Seeing those homes almost makes me want to buy a detached single family home.

^ Unfortunately, the last house I posted is serving as more of a dormitory than a SFH at the moment.

JRC, I love your dedication to this neighborhood. Keep it up!

^ Thanks! :)

"I don't know much about it yet. The auditor's site says it was built in 1912, but I can see it clearly on AllanY's 1907 Sanborn Map."

 

This is a great looking Colonial Revival house from circa 1900. It has the Georgian-Adamesque swags characteristic of the Colonial Revival and I'd wager that it originally had Neo-Classical columns on the front porch. Nice dentil molding course seen around the front porch as well as the Palladian style triple windows in the gable. The flat-top roof peak likely had a "widow's walk" balustrade that was characteristic of Colonial Revival-Neo Georgian houses of the period. One can find downloadable (PDF for free) issues of early 1900's CARPENTER & BUILDER Magazine with detailed drawings of these rooftop balustrades. The assymmetrical massing or layout of the house connects it to the older Victorian Queen Anne style. Assuming the interior has not been stripped or altered beyond recognition this should be a wonderful house to restore. Because it appears so original, no doubt it is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Whatever alterations you decide to make, I'd limit those to the interior. Keep the historic windows and add storm windows over them. I'm guessing it has some nice interior woodwork, probably hardwood floors downstairs, maybe (if you're lucky) some original oak mantels with beveled mirrors. A higher-end finish inside might include inlaid parquet floors (typically quarter sawn, "tiger" oak with darker walnut borders) stained or leaded-beveled glass, mosaic tiles at the entry and wainscotting near the staircase. Interior fretwork (gingerbread) is also occasionally seen in houses from this era if they have remained very intact. In summary, you have a wonderful diamond in the rough and with replacement porch columns and a period paint scheme, this could be a historic showplace again. Hopefully, it still has original hardware as well because the brass hardware from the early 1900's was still often of high quality and featured ornate designs. I'd also guess this house was once the home of a fairly prominent family-maybe a local merchant or professional.(doctor, lawyer)  Guess you can tell I really like this one and it would give you an opportunity to restore a beautiful high-end home to its former grandeur. If you like the location and the price, I'd say go for it! Please post some interior photos if you are so inclined. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the write-up John!

 

I don't want to get too excited yet, as I don't know what they're asking for it yet.  But, I can picture the house with a color scheme similar to the first house pictured at this link: http://www.oilregion.org/Victorian-Region/Styles/Colonial-Revival

A couple of questions for you old house guys out there.

 

1. Double door entry ways. What was the purpose? I am guessing to have a buffer from the cold weather.As far as I can tell my house is one of the few houses on my street that does not have (or had) a double door front entrance.  My house was built sometime around 1907 and the rest of the houses were built in the 1900- 1915 range. Most are some variation of the Four Square and there are few true Edwardian style with seperate parlors and a little more ornate detail.

 

2.Red brick foundation - When was that common? Both my double and my house have a redbrick foundation. Most of the house that I have been in Lakewood have the clay bock foundations, including my neighbors.

 

A couple of questions for you old house guys out there.

 

1. Double door entry ways. What was the purpose? I am guessing to have a buffer from the cold weather.As far as I can tell my house is one of the few houses on my street that does not have (or had) a double door front entrance. My house was built sometime around 1907 and the rest of the houses were built in the 1900- 1915 range. Most are some variation of the Four Square and there are few true Edwardian style with seperate parlors and a little more ornate detail.

 

If you're talking about 2 separate doorways--an exterior front door, a mud room, and an interior front door, then yes, that was for minimizing drafts when you opened the outside front door.  Modern buildings often have these too.

 

If you're talking about a single opening with two narrow doors, then I don't know.

Yes,  I am talking about two seperate doors with a tile floor usually. I have a small 6 x 6 foyer but it has a 5 foot wide entry into the living room, and as far as I can tell there were never any french doors on it. Who knows maybe I had one of the first storm doors originally?

I think you should do electric before plumbing, unless its that far gone.

 

I'd agree with that.  I was assuming the worst, given the condition of some of the houses shown in this thread.

"I don't know much about it yet.  The auditor's site says it was built in 1912, but I can see it clearly on AllanY's 1907 Sanborn Map."

 

This is a great looking Colonial Revival house from circa 1900. It has the Georgian-Adamesque swags characteristic of the Colonial Revival and I'd wager that it originally had Neo-Classical columns on the front porch. Nice dentil molding course seen around the front porch as well as the Palladian style triple windows in the gable. The flat-top roof peak likely had a "widow's walk" balustrade that was characteristic of Colonial Revival-Neo Georgian houses of the period. One can find downloadable (PDF for free) issues of early 1900's CARPENTER & BUILDER Magazine with detailed drawings of these rooftop balustrades. The assymmetrical massing or layout of the house connects it to the older Victorian Queen Anne style. Assuming the interior has not been stripped or altered beyond recognition this should be a wonderful house to restore. Because it appears so original, no doubt it is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Whatever alterations you decide to make, I'd limit those to the interior. Keep the historic windows and add storm windows over them. I'm guessing it has some nice interior woodwork, probably hardwood floors downstairs, maybe (if you're lucky) some original oak mantels with beveled mirrors. A higher-end finish inside might include inlaid parquet floors (typically quarter sawn, "tiger" oak with darker walnut borders) stained or leaded-beveled glass, mosaic tiles at the entry and wainscotting near the staircase. Interior fretwork (gingerbread) is also occasionally seen in houses from this era if they have remained very intact. In summary, you have a wonderful diamond in the rough and with replacement porch columns and a period paint scheme, this could be a historic showplace again. Hopefully, it still has original hardware as well because the brass hardware from the early 1900's was still often of high quality and featured ornate designs. I'd also guess this house was once the home of a fairly prominent family-maybe a local merchant or professional.(doctor, lawyer)  Guess you can tell I really like this one and it would give you an opportunity to restore a beautiful high-end home to its former grandeur. If you like the location and the price, I'd say go for it! Please post some interior photos if you are so inclined. Thanks!

 

I'm getting too excited about this house.  I still don't know for sure if it's even for sale, or how much they want for it.  But I was doing a little research last night, and see that it was either built by, or bought shortly after it was built, by the minister of the 1st Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, William H. Hudnut. (who, I think, is the grandfather of William H. Hudnut III) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Hudnut_III

"I'm getting too excited about this house.  I still don't know for sure if it's even for sale, or how much they want for it.  But I was doing a little research last night, and see that it was either built by, or bought shortly after it was built, by the minister of the 1st Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, William H. Hudnut. (who, I think, is the grandfather of William H. Hudnut III) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Hudnut_III "

 

JRC,

This could very well be the case; it certainly was a quality home in its day and seems to have been an upper middle class neighborhood at that time. Such a prominent background would help to get the house on the historical registry

 

As for the double entry doors, it was a status thing and was common from the Victorian era into the early 1900's. I would not be surprised to learn the house also has sliding pocket doors between the main rooms downstairs.  Color-wise, the turn of the last century "Colonial" color schemes would work well on this house and I could recommend various books on the topic. A particular house in Elizabeth Pomada's PAINTED LADIES RE-VISITED book comes to my mind. That particular Colonial Revival style house is located in SF's Pacific Heights and is painted with a sand colored body, cream colored trim, and dark forest green for accent. It too has an Adamesque style plaster ornamental frieze on the second floor with the ornament painted in cream contrasting against a dark green background band similar to that on the Hudnut House. Colors are a matter of personal choice anyway. I hope you get the opportunity to buy this wonderful house if that is what you like.

Thanks John S,

I think that my house was "contempory" for the time that it was built. Overall it is very plain and I am guessing that is why it doesn't have a double door entry. There are no pocket doors but rather two sets of folding french doors with beveled glass that seperate the front room from the hall/open stairs and the dining room. There is some beautiful wood work but it is all very plain. I do however have the facenailed this strip hard wood floors with inlays around the perimeter that make fancy designs in the corner.

 

 

Are there any thread of the restoration process of already restored houses?

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,19243.msg511114.html#msg511114

 

Check out this thread on 1870's cottage in Cincy

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,19243.msg511114.html#msg511114

 

Check out this thread on 1870's cottage in Cincy

 

Thanks!