Wife's ancestral home

[GDWoodbutcher (WavyGlass)]

Continuing from previous post, all the locks were rimlocks because of door thickness. Floors were all painted (or stained) brown, then red, green, blue, woodgrained and finally covered w/oak veneer. Only the room w/two large windows had carpet from day one. Carpeted room was also only room to receive any moulding w/a profile. It is a 2 1/4" profiled band on top of 1"x4" casing interrupted at top corners by a 2 3/8" square bullseye that look crude. This trim is also original. Thing is all signs point to cheap, but why then are all ceilings 9' or more including upstairs, when so many neighboring homes are 1 1/2 stories.

[Neighmond]

Plain isn't always synonymous with cheap. I lived in a beautiful old house in Quincy Illinois with fancy wood in the front-most room, and plain wood trim elsewhere, and the place was solid and built with real integrity. Rumor was that the people who built it didn't believe in needless "frufru" and shunned it religiously.

[GDWoodbutcher (WavyGlass)]

Agree with you that plain can be a choice, and I happen to like the more carpenter built simplicity, but going through the bones of the house, something seems wrong for 1882. The door hinges are mortised into the casing, which is flush with the face of the jamb. The window casings are also flush with their jambs and the stop covers the seam. Both of these situations are harder to produce good results with, so kinda goes against being cheap, but flies in the face of decorative wants for 1880's in my opinion. Oh and by the way, all the baseboard upstairs is inverted clapboard - never seen that before - but it does work.

[Kashka-Kat]

Im jealous - our old family homestead (built by my grandfather in 1912 right after he came from the old country) was sold off about 3 years ago and I really felt it as a true loss. People say "it's just a house," like I shouldn't grieve, but my response is.... it's a house that MY PEOPLE LIVED IN. If you come from a long line of farmers like I do, then I think the attachment to land and place is in the genes!

[GDWoodbutcher (WavyGlass)]

Kashka-Kat - My side of the family came from the old countries also, about the same time as your grandfather, but they always rented in Chicago, no homestead. My wife's side is a different story, the most recent arrival was 1847 from Ireland, a farmer, and the rest go way, way back. As much as my wife loves the place, I can't belive how attached I've become. We both felt like we won the lottery when we were able to buy it, and so far so good. Working on it is in no way like work, it's a blast !!