The Historic District

Oh lovely images, and easy to understand you've been busy!

Lily left the valley wrote:Oh lovely images, and easy to understand you've been busy!

Thanks so much!!! I love my house more every day.

Oaktree, what a place, got it all tidied up, one of the owners had vision and planted the right stuff in the right spots, good to see it as it was probably intended to look. Between your lilacs (I think) there appears to be a wood covering or small decorative bridge, old well cover or a bit of landscaping design? Also, in the yard all by it's self your hose real also sittin( on what looks to be an old well. Source for your yard watering?

Gothichome wrote:Oaktree, what a place, got it all tidied up, one of the owners had vision and planted the right stuff in the right spots, good to see it as it was probably intended to look. Between your lilacs (I think) there appears to be a wood covering or small decorative bridge, old well cover or a bit of landscaping design? Also, in the yard all by it's self your hose real also sittin( on what looks to be an old well. Source for your yard watering?

Hi Gothichome! Thanks! Yes, all previous owners were enthusiastic about gardening and the nature around if not so much the house. That's why my place was advertised as land to build a "dream home" in the back by the real estate agent. It's not a flat property and you probably are noticing at the terraces built into the hills with steps, which are very charming. There's terraces near the milk house and behind the garage (with a row of Korean lilacs). I've only tackled one of these areas so far and the other is not so tidy and still overgrown with poison ivy, which I'm rather allergic to. I have a farm hydrant for watering in the back near my well (everyone around here has their own well) but I don't see any remains of an antique well. There's also an antique but decrepit plow in the front of the house that I'm quite fond of too. I'm excited to plant more fruit trees and bushes, and I have plans for a vegetable garden but first have to figure out how to build an attractive deer fence!

I was watching a show about old english victorian farms and they were building a fence with sticks. If I recall right they found a small log and laid it on the ground and bored holes every foot or so and then planted sticks in each of the holes. Then they used smaller branches, maybe willow or something to weave in and out of the sticks that were "planted" in the holes in the log. as they went it became very strong and permanent. no building materials other than what they collected. I think in some cases they may have done two fences parallel maybe 3 feet apart and filled the space between with brush. Maybe blackberries would do well for that. it created a pretty impenetrable boundary and it was all green materials so it looked nice from a distance, much like a hedge. I forget the name exactly "old english farmhouse"? something like that. old victorian farm.. it's a good series they lived the lives of the victorian farmers in pretty close detail. in one episode they borrowed a plough horse and they show a lot about the details of how they lived.. Im sure others here have seen it. I'd say its worth watching. it wasnt' a TV drama like holmes on homes or all the others that have very weak content and a whole lot of repetitive drama. They then got a steam tractor and used that.. they seem to go into a lot of detail and get a lot of real experts in each subject. I liked the fence. a lot of work but it's free if you can just colect the right kinds of sticks and stuff.
here it is "victorian farm" now the bit about the fence could have been in one of the related ones like "edwardian farm" These are all worth watching.

I guess deer are pretty good jumpers but having the two some distance apart with brush between makes a sturdy boundary for people too. It almost loks like that is what is happening there in your last pic with what looks like two fences in parallel. maybe you knew that already.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Farm

A great series to watch. Ruth Goodman is an English historian. Her and a few other historians are heavy into experiencing history, so they live the period in which they study. I have her book, How to be a Victorian. There is a series of BBC documentaries documenting their historical reenactments, from the Tudors to the Victory farm. Well worth the time to watch, available on YouTube.
Phill the fence you mention is called a waddle fence, at least that's what a single fence is called. And you are correct, Oaktree's fence line does look some thing similar, but far to robust in my view. Maybe just part of an over grown stepped bank retaining wall. If level, maybe an old cattle or sheep run.

I don't think these terraces are too old, but I'm glad they look like the fit! Thanks you both phil and gothichome for all the info, which will be handy when I add more.

Here's the light fixture ready to go in the closet...I hope it looks good! There's going to be an actual light switch instead of a pull chain now, which is exciting.

I like IR sensors in closets these days - you walk in and the light comes on of its own accord!

The previous owners told me they installed those terraces behind the garage because the earth was causing the back of the detached garage to cave in. Those big posts are holding all the soil back. It looks really charming and like it was done for aesthetics though.

I was trying to find more pictures to illustrate without luck, but I found these instead. I don't know if ever posted all of them.







19th century hand hewn beam cleaned up and put back.



I didn't put the gas stove back, and I haven't restored the fireplace yet. The chimney is capped over to prevent leaks for now. A project for later...no more big projects until I get promoted. I am probably going to install the stove in my studio soon, which is cold since it's an addition on a concrete pad.

Actually, you can sort of see the terrace situation in these two pictures:



those are fred and wilma and baby...named by previous owners. they come back every year and sneak up on me when I'm working in the garage.



and the very pretty terraces and steps near the milkhouse if you look past the mr2:



These were totally overgrown with vetch, which I've almost gotten rid of. It's persistent.