Incongruity...

[Daniel Meyer]

I be bloggin'

http://theoldvictorian.com/2015/06/28/incongruity/

We’ll restore what makes sense. Preserve what we like. Replace what we must…and we’ll make sure this house is practical and comfortable to remain in use (and thus, standing) for another century or more.

[Gothichome]

Daniel, read your blog, I most throughly agree. Although we are furnishing Gothichome ' in period' there is absolutely no reason not to have all the modern convientcies of modern times. After all innovation, adaption to new ways and means was the the hall mark of Victorian society.

[SkipW]

Well said.

I don't imagine the folks who built and lived in our house in 1907 would understand that I am posting on the web from a wireless internet connection from my laptop as my wife watches television and talks on her cellular phone in the den, all while the high efficiency washer does the laundry and we're waiting for the dishes to cool from the dishwasher to put them away...

[Nicholas]

Original wall paper, wow. You have a writing talent, nice read.

I found the original porcelain electrical connectors above our porch from the early electric hookup.

Our house didn't have central AC until the investment company that acquired it installed it in 2003. I also found out that the owners, granddaughter of original and her husband, used a wood burning stove for heat.

When I think of the one source of heat, no AC, an outhouse 100 feet away, no modern appliances, our Star Trek communicators, it makes me aware of how spoiled we have become, and may have forgotten basic survival instincts.

[Texas_Ranger]

Yesterday I walked into a ca. 1880 apartment last renovated in 1960 here in Vienna because the owners were selling the vintage kitchen. The place did have a water closet off the hall (originally probably shared by at least two apartments that were later turned into one) but no bathroom. A bathroom sink was next to the kitchen sink and next to that a modern tub they never bothered to install properly, it didn't have a skirt but was exposed like a clawfoot. Hot water was provided by a gas-fired tankless from the 70s (the city converted from town gas to natural gas between 1970 and 1978 and at that time most gas appliances older than say 10 years were replaced because the manufacturers didn't offer burner orifices for natural gas), heat was 1 or 2 coal stoves. Two larger rooms facing the street, one facing the courtyard and one (the current kitchen) squeezed in between the hall leading to the rear room and one of the front rooms. Two 10 amp circuits for the whole place (discovered that because we did buy the medicine cabinet with built-in light and I had to turn off the power to disconnect that).

Apart from the somewhat cool white kitchen cabinets with red counters the place looked horrible, all dark and brown-green-orangey with shag carpet and everything. The kitchen didn't even have tile on the kitchen side (only behind the sink and bath) but sheet vinyl glued to the walls.

So... basically some people considered living like that perfectly normal as late as 1960 during a complete remodel!
The house has already been sold and will in all likeliness be demolished along with at least one of its neighbours, a defunct car repair shop.

[Don M]

I also agree, our 1830s PA stone farmhouse got inside plumbing in 1947, now three full baths, has state of the art boiler & indirect water heater, a 200 amp electric service & more. We also don't live in a museum!

[SouthernLady]

Loved reading your post. It felt like I was there in the room. Even had an impulse to wash my hands because of the wallpaper bits I felt like were on them.

My grandparents 1790s house had no heat and no AC in it. It seems like the windows were open all the time--for fresh, flowing air in the summer, and to cool off the stifling-hot rooms from the wood stoves in the winter. Although a toilet was added by either my grandfather or by the man before him, we still had to take treks behind the tobacco barn or cow barn when the well pump stopped working for whatever reason. Or whenever my grandmother didn't want us to use it so she didn't have to clean it... OCD before OCD had a name.

Love your home!