they weren't designed for old people
Building standards specify higher railings now but if you are grandfathered I think they are ok. If you do a bunch of renos or if you hire a modern carpenter they may wan to make them a more standard height. if you found old photos and did a comparison you may find they have grown in height over some previous reno.
in my house the main floor is all 9' the basement is a bit low but usable at about 6'9 or so, but this is lower than they want for a suite. my attic has low ceilings and towards the edges they are only 4' tall there is an unused space between 4 feet and the lower edge of the roof which forms a triangular space. I made doors and use it for storage. I dont think the attic in my house was orifginally living space and there were no stairs to downstairs so the living area was all 9 feet with two bedrooms. the attic is used which gives me a 3rd bedroom which is quite comfortable but the only windows are on the gables. yours may have originally used the attic as living space and I suspect the ceiling height is a bit higher. Its common to see dormers that were added as this increases usable space. My house has original cedar shingles. I think maybe yours was changed to some type of siding? origionally mine was unpainted with cedar siding and of course a cedar shake roof. Im replacing the roofing , it was already changed to duride Im using IKO Cambridge in "driftwood" which is pretty common.
I was already sheeted with plywood so I am merely changing the roofing material. I added a membrane and a metal drip edge. Shakes look nicer, they are more expensive and fire insurance could be affected because a fire can spread from a neighbor by the embers landing on the roof.
mine is on a busy street so I do get traffic noise. I basically took it apart from the inside to insulate as originally it had no insulation. I used a special type of drywall for sound blocking in the front room and it helped so I can hear the TV instead of traffic noise.
im keeping my original windows, many of this era are gone already and they do affect the appearance. Ill eventually finish the restoration of them and add storm windows and that will help with road noise.
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Gothichome
- Moderator
- Posts: 4185
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:34 pm
- Location: Chatham Ont
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Millwork, congratulations on parenthood, how soon will the child be able to scrape paint 
What are your hopes and plans for your home.
What are your hopes and plans for your home.
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Gothichome
- Moderator
- Posts: 4185
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:34 pm
- Location: Chatham Ont
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
http://www.nortongrandhistoric.com/
I see you are putting up a fight to save your neighbourhood.
I see you are putting up a fight to save your neighbourhood.
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MillworkersCottage
- Just Arrived
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:42 pm
- Location: Everett, WA
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Gothichome wrote:Millwork, congratulations on parenthood, how soon will the child be able to scrape paint
What are your hopes and plans for your home.
I think he'll be ready to scrape paint once every stops going directly into his mouth, lol.
Our plans are to restore and thoughtfully renovate the house to the best of our ability. We've pulled all the original wallpaper off the walls and ceilings of the main floor (unfortunately it was unsalvageable). So many layers of paint and paper had worked with gravity, moisture and time to de-attach the wallpaper from the corners. We plan on reapplying it, using the original method of tacking cheesecloth to the wood shiplap walls as a base for the wallpaper to lay on.
We'd also like to strip paint off all the woodwork on the main floor, replace our aluminum frame windows with historically accurate salvage/ reproduction windows, relocate the kitchen back to it's original location, and replace our sad big- box bathroom with salvaged fixtures. If we stay long enough, we'd like to take the restoration to the outside of the house, and remove the layers of siding down to the original clapboard. Our porch was also rebuilt recently for more space, and I'd love to take it back to it's original look. So much to do!
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Gothichome
- Moderator
- Posts: 4185
- Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:34 pm
- Location: Chatham Ont
Re: 1905 Vernacular in the PNW
Millwork, restoring an old home is not for those with little patience. Restoring back to totally original, in most cases is not practical for those of us who do like central heat and on demand hot water.
You will have compromises to make (and probably have made), and decisions will be made. But as long as the core essence and historic fabric of the home remain intact all decisions will be the correct decisions and another old home will be saved. You should post some more pics of your home, exterior, interior, and projects that are on the go. You may provide inspiration for us all.
Ron
You will have compromises to make (and probably have made), and decisions will be made. But as long as the core essence and historic fabric of the home remain intact all decisions will be the correct decisions and another old home will be saved. You should post some more pics of your home, exterior, interior, and projects that are on the go. You may provide inspiration for us all.
Ron