1920's Chicago Area Bungalow

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

Hi everyone! We bought our red brick bungalow about 2002 from husbands mother, this is the house he grew up in.

In-laws bought the house in 1962, and were the 4th owners, if I'm remembering correctly. We have an earliest picture of the house shortly after it was built, that WEIRDLY was on a postcard bought by my son on Ebay:



Then there's this one which is from the era of the 3rd owners



And a more current one:



We've been working on this house continuously (though slowly) for a long while, and it was full of stuff when we moved in. Mom simply took what she needed for a small house, and left the rest here. That included a full attic and basement, etc. I've sporadically taken pictures, so I need to (soon!) spend some time and update this photo site:

http://www.pbase.com/lauren674/

Our latest project was the installation of the colonnades to create a "study" (that name is indeed sticking), and the next project is restoration of the chopped up adjacent bedroom.

Glad to be a part of this new/old community!

[CS in Low Hud]

Hi lauren,

You have to figure out how to get the photos (and story) of your colonnade up here. It's quite a success story!

Chris

[mattswabb]

I've been following your thread on OHW on your colonnades install. They turned out great. We always check eBay for Elyria stuff and check out the postcards. I'd love to find one with our house on it. We did find one with a picture of the original owner but not on ebay.

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

I don't believe I ever posted about our basement bathroom remodel which was earlier this year. The bathroom is not used frequently, but during the 4 years (!) it took to complete the main bathroom, we used that bathroom to shower in frequently. (we have one full bath on each floor in this house). After using it a while, it became clear that there was some leaking going on. We decided to have the shower rebuilt, and during the demo it grew into more using the concept of "well if we are going to have to do that, we might as well...". But, please note that we didn't go so far with our "might as wells" to make a whole new bigger bathroom, we did stay within the old footprint.

I found some pictures on facebook and downloaded to the pbase site in my signature. This bathroom is only at most 6' x 6' so its very hard to take pictures of it.

Before:


After:


We knew the shower had rot, but underestimated the extent of it. Even though its only a basement bathroom, we tried to think about the future and make it better than it was before. I only had a few days to "pick out the stuff" which suddenly meant new fixtures, floor tile, finding a sink that fit, new shower door and making it look right. I went with a grey/brown modernish design inspired by the Ikea sink, lol. Some notes:

The mirror just extends if you want it right in front of your face at the sink. Its magnified on one side and regular on the other.

The shower is only 32" or so. It's solid surface composite on the walls and ceiling, Moen posi-temp keeps it steady even if someone else is taking a shower upstairs, laundry etc.

14" deep Ikea wall mount sink allows for better use of a tiny space.

Moved the two piece round bowl space saving Toto from main floor bath and bought a new one-piece space saving elongated Toto Ultramax II for upstairs.

The floor tile is a beautiful grey porcelain basket weave bought online at exactly the small amount needed.

Baseboard heat instead of the ineffective radiator that was in the wall.

New window, ceiling, can lights and exhaust fan.

We used composite boards on the lower framing of the shower to avoid future rot from basement seepage or flooding.

Wood baseboards instead of those rubber ones makes the room 'finished'.

Paint color is Sherwin Williams "Grayish"

Bathroom door swings out instead of in (and it also had to be replaced due to rot)

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

Repost from earlier this year:

Okay, old house enthusiasts, look mainly at the lower right side of the living room and the adjacent bedroom. The second picture is what I want to go back to, which means breaking open long closed off doorways, tearing down closets that were relocated 50 years ago, and rebuilding them where they were originally. Adding colonnades. Two of our construction friends say "You're nuts! You're lucky to have one large living room, why would you want to ruin that?!" and "Who cares about that bedroom being small, its just a guest room." They are swaying husband. I need a reality check. Please tell me what you would be doing with this area of the floor plan if anything. (yes the "sunroom" at the left side needs a closet removed and windows restored as well.)

Here is the floor plan when we moved in:



Here is what we're trying to restore:



We've been looking at this for a couple of years now, once we determined what the original floor plan was, and it just feels "all wrong" the way it is now. In the little bedroom, the ceiling light is right next to the wall (centered on the original room) The baseboards go right through the walls. Except for moving the electric, the walls should come down fairly well. But then we will need to spend time repairing the ceiling, floor, and walls. The original doorway to the bedroom is still framed in under plaster, as is the doorway to the original closet from the bedroom. It will be a dusty mess opening those up but not difficult.

We have already opened up the original doorway at the end of the hall and closed up the doorway you see in the picture. It had been closed up with much lathe and paster...the changes were made very early on in the house's history. This doorway brings a lot of light into the previously very dark narrow hallway with small french doors with obscured glass. The little 4 x 4 foyer is only accessed from the hallway now. We went ahead and made this change before having the floors refinished.

Anything we put into the house that's not necessary is not really going to pay back especially since house values have gone down so much. In either case, we have no plans to move, as it is the family homestead for 3 generations after we bought the house from husbands mother. I keep thinking that its quite possible that our 80 year old family members may need to move in at some point too, and that the larger bedroom would be much appreciated if that should happen. Our grown son has a masters degree in historic preservation and has been unable to get a full-time job in this economy. He does consulting work and writes hp articles, and will be living here for a while (he is a big help on the renovations).

In my mind, using the square footage most efficiently and making the house comfortable for everyone is a good move.

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

We searched for nearly a year for Colonnades to divide the living room, and finally found these:



Here is some of the previous posts on this topic:

Son and hubby found these yesterday on a business trip, I called this morning and made an offer, which was promptly accepted! Now they have to back 4 hours to get them, and drive 6 hrs home. One thing I learned is buy them when you find them.

I bought those colonnades knowing I would greatly regret passing them up. This means the next construction project must be lined up: build one wall with a large opening of 9' x 7' where the colonnades will be, and a 2nd wall to create two closets, and trim out everything, installing the colonnades and replacing a long baseboard heater.

Then the bedroom adjacent will have the entry door moved (to where it was originally at some time early on in the houses history) and non original two closets ripped out, electrical work to move switches, trim work.....end result is a "study/entry" room with a coat closet, and a restored/enlarged bedroom with door location further away from the living room and new closet.

All this construction is putting the house back to the way it was built in the first place! Except instead of colonnades, there was more likely a full wall with two glass french doors opening into the study (based upon the neighbors houses). The floor plan was "remuddled" and for some reason I am completely compelled to spend $$$ to make it right.

Well, the installation has been ongoing this week, here are pictures thus far, and a link to previous thread that shows the floor plan changes. Doors are off the colonnades being repaired by a wood worker




The drywall will be sanded today and then comes the installation of a lot trim. In the picture above bookcases are not yet installed so keep in mind they they will move apart another 8 inches when they are wrapped around the walls on 4 inches each side. Then they will not be as close together as shown now.

Trim includes: 3 piece crown, two piece baseboards, closet door/frame, new window frame for stain glass window and the door frame for the colonnades. We are currently stripping and refinishing the coat closet door and trim prior to installation. Its a lot of work, but a lot of fun! 2nd phase after this room will be enlarging the adjacent bedroom with the removal of the old closets and relocation of the doorway. Also the doorway to the new bedroom closet must be opened up and installed. That whole phase will be the messiest part of the restoration.

We've been busy preparing the molding which is all new pieces for a 4-pc crown, and stripped original pieces. Now that this is looking so beautiful, we've decided to refresh the colonnades and their large door frame before they are installed.



We've changed our minds about the direction of the colonnades and are in agreement that they should be turned around so that the bookcases face the desk. I left it up to husband, since he's had so little say-so in this whole restoration, and over the time they've been sitting there without doors he realized it seems like they are facing the wrong way.

This is just an example of how sometimes we just have to sit with things before deciding on a change.



Pretty much completed:

[BungalowMo]

WOW!! That is one amazing transformation!

Absolutely gorgeous!! (the little "shock" face reminds me of E.T.)

[Chevygirlalways]

I also have followed your colonnade adventure on OHW. You certainly have done beautiful and thoughtful work. I love your house. I grew up in Chicago until my teen years and always loved the Chicago bungalows.
Susan

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

We are onto the next phase of restoring the adjacent bedroom to the original floor plan size. It will go from its current 8.5 ft wide to 12.5 ft wide! Knocking down heavy plaster walls we found some newspaper from 1934 that's who's when this stupid change had been made. Also signs of a floral and a geometric wall papers

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[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

Here's the floral

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See the floor plans I posted earlier to understand what walls are being removed and doorways for the bedroom and new closet relocated to the original places.