I wish I had a picture of my Grandparent's old house in Michigan. You guys would melt! Built in 1886 and is the second oldest home in my home town. Here is a picture of the oldest one in town, Elwell's Castle. My Granparent's house was very similar. This house was about 2 blocks away on the same street.
Some friends bought a 1920's Tudor which had to have extensive electrical, plumbing, heating, and restoration work. They have lived with workman in their house for the last 3 years and have well past the point of being able to recover their investment, but it is a beautiful old house. They tracked down the original light fixtures for the dining room, which were a nasty balck until they started to clean them. They were sterling silver and had tarnished years and years ago so they were not melted down for the silver. The walls of this house are over 12" thick brick and the ice box in the basement is as large as a modern refrigerator, but no AC and crappy windows for winter. The cost to get energy efficient windows made to match the original style is 2K apiece too.
Here is a company that gutted a 100 year old house and redid it. Spent way too much money, but it is solid. Had oak framing
It is in Summerfield, just north of Greensboro. 108 years old and 5000+ square feet. They put over 25,000 lights on it at Christmas. I believe they hold weddings out back, but the main business is inventory control.
I love, love, love old houses, too! I constantly check out the website called Preservation North Carolina, which is www.presnc.org There's an old house for sale at Wilson and the price tag is $79,000! Cheap, but need alot of works, meaning more money to spend. We almost bought an old house next to Smithfield meat packing plant in Clayton, but we don't want to live near the railroad again, especially after living in a house next to the railroad track for more than 20 years in Florida. Anyway, I believe the couple bought that Clayton house already. Just not too long ago, their house STILL needs more work to do.
Wow, thanks for the website cakeprincess, I had never heard of it before! The picture of the house you posted, is it on Fayetteville St (or close to there - brain fart) in Clayton?
No, it's in Wilson somewhere, not too far from Clayton. Not sure exactly where it is, but the picture I got is from the website I just posted. My hubby is really good at carpentry, but after doing it for 20 years working non-stop on our Florida house (hurricanes destroyed it every year) and it gets tiresome for us.
Oh Lord, I have found my DREAM house! (Anyone got half a mill to spare? ) http://homes.realtor.com/search/lis...&pg=2&lid=1068262950&lsn=18&srcnt=1877#Detail
Today, while I was driving on Covered Bridge Road, I noticed an old and vacant big house there. The address is 1162 Covered Bridge Rd of Clayton. The land is big and unattended. How do I know more about that house? City record online? For sale or not?
Just recently while driving around the area, I've found myself drooling over older houses ... we ought to form a club.
After a very recent disaster my grandparents home burnt to the ground thursday night I found out that it was over 150 years old. My granddaddy (which if he were still living would be 87 now) was born and raised in that house and all of his children (and my aunts and uncles and my mom)were born and raised there. It was still in very good condition and only been somewhat restored once in all those years when lightning hit the hot water heater noone has lived there for about 2 yrs now we stayed there when we went for visits and other family did as well. We recently lost my grandma in January and its weird how you know they are gone and now with the house gone as well all the memories in that old house are gone too but they will always be in my heart. I remember many times my granddaddy getting a pillow and he and I taking a nap in the front porch swing. I am looking through old photos now for a good photo and I will post when I find it. Oh yes and I am a old house lover myself. If I had the choice of any home that would be it owning a older victorian home and remodeling it. And most definitely keeping or restoring the hard wood floors that a must. LOL
same with me, southergal. My grandfather is the first and original electric dairy farmer who built his family house and a big barn enough for the dairy cows. All of his family grew up in that house, including my mother. After his house became an empty nest, he decided to give his house to his middle daughter, who got married and had 3 kids, because he "retired" from farming days. Just up the road, he again build another house, small this time. He also built a "mom/pop motel" not too far from his place. It was successful because the motel was located in the heavy turnpike area in PA. After his wife died, he decided to sell the motel and move on. My grandfather moved to FL for better weather due to his failing health. Before he moved to FL, all of the houses he built are destroyed, thank to new highway and bridge development. He was there, watching it razed. Few years later, his original motel was destroyed by the big name hotel. It was the most saddest day of his life, seeing all of his memories gone. Mom and I used to live in a house behind the motel. I remember I made ton of friends everyday during our motel day. Kids from all over the country were my friends and I sometime wonder what happened to them. We were young and didn't know how to keep in touch then. Just 3 months ago, he went on to be with the Lord, peacefully.
Love old houses, too. Grew up in one that had 4 floors. The top floor was an attic with a full bath room. I used to go up there and hide when I wanted to get away. My bedroom was as big as most living rooms are these days. I had a full court nerf b-ball court set up in there. It was awesome. I'm still looking for an old farm house with a huge porch that wraps around one side. As for the two houses at the beginning of the thread, no. 2 gets my vote b/c of the porch.
