Our "new" old house

[JstKris]

We'll be closing soon on our new old home. It's a half a block from the historic main street our county seat. The street it sits on, the houses were built between 1875 and 1925. Unlike the next street over that housed the leaders of industry, the houses on my street are modest but well built. The larger, more lavish houses haven't fared as well as the modest houses as they were mostly either turned into multifamily rentals or were turned into commercial buildings that were subsequently culled and replaced with "beautiful(not) modern buildings" in the 1960's.
My house is obviously a vernacular of some flavor (national style?, maybe folk Victorian that's been stripped?) but I'm not 100% sure. Someone even suggested it's a simple greek revival, but that doesn't sound right to me. Maybe someone here can give me a more definitive answer.
The city says it was built in 1920 but I'm not sure that is correct as it appears nearly identical to the house two doors down built in 1885, but ours has been maintained much better.
It does need some care as it's sat empty for a year and for two years prior to that the owner's progressing dementia led to lapses in maintenance, but it seems in fairly good shape overall. I do have a laundry list of mostly minor repairs that I made from the home inspection. We will need to jack up and shore up the main beam in the basement that's making the floors slope some, but it's a job my husband has done before, so we're not worried about it. The kitchen and bathroom are in need of a little attention to remedy some issues likely caused from maintenance preformed during the previous owners decline.
I would like to restore the bathroom eventually, but my husband and I have different design ideas and he has no interest in having (or installing ) the amount of tile I want. I gues that one will have to wait until we can find a good design we both like.
We also eventually need to agree on siding. The bottom is already vinyl and he wants to do the top in it too....I do not.

front of house.jpg (297.09 KiB) Viewed 1875 times

back of house.jpg (198.84 KiB) Viewed 1875 times

[1918ColonialRevival]

Welcome!

Your house is interesting. I'd definitely call it a vernacular - almost a cross between a traditional farmhouse and a "shotgun" style house. It almost reminds me of houses that were built by coal and lumber camps for their employees.

Dating a house like this can be a challenge. City and county records were often made years or even decades after a house was built and the dates in them are nothing more than a best guess. Offhand, I would say your house probably dates to the first or second decade of the 20th Century, but one way to verify would be to look at original construction elements in the basement (if it has one) or crawlspace. If you see square nails, it's likely pre-1890. If you see all round wire nails similar to nails made today, it's no older than the mid 1880s. The back looks like an addition that came a couple of decades after the original house was built.

You'll find that virtually everyone here sees vinyl as the enemy. It would be interesting to see if there is original clapboard siding lurking underneath the vinyl on the first level. The back of the first floor and second floor material looks like asbestos shingle, which was big in the 1940s and 50s.

[JstKris]

This style of house is all over this area of Ohio and some of them were definitely tied to coal mining. From the research I did yesterday, I've learned that the "national style" is likely the predecessor of the Folk Victorian. From what I understand many are set up like a shotgun house, one room wide and a door at the front and back. Mine isn't quite set up like that now, but I think the kitchen was originally in the 1 story back section.
The Sanborn maps show at least a similar house on the property in 1898 and 1922 and a really neat birds-eye map from 1880 shows it as well. I know just because it shows a house there, doesn't mean it's my house. Interestingly, the 1 story section (and the side entrance) is original to the house but the porch isn't.
I should know more once we get in and I can spend some time exploring the basement and attic. Closing should be before the end of the month.
I personally think the look of the hardboard siding is kind of cool and home depot and Lowe's both have similar (non asbestos) shingles in stock. I have read that vinyl is generally a no-no for old houses but I haven't seen the reasons for it. I don't like it aesthetically but that's possibly not going to enough reason to convince my husband. Are there other reasons for the dislike of it?

[1918ColonialRevival]

I'm looking forward to hearing what you find in your closer examination of the basement and attic. It's possible the core of the house is from the late 19th century. What made me say 1900s or 1910s was the front porch and the arrangement of the windows on the first floor, though those could have come from an early renovation. If the position and shape of the house are identical between the 1898 and 1922 maps, then it's safe to assume the house has been there since at least the late 1890s.

I'm originally from southern WV/southeastern KY. That's why I said your house reminds me of a coal company house. Most companies in the 1880s through the 1920s built camps, almost like small towns, for their employees to live in. Houses were usually of simple design, but were usually very well constructed and styles varied from camp to camp.

There's a few reasons to dislike vinyl. Not only is it aesthetically inappropriate for old houses, but I've seen some installations where it has trapped moisture behind it and caused significant wood rot. I've always said that older houses need to "breathe" due to the way they are built.

[Gothichome]

JstKris, welcome to the District. The porch is the add on, I would never of thought that, the rear has the look of an add on, interesting. I wonder if there was a little porch over the front door originally. Under all that vinyl and white paint I bet there is a three colours paint scheme just waiting to see the light of day once again.
As far as the vinyl, I see really no upside on an old home. It is an easy way to cover up problems that should be taken care of and in my view strips the charm and details from an old home. Turns what should be a bright unique exterior into a generic box, but that’s just me.
The mystery of putting a style label on your home is going to be hard, I think it is a mix of revival styles. I can see the Greek revival in the trim above the windows but no front door to match, a bit of Gothic in the placement of a single window under the peak but no steep roof.
I look forward to seeing what your plans are for the home if any and original details you may find exploring the attic and basement. And if this is your first old home, it is generally recommended here to live with it for while before making any major changes. You may find the home works just as it is and priorities may change, the home will soon tell you what it needs.
Ron

[JstKris]

I'm chomping at the bit to get in there; I can't wait to see what I'll find.

While I'm waiting, I've been doing research online on past owners and residents of the property. No real clues on when the house was originally built yet, but I know who owned the land at least from 1854 to 1880. I know who owned the property prior to 1854, but haven't found the deed record. Reading the old deeds is a trip really and it's not until 1860 when the area was re-platted that I have a good frame of reference. From census records, I suspect it started life as a rental and probably in the very beginning housed mill workers, but census records from 1900 to 1940 have skilled trade workers.

I do intend to live in it for a while before making changes, letting it tell me what it needs. I want to avoid the dreaded remuddling and try to preserve as much of it's character as possible while making it work for our needs.

The hubby and I have been discussing the siding more and we're looking at options. It isn't an immediate need anyway.

We've been looking for the right property for us for about 6 months. With the housing market the way it is here, it has been challenging. As soon as a suitable house came on the market it was gone. We never even got a showing on dozens that we looked at online. This one, the pictures were so uninspiring we didn't seriously consider it. It wasn't until we were up to the wire and about to lose the offer for the sale of our present house that we scheduled a showing on this one. Now, I had several times looked at the pictures and wondered if it was a "sleeper", but I couldn't convince my husband.

When we went for the showing, I told our realtor that I thought it was a sleeper. When he opened the door and stepped in, then turned to me with a smile and said 'I think you're right', I was elated. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close. To top it off, the back yard is landscaped in a beautiful park like scheme with gorgeous flowerbeds, wandering paths among ornamental trees leading to a private pine grove with a brick patio and garden swing. Power drops are plentiful for seasonal lighting. All of this on .3 acres.

[Manalto]

Welcome, JstKris. Your house has a lot of appeal and charm. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing more photos and hearing about the process of making it your own.

James

[JstKris]

Thank you everyone for the welcome by the way.

Hubby went by the house and took some pictures of the back yard for me. Lovely

20210417_154553.jpg (262.53 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

20210417_154539.jpg (247.41 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

20210417_154211.jpg (266.26 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

20210417_154138.jpg (222.76 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

Japanese maple

20210417_154111.jpg (191.78 KiB) Viewed 1792 times

[Lily left the valley]

Welcome to the District! Nice to see a home with plantings already there to welcome you.

I hope the move in goes smoothly. We've been in our new-old home for just over four years and we still haven't unpacked all the boxes.

[JstKris]

We've been in the house a little over a month now. There's still lots of boxes to unpack. The basement, garage and shed are packed full, with very little organization to any of it. A lot is still in storage but due to lack of space here, most of it will wind up being sold, given away or tossed. I don't think I'll miss it at all.
Contributing to lack of organization and general chaos; four days after we got the keys my husband had to go out of town for 3 weeks. The turn over of our old place was in 2 weeks and during that time, I had my 3 year old granddaughter for two of those weeks. Needless to say it was pretty stressful, but I bucked up and survived it, kept some of my sanity with only a little blood and tears.

The sagging of the floors was much more pronounced than we remembered which has kept us from doing anything with the center room yet (which we intend to make our library). The sag is centered under the wall between the 'library' and kitchen and it measures a 2 inch difference between the outside wall and the low point.

Rich didn't have time to look deeply at the issue before he left, but he identified a crack in one of the two main beams. He ordered several jack posts to stabilize it. By the time the posts got here (two weeks after he left) I had had it with the slope in the kitchen (and the bathroom above it). I swear it was getting worse by the day and was making me feel sea sick

I also didn't think the cracked beam was the source of the sag, rather a symptom of another structural issue. Video calls are a wonderful thing; together Rich and I determined that the sag was centered near the other beam. Pulling the sheet metal from part of the air conditioning ducting we found not only had someone removed half of the beam in a three foot section, but at least one of the floor joists were cut off and hanging free. I installed one of the posts under the joist and beam and it seemed to stabilize it (at least I stopped feeling sea sick.)

Since Rich got back we've put in three more posts and we've found more places where things were cut or removed that shouldn't have been (including a brick wall supporting part of the cracked beam). For now, though I think we have things stabilized and we've started the lifting process. It's not going to be a quick fix, but we have a plan.

The structural issues notwithstanding, we love the house. It feels like home more than any other house ever has. We lived in our last home for over 20 years and it never felt like this. The house has a way about it that makes living in it easy to find a routine that works (if that makes any sense at all).

The sun rises in the back yard, so I take my breakfast either on the back step or at the window in the dining room. Both overlook the riot of color that is the flower garden that the last owner (Cliff) lovingly cultivated. The entire back yard (over a 1/4 acre) is a garden full of flowers and beautiful trees.

The kitchen is small, half the size of my last kitchen(which i hated), but it's perfect sized for Rich and I to make dinner together. Its funny but organizing the kitchen just kind of happened and it all makes sense. The work flow, just really works too. We will eventually need new counter tops, a waterline for the espresso machine and a better exhaust fan.

The air conditioner did go out this morning. That's Rich's specialty, so I expect it won't be down for long. In the mean time I did the old timey thing that this house was built for. I cracked the cellar door, opened the basement door into the house and put a fan in the upstairs bathroom window. It's 82 degrees out now, but 75 in the house. I suspect it would be even cooler if the east facing dining room window had a shade I could have pulled this morning. It's perfectly comfortable for me, but Rich is a freeze baby <said in the most loving way> so he'll probably suffer until the air is fixed.