S/o charm of old houses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard several people mention working shutters. Do you say this because what you really mean "shutters that look nice versus something cheap/fake" or do you really close your shutters? Because I've never seen anyone do this so I was really just curious.

When I lived in Italy I had exterior shutters that worked and I definitely used, i.e. closed them. It was kind of wonderful - kept the heat out during hot summer days -- and I always wondered by American houses didn't have them.

This is a good reading about shutters. Operable shutters look so much better than fake ones. I built and installed operable shutters in my home. What a difference!

http://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters.php

Take a walk in Georgetown or Old Town. You'll notice that shutters are usually operable.

Yes! Also-in our Georgetown rowhouse our bay window side panels crank open right over the brick sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

By the way, for the lovers of old homes:
http://www.oldhouseguy.com/intro.php

He is a bit too radical, I think, but always enjoyable to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard several people mention working shutters. Do you say this because what you really mean "shutters that look nice versus something cheap/fake" or do you really close your shutters? Because I've never seen anyone do this so I was really just curious.

When I lived in Italy I had exterior shutters that worked and I definitely used, i.e. closed them. It was kind of wonderful - kept the heat out during hot summer days -- and I always wondered by American houses didn't have them.

This is a good reading about shutters. Operable shutters look so much better than fake ones. I built and installed operable shutters in my home. What a difference!

http://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters.php

Take a walk in Georgetown or Old Town. You'll notice that shutters are usually operable.

but--oh the original floors and crown moldings,,,and archways...lovely!
Yes! Also-in our Georgetown rowhouse our bay window side panels crank open right over the brick sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My original wood plank floors that have held up from 1880!! You can't replicate.

The odd details, hidden nooks and crannies. My mom talks about the hidden doors and panels and little room in the old Victorian she grew up in New Haven. The old dumbwaiter.
My rowhouse had the underground railroad pass through it. The doors, the original crown molding, the bay windows. The hidden attic room. The large trees and the gospel church with it's preserved stained glass windows overlooking our back patio. The very, very old large Cherry tree in the center. I LOVE old homes---even if they can be a pain in the ass when you need custom window treatments (not standard size), etc.

A dumbwaiter!!! How I would love one!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood of homes mostly built in the early 40's. There are lots of cape cods and colonials, the occasional bungalow, tudor, Craftsman or farmhouse, and very few ranch houses or split levels. The features I love include:
- tudor houses with the narrow peaked roof, wood beam detailing, unique window mullions and doors with rounded tops.
- working shutters and sometimes window boxes
- inside: crown moldings, nice baseboard moldings, chair rails, wainscotting, arched doorways, windows that are not all the same size/shape. Window seats, etc. Solid wood doors with panes instead of plain hollow-core doors.
- I think sloped ceilings and dormer windows and weird angles can be neat features that are a little more interesting than just 4 plain, straight walls at right angles, with a normal ceiling.

My house was built in 1942 so it has the original features on the main level, but it's also been bumped out on the main level and the upper level was bumped out for more ceiling height. I've been gradually making cosmetic changes to get rid of 80's elements in the house (shiny fake brass sconces, hollow doors) to make the rest of the house more consistent with the original house. I do wish we had more closet space, newer plumbing and better wiring, but some of that stuff I can change and some I just live with.

Where I would never live: a cookie-cutter subdivision where every house looks a lot like its neighbor, where architectural details are kind of thrown on at random (with no regard to whether they belong on a house), or in a house that didn't have an actual architectural style. Some of the newer homes are such a mishmash of things.

I don't understand where these unique old homes are. The row houses are mass produced and the same, the ramblers lining the streets of Arlington are all the same, the split levels are all the same, the tiny colonials are all the same. All I see is cookie cutter same old homes over and over again with little no variation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood of homes mostly built in the early 40's. There are lots of cape cods and colonials, the occasional bungalow, tudor, Craftsman or farmhouse, and very few ranch houses or split levels. The features I love include:
- tudor houses with the narrow peaked roof, wood beam detailing, unique window mullions and doors with rounded tops.
- working shutters and sometimes window boxes
- inside: crown moldings, nice baseboard moldings, chair rails, wainscotting, arched doorways, windows that are not all the same size/shape. Window seats, etc. Solid wood doors with panes instead of plain hollow-core doors.
- I think sloped ceilings and dormer windows and weird angles can be neat features that are a little more interesting than just 4 plain, straight walls at right angles, with a normal ceiling.

My house was built in 1942 so it has the original features on the main level, but it's also been bumped out on the main level and the upper level was bumped out for more ceiling height. I've been gradually making cosmetic changes to get rid of 80's elements in the house (shiny fake brass sconces, hollow doors) to make the rest of the house more consistent with the original house. I do wish we had more closet space, newer plumbing and better wiring, but some of that stuff I can change and some I just live with.

Where I would never live: a cookie-cutter subdivision where every house looks a lot like its neighbor, where architectural details are kind of thrown on at random (with no regard to whether they belong on a house), or in a house that didn't have an actual architectural style. Some of the newer homes are such a mishmash of things.

I don't understand where these unique old homes are. The row houses are mass produced and the same, the ramblers lining the streets of Arlington are all the same, the split levels are all the same, the tiny colonials are all the same. All I see is cookie cutter same old homes over and over again with little no variation.

For detached, single family homes check certain parts of falls church city (broadmont), aurora hills arlington, some neighborhoods in Bethesda (don't know specific names), palisades in DC. Obviously Georgetown & Old Town Alexandria for old row houses. Hard to find truly 'old' neighborhoods around here ... so much post war mass produced S-box neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1939 Cape and I love the arch between the dining room and living room and my glass door knobs. Also, the black and white tile in the bathroom.

No doubt that I would love your home!! You've named some of my favorite items in an older home--plus older wood floors, windows, and cozy fireplace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood of homes mostly built in the early 40's. There are lots of cape cods and colonials, the occasional bungalow, tudor, Craftsman or farmhouse, and very few ranch houses or split levels. The features I love include:
- tudor houses with the narrow peaked roof, wood beam detailing, unique window mullions and doors with rounded tops.
- working shutters and sometimes window boxes
- inside: crown moldings, nice baseboard moldings, chair rails, wainscotting, arched doorways, windows that are not all the same size/shape. Window seats, etc. Solid wood doors with panes instead of plain hollow-core doors.
- I think sloped ceilings and dormer windows and weird angles can be neat features that are a little more interesting than just 4 plain, straight walls at right angles, with a normal ceiling.

My house was built in 1942 so it has the original features on the main level, but it's also been bumped out on the main level and the upper level was bumped out for more ceiling height. I've been gradually making cosmetic changes to get rid of 80's elements in the house (shiny fake brass sconces, hollow doors) to make the rest of the house more consistent with the original house. I do wish we had more closet space, newer plumbing and better wiring, but some of that stuff I can change and some I just live with.

Where I would never live: a cookie-cutter subdivision where every house looks a lot like its neighbor, where architectural details are kind of thrown on at random (with no regard to whether they belong on a house), or in a house that didn't have an actual architectural style. Some of the newer homes are such a mishmash of things.

I don't understand where these unique old homes are. The row houses are mass produced and the same, the ramblers lining the streets of Arlington are all the same, the split levels are all the same, the tiny colonials are all the same. All I see is cookie cutter same old homes over and over again with little no variation.

For detached, single family homes check certain parts of falls church city (broadmont), aurora hills arlington, some neighborhoods in Bethesda (don't know specific names), palisades in DC. Obviously Georgetown & Old Town Alexandria for old row houses. Hard to find truly 'old' neighborhoods around here ... so much post war mass produced S-box neighborhoods.

maybe you need to live va more often... most of upper nw fits was built out between the 20's and 30's... it's not till you get further out in bethesda that you start to see the post-war houses pop-up...

[Anonymous]

13:05 - you have a dumbwaiter? I would kill for a dumbwaiter! (ok, that's extreme, but I really really want one.) The first time I toured Monticello, I got really excited at all the cool inventions, especially the dumbwaiter.

Some friends of my parents bought this amazing old (mid-late 1800's) house in my hometown KC. They restored it, which included excavating through multiple layers of wallpaper, some of which were really neat. There was also a secret back staircase. I desperately wanted that house. (which is actually for sale right now, though I'm not in a position to move back to my hometown.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood of homes mostly built in the early 40's. There are lots of cape cods and colonials, the occasional bungalow, tudor, Craftsman or farmhouse, and very few ranch houses or split levels. The features I love include:
- tudor houses with the narrow peaked roof, wood beam detailing, unique window mullions and doors with rounded tops.
- working shutters and sometimes window boxes
- inside: crown moldings, nice baseboard moldings, chair rails, wainscotting, arched doorways, windows that are not all the same size/shape. Window seats, etc. Solid wood doors with panes instead of plain hollow-core doors.
- I think sloped ceilings and dormer windows and weird angles can be neat features that are a little more interesting than just 4 plain, straight walls at right angles, with a normal ceiling.

My house was built in 1942 so it has the original features on the main level, but it's also been bumped out on the main level and the upper level was bumped out for more ceiling height. I've been gradually making cosmetic changes to get rid of 80's elements in the house (shiny fake brass sconces, hollow doors) to make the rest of the house more consistent with the original house. I do wish we had more closet space, newer plumbing and better wiring, but some of that stuff I can change and some I just live with.

Where I would never live: a cookie-cutter subdivision where every house looks a lot like its neighbor, where architectural details are kind of thrown on at random (with no regard to whether they belong on a house), or in a house that didn't have an actual architectural style. Some of the newer homes are such a mishmash of things.

I don't understand where these unique old homes are. The row houses are mass produced and the same, the ramblers lining the streets of Arlington are all the same, the split levels are all the same, the tiny colonials are all the same. All I see is cookie cutter same old homes over and over again with little no variation.

For detached, single family homes check certain parts of falls church city (broadmont), aurora hills arlington, some neighborhoods in Bethesda (don't know specific names), palisades in DC. Obviously Georgetown & Old Town Alexandria for old row houses. Hard to find truly 'old' neighborhoods around here ... so much post war mass produced S-box neighborhoods.

maybe you need to live va more often... most of upper nw fits was built out between the 20's and 30's... it's not till you get further out in bethesda that you start to see the post-war houses pop-up...

Fair enough but I don't find 30s colonials charming, and this is the vast majority of upper NW. Just not my ball of wax.

[Anonymous]

I love the patina and grain in my original hardwood floors and the way the planks are laid out with a design. The molding, wainscoting, arched entrances. A fireplace in every room (besides the kitchen). The solid staircase bannister, the kind that's thick like a wall not flimsy rail over bars. The huge windows and high ceilings. Stone exterior. I do not have a laundry chute (have had that before) or radiators. I really prefer radiator heat, but its easier not to arrange furniture around your radiators. Solid construction. So far this year, the heating bill hasn't yet topped $200/mo for 4500 sq ft.

[Anonymous]

I love this thread. I live in an old row house in Old Town and absolutely love it for all the reasons others have listed. Even the areas here where the old row houses are basically the same in floor plan are still really charming and I don't think they have a cookie cutter feel at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love this thread. I live in an old row house in Old Town and absolutely love it for all the reasons others have listed. Even the areas here where the old row houses are basically the same in floor plan are still really charming and I don't think they have a cookie cutter feel at all.

hate to break it to you but those are cookie cutter of yester year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I don't understand where these unique old homes are. The row houses are mass produced and the same, the ramblers lining the streets of Arlington are all the same, the split levels are all the same, the tiny colonials are all the same. All I see is cookie cutter same old homes over and over again with little no variation.

The older, more unique houses, are likely going to be a little further outside the city. My 1766 house is in Mo.Co. It's not cookie cutter.

[Anonymous]

I am really struggling to love our 1928 row home. I love the neighborhood, and that's why we bought here. I don't particularly like a lot of the new construction around, and I like living in attached housing, but it's been about half a year and the repairs are just very overwhelming to me. The other hard part is just now knowing what was done, when and why. For ex. we have some windows that have been bricked up. Why? What awful thing might we discover when we go to restore them? We also have a fireplace-- it's not original. It's bizarre-- why did someone install a chimney INSIDE our house; when did they do it? Give me a few years and maybe there will be some love here, but it's not coming naturally to me.