house trivia
Oct. 10th, 2002 11:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioWe were recently contacted by the owners-before-last of our house. They are involved in some sort of dispute with the (to us) previous owners (their buyers), and they asked if they could come take pictures of a few things. We said sure, so they came over tonight. They were very friendly, and while they were here we learned some history.
We have one "door to nowhere" and one closet that is obviously not original. They line up vertically, and we were figuring that they used to be part of a back staircase or something. They bought the house in 1976 and these changes were already in place, so they're older than I thought they were.
They put in the dining-room chandelier, which they found at an antiques show. It wasn't practical for them to take it with them when they left. They seemed happy to see it again.
The lamp in the newell post (yes, there is a hole drilled in the post to accommodate a wire) was not there when they sold the house, though they disagreed on whether the hole was. So the jury is still out on who did that to perfectly-nice hardwood.
They thought the hardwood floors had been refinished since they owned the house. (Wasn't us.)
The radiator in the dining room wasn't there when they owned the house! They had a baseboard heater! They showed us pictures. Of all the goofy things... Who remodels a house to put in radiators? (Well, obviously the person we bought the house from, but I'm curious about why.) We didn't take a radiator tour with them, so I don't know if there were similar changes in other places. I get the impression that it was mostly radiators when they lived there, but that the dining room was different for some reason.
Oh, and remember that partially-completed bathroom we found off the master bedroom? (It's the roof of the back porch. When we bought the house, the space was unfinished, it had outside walls with gaps in them, and there was exposed plumbing sans any fixtures. Our inspector didn't trust the joists to hold a tub and told us to rip out the plumbing that was there, because copper pipes weren't meant to be closet rods. I kid you not.)
I always suspected that this room was a project of the previous owner. In fact, it was started by the folks before him. They had started it and then ended up selling the house before they finished; they were surprised that it sat in that state for so long. We told them its final fate (a nice closet), and they thought that sounded like a good idea.
They also told us some interesting stories about the next-door neighbors, whom I have yet to actually meet. (I've met many of the other people on the block, but not them.) They're an older couple (maybe they don't go out much?). She is the sister of Art Rooney Sr, who used to own (part of?) the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is a former business partner of Mr. Rooney. They were described as a very nice couple.
We mentioned that we'd been having trouble getting contractors to return our calls, and they gave us the names of their favorite electrician and painter.
They seem like nice people, and they were definitely nostalgic.
We have one "door to nowhere" and one closet that is obviously not original. They line up vertically, and we were figuring that they used to be part of a back staircase or something. They bought the house in 1976 and these changes were already in place, so they're older than I thought they were.
They put in the dining-room chandelier, which they found at an antiques show. It wasn't practical for them to take it with them when they left. They seemed happy to see it again.
The lamp in the newell post (yes, there is a hole drilled in the post to accommodate a wire) was not there when they sold the house, though they disagreed on whether the hole was. So the jury is still out on who did that to perfectly-nice hardwood.
They thought the hardwood floors had been refinished since they owned the house. (Wasn't us.)
The radiator in the dining room wasn't there when they owned the house! They had a baseboard heater! They showed us pictures. Of all the goofy things... Who remodels a house to put in radiators? (Well, obviously the person we bought the house from, but I'm curious about why.) We didn't take a radiator tour with them, so I don't know if there were similar changes in other places. I get the impression that it was mostly radiators when they lived there, but that the dining room was different for some reason.
Oh, and remember that partially-completed bathroom we found off the master bedroom? (It's the roof of the back porch. When we bought the house, the space was unfinished, it had outside walls with gaps in them, and there was exposed plumbing sans any fixtures. Our inspector didn't trust the joists to hold a tub and told us to rip out the plumbing that was there, because copper pipes weren't meant to be closet rods. I kid you not.)
I always suspected that this room was a project of the previous owner. In fact, it was started by the folks before him. They had started it and then ended up selling the house before they finished; they were surprised that it sat in that state for so long. We told them its final fate (a nice closet), and they thought that sounded like a good idea.
They also told us some interesting stories about the next-door neighbors, whom I have yet to actually meet. (I've met many of the other people on the block, but not them.) They're an older couple (maybe they don't go out much?). She is the sister of Art Rooney Sr, who used to own (part of?) the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is a former business partner of Mr. Rooney. They were described as a very nice couple.
We mentioned that we'd been having trouble getting contractors to return our calls, and they gave us the names of their favorite electrician and painter.
They seem like nice people, and they were definitely nostalgic.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-10-11 05:53 am (UTC)My wife has met the son of the previous to them owners. He showed up at our door one afternoon, identified himself and offered to buy our house for about 10% over what we paid because he wanted his children to grow up in the house he grew up in. He seemed confused when she didn't accept his first offer and start packing. He had left long before I got home.
I would have liked to talk to him about his father. I've learned a lot second hand from the neighbors. Some of the teachers at Fredonia have partied at the house and helped him with several of the building projects. A professional installed the fireplace, he built the chimney. He and the guys from Fredonia built the back deck. The workshop was built as far from the house as possible and still be on the property because he wanted to get away from his wife. The mudroom shows every sign of being thrown together by amateurs and needs to come down before it falls down in about two years according to the building inspector. (They put up the frame, sided the outside, paneled the inside and then added the electrical wiring. Everything's exposed! All the bathroom lights are on the outside wall. You have to turn the light on before you walk in. There's an outlet at the back of the master bedroom's walk-in closet. We didn't even know it was there until we started re-wiring the basement for a chest freezer. And let's just say the circuit board arrangement is unique. :