Vinyl siding is finally coming off!

[vvzz]

I couldn't start this project last summer, but now I'm finally getting to it! My house is covered with two layers of extra stuff - wooden shingles sometime in the early 20th century and then a layer of ghastly vinyl from 2000s. I'm slightly confused, why would someone put wooden shingles over the original clapboards(they still need to be painted too...) But judging from quite a few other houses that got the same treatment - maybe some contractor in the 20s was a very good salesman. Of course there are no questions about the 'trailer park special' vinyl.

Taking off all those layers and revealing the original clapboards and remains of the trim is super satisfying:


Everything held up pretty well after all those years. The moldings are gone, of course, but luckily those are available even today:


Here's a slightly confusing part. All front windows are arched top. I was expecting to find the matching arched top moldings on the outside. However, I uncovered this:


I'm extremely confused on why would they do this. I even took the molding on the right to confirm that this original and appears to be - the wood underneath is unpainted. I've never seen anything like that - in all my old pattern books the if the window is arched on the top, it gets and arched treatment. Anyone have any ideas?

And then the question arises - do I respect someones 156 year old laziness(or maybe lack of money, or maybe ordering screw up) and keep it that way, or do I fix it?

[Mick_VT]

Nothing to fix IMO, its just the style.

Looking great already, with just a bit off! Exciting!

[heartwood]

one can never quite know for sure why one chooses to use the components they do--ease of use, cost, misguided information....I would say the choice is now yours to trim out the windows the way it suits you best....I do LOVE those gently curved sash....glazing the curve feels like sculpting art!

...jade

[Gothichome]

Vvzz, I would suspect the trim around your window (and the bay as a whole) would mirror you front door trim. Are there any other restored homes on you block to reference?

[Vala]

Wow, looks so much better already! Congratulations on starting! Sometimes bay windows have a different trim than the rest, at least I see that sometimes around these parts. Maybe the rest of the house will be different.

[Mick_VT]

Vvzz, I would suspect the trim around your window (and the bay as a whole) would mirror you front door trim. Are there any other restored homes on you block to reference?

Yes, the front doorway has to be the biggest clue. Notice how it is all rectilinear, This would be why the trim was that way even though the window was arched IMO. The house I think shoudl have an overall Italianate kind of look too it. Very handsome. I wonder if the little corbelled brackets of the entryway were also present on the bay at one time.

[Kashka-Kat]

What Mick said - I like that straight horizontal edge being the same as the rectangular windows on ea side of the arched window. I think if you start adding on all these other components that weren't originally there it could start looking too "busy" real fast and create visual chaos. Sometimes, with architectural features, less is truly more. I think its always best to first see what the original intention was re: design ... and then go from there.

Also note the heavy horizontal lines of that trim and roofy overhang thing directly above the windows (whatya call that??). If you start adding on archy things willy-nilly to all, or some of the windows, then its going to compete with the horizontal-ness of the other features.

Hope that made sense. I have intuitive understandings of spatial relationships that im seeing but don't always have the language to express it!

Cant wait to see more of vinyl peeled away! Im sure Im not the only one who gets a vicarious thrill from seeing pics - the more the better. Peeling away the extraneous gack is always my most favorite part of any house restoration task.

[vvzz]

I actually trained in classic architecture, so I know a few things The biggest hint will be the second floor window on top of the entrance. It has an arched top too but I wonder how it was trimmed out.
There are some houses around here with the original details and typically arched bay windows get arched trim.

In fact, the house to the right of me was built by the brother of my houses original owner around the same time as mine and it has arched moldings. It also has exactly the same cornice moldings.

I firmly believe in preservation but I'm 90 percent sure this was due to some sort of mistake or lack of money. But im definitely going to wait until all the siding comes off to see the big picture. Maybe the builder had a bigger idea in mind

[Casey]

Are those sash actually round-topped or are they squared-off and hidden under radiused architraves?
It is way easier to build sash with square corners and make the opening/glass rabbet rounded. A true arch-topped frame is exquisitely fussy and expensive.

So it was something (we don't yet know what) before it was shingled; maybe it was a high Italianate, which was very out of style by 1900.
Casey

[vvzz]

The sashes are true arched sashes. Interior window trim moldings are arched too and have survived. The house style is second empire, but more of mid grade. By 1900s East Boston was in decline and all the affluent people were moving out and were being replaced with immigrants, so I don't think the style at that time was a priority anymore.

Here's clapboards and the pilasters revealed: