1899 Folk Victorian Farmhouse in West Virginia

[OldVawterPlace]

Glad to be a part of this community. Grabbed the old farmhouse that was on an adjoining farm to my home place. Lots of the usual challenges - - poorly /to little insulation. No sheathing. Wiring is a crazy, dangerous mess. And plumbing mishaps through the years need major fixing. Acquired the place last fall but main job and a sense of overwhelming "where do I start" has taken hold. That said, I have a bunch of ideas and questions.

For insulation I'd love to open exterior walls, leave an air gap against wood siding, apply a vapor barrier from the inside, seal it, and then use rockwool.

That will also enable me to run new wiring and plumbing.

The good and bad is that I have original horizontal beadboard walls and ceilings in all rooms. Most of it is still under old drywall. I plan to keep the beadboard which is my challenge. I'll be asking in the construction zone for tips on carefully removing beadboard that will go back up.

Other cool projects include an ice house/cellar just to the rear of the house that I hope to enclose with and addition. And the chimney came down with Hurricane Hugo years ago but stones are still around the house. Hope to find a quality mason to rebuild it.

Rob

[Gothichome]

Welcome to the District Rob. Your new second home looks to be in pretty good shape overall, and the trim has been spared the white paint, a bonus in my eyes.

[1918ColonialRevival]

That's a nice house and looks like you have a good bit of land around it.

Have you researched the history of the property? The reason I ask is because architecturally there are a few things (porch trim, stained glass panels, stairwell trim) that look more 1880s than turn-of-the-century to me. Of course, being a WV native myself, I know that once you got outside of Huntington, Charleston, or Parkersburg, styles tended to linger a little longer than they did in the more populous areas.

It's a shame that stone chimney was removed at some point.

[OldVawterPlace]

Thanks for the comments. County records show a 1899 date but there is a bit of an anomaly and another date around 1893 so I'll keep you thoughts in mind if other clues arise. The chimney came down in Hurricane Hugo (1989). It's sealed off and all the stones are still around the house. I've reached out to a mason. We'll see what we can do.

That's a nice house and looks like you have a good bit of land around it.

Have you researched the history of the property? The reason I ask is because architecturally there are a few things (porch trim, stained glass panels, stairwell trim) that look more 1880s than turn-of-the-century to me. Of course, being a WV native myself, I know that once you got outside of Huntington, Charleston, or Parkersburg, styles tended to linger a little longer than they did in the more populous areas.

It's a shame that stone chimney was removed at some point.

[1918ColonialRevival]

I know from experience that records in WV can be very hit or miss. In my home area (southern WV), records weren't written or maintained very well at all. And nearly everything prior to May 1984 has been lost in floods.

Glad to hear the stones are still on the property. The right stone mason should be able to rebuild the chimney using the original stones. It's great to have the older photo for reference.

I remember when Hugo came through WV. It was really unusual for an Atlantic storm to remain a tropical storm that far inland, but Hugo did. We had one of the big satellite dishes that were popular in the late '80s. Hugo brought it and three or four trees around us down.