1860 farmhouse - Hello!

[SmellyHouse]

Welcome Oaktree! Pretty old house, glad it was 'saved' by a good owner.

Like you, I delved right into demo. Be careful, though, sometimes you get a little giddy and tear out more than you should. Ideally, everyone's right that you should get in the house for a year. Mostly, because you'll learn where the sun hits, the quiet corners, where you gravitate to. But, if you don't, oh well

If it helps to understand the style of your house, I would recommend the following books (I have them and love them):

Field Guides to American Houses (though it's sadly a bit light on Farmhouses):
http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Ameri ... YDZ9MK685Q

Get your House Right (Architectural Elements, helps to learn the proper names)
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Your-House-Ri ... E76ECPNC4P

Honestly, farmhouses are almost the hardest to bring back to their original state, because a lot of them have been remuddled to death or made into fancysmancy 5k sq foot monsters. However, there are a lot of farmhouses that had some pretty elaborate gingerbread trim...and given your front porch embellishments, I would think yours was one of them. (and looooooooove the old milk house!!!)

I'd suggest finding some similar house plans from here to help guide you.
http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/plans/

Welcome!

[oaktree]

Hi senegal_jen!

I just ordered those books, and I'm excited to read them.

I agree about farmhouses. I looked at many before choosing this one, and all of them were quite remuddled, which makes sense with how people used them. So much of the history got thrown out in my house, but I have to admit much of what the previous owners did was extremely practical and easy to live with. A standby generator and a workshop in a pole barn with skylights are my favorite of these upgrades.

This house is actually in better shape than the 50s house I used to own, which I did massive renovations on but didn't require me to research history. I actually love the renovation process, but I do want to do it slowly this time. Doing the research definitely takes time.

So far, I've had self control about how much to rip out. The floors turned out to be my big splurge. I had planned to just put in linoleum in most places to replace the worn carpets and vinyl to make it comfortable for the short term, but then I found those old wood floors. My last house had completely unsalvageable hardwood floors where most was ripped out and what was left was eaten by termites. I normally am never this lucky...I was shocked. The temptation is to rip out more things to do the floors perfectly right, but I think I can wait. I know there's more floor to excavate, and I hope I can match up those areas with what I'm refinishing now.

I'd like to stretch out the renovations over many years...it's really enjoyable.

I checked out your blog...I just moved from Cambridge, and your house is really lovely!!! I'm extremely jealous of your stove.

[Don M]

Another warm welcome to Wavy Glass! Your new home is very interesting & probably is hiding more fun discoveries for the future. Your out buildings look to be in excellent condition too. Our farmhouse is obviously a colonial, built in 1830. We have several out buildings including a huge PA bank barn on 28 acres. Our house has fancy trim in the front rooms for company & simple trim in the back for family. Please post more pictures; we love to see other's homes!

[oaktree]

Hi Don!

Thank you!

28 acres! That is fantastic...I'd love that but couldn't manage it near my job.

I do suspect some other discoveries! I just noticed that the wall with the bricked over fireplace is about six inches in from where I believe it was originally. The wood floors extend underneath the wall unlike everywhere else, and the wall is flush with the brick covered the fireplace. I'm so curious what's behind there!!! Maybe I do have one plaster wall left...maybe a fieldstone fireplace...but I must resist...



I might just take this gas stove out for now and save the wall and fireplace for later. There appears to be more wood flooring under that brick. This is one spot I have leaks! There is dampness around the gas stove pipe, and my chimney has cracks, which I intend to fix ASAP. The stove doesn't even light according to the previous owners. I normally love gas stoves, but this one takes up so much space in the living room. It doesn't look very nice on that brick with the new mantle just stuck on behind it.

I will definitely share more pictures...I'm very much enjoying everyone else's photos, and thanks for the welcome!

[Gothichome]

Oaktree, is your stove offset to one side or is it just the optics of your picture. If so you just might have a bread oven as part of your original fireplace

[Don M]

Now I want to know what is behind that wall too! Maybe you could cut out a small access hole so you can shine a flashlight inside?! If nothing just replace & tape the sheetrock. When our 1830s stone house was built the floors were installed before the interior walls were built; the wood goes under the walls! I think they built the stone walls & then put in the rafters for the floor above, installed the flooring then build interior walls.

[oaktree]

The stove is centered on that brick pad. But that wall looks to be 6 inches out. The chimney behind the wall is fieldstone. A bread oven would be interesting...

There's a sliding door on that same wall which is recessed by 6 inches. Very odd.

[oaktree]

This is the only wall where there isn't a big gap between the wood floors and the walls, and that recessed sliding door and the brick are weird! It makes me think there is space back there...but it also might have other expensive surprises.

If I take the gas stove out because of the leaks, I'm going to peek in there! So curious!

[Don M]

I guess 6 inches isn't really very much space; 3.5" 2x4 plus 1/2" drywall maybe 2 inches of space? The change from field stone to brick is odd but maybe the PO didn't like the look of field stone.

[oaktree]

Here are some more pictures of this odd wall with the fireplace and sliding door. I capped off the gas line to the stove, so I can move it. I don't feel ready to redo this whole fireplace, but I'd like to refinish the entire floor right now if possible. As you can see, there are some leaks that have to be taken care of immediately, and it looks like the original wood goes underneath the brick hearth.