NOT "A" old houses.

[MrTube]

Almost identical to my house's construction, which was built in 1879 but many pieces were taken from a tear-down somewhere, near here I imagine, that date as far back to Pre-Revolution times. The Rebecca Nurse Homestead (1678) is near my house, she was hanged for being one of Satan's disciples on July 19, 1692. Her house was built with the lumber from a tear down from 1630.

There are some re-used pieces in the house, in the basement several pieces of floor joist have plaster lines on them, that basement was NOT plastered.

The town had running water starting in I think 1881. My bets are the house was built sometime in the 1880s but I'd like to know when for sure.


One thing that bothers me, and maybe it shouldn't is there are a lot of houses in the area which are rented out to people. They get beaten to death and get ZERO maintenance.

 

[supergnat]

Mr Tube,
What you may need to do to get the information your need is to go the the County Clerks office with your lot and block number information from your deed or tax bill. Ask the workers there how to trace the title transfer of ownership back from you to the previous owner and then to that previous owner, etc. It is not an easy process and you will need to look at and copy many pages documenting the transfer of ownership from one owner to the previous one. You will referencing information from many different books but that is the way the books are set-up. Be sure to take a tablet to make notes and cash to pay for the copies you make. lI suggested making copies of what you find so you have a printed record of what you have found with the previous owners name(s). As you already found out you cannot just go to a book around a specific date to get the information. I started to do mine and got back to the fifties but then ran out of time because the office closed. I think mine was built around 1885. If you are interested in seeing photos, send me a PM.
Good luck,
Supergnat,
Palmyra, NJ

 

[MrTube]

Little update, got my hands on an 1874 map and the house is present! In fact, I may have even figured out what the "secret room" that has no entrance is under part of my kitchen floor! There is a piece broken out of it on the front, and back which was done to run plumbing through it into the kitchen. It appears to even have a stone/mortar cieling and is as deep as the basement, but not connected.

Right now, due to the fact it has perfectly smooth parged walls which are thick and even a thick stone/mortar cieling and is as deep as the basement, my guess is it was an icehouse. Any ideas? I'm assuming you accessed it through the kitchen floor at the time and this was to keep the "cool" from leaking out.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

I'm guessing that was a cistern so the hand pump at the kitchen sink could easily pump the water up. Is there a patched over hole in the floor where the pipe used to come down?

 

[29ModelA]

I would agree cistern if you can find pipes where eaves troughs may have dumped into it. Another option is potato/vegetable cellar maybe.

My house has pipes through the basement walls that are where the cistern filled from, I am assuming from eaves troughs.

 

[MrTube]

A cistern is not something I had thought of, I guess because the town had water in 1881, though this was built before then.

Question is, Why the stone and mortar cieling then? To keep moisture and condensation away from the wood floor perhaps?

 

[Terry NJ]

I had an old farmhouse in Jackson Twnsp. Ocean Co. Verified to have been built Circa 1860. The county sent an architectural historian out to date it. The chain of title went back to 1832. It was similar with balloon construction, square nails etc. And Lime mortar! That stuff is pure crap! My home was glazed with "Giullotine" windows. No sash weights and "Bubble" glass. The framing lumber was mill cut, on size, 2X6, 2X8, and 2X4s, local lumber, some of which was oak. The house and foundation did NOT fit each other. The foundation clearly was meant for a earlier structure. The cellar was dirt floor and the original "dug" well was outside, but under a roof and piped to the kitchen sink. The heating was accomplished with individual stoves in each room as it was in another house I owned in Trenton, built in 1870 Hope this helps.
Terry

Again I apologize for posting non "A" related things on the forum.

Have had no luck in other forums and I know many many people on the Fordbarn are knowledgeable in things like this.

I own an old house, but don't know how old it is as the towns records kind of stink. To give an idea of its age my house is built on a fieldstone foundation with balloon framing and type B cutnails.

If you know a lot of about older building techniques, styles and so on please send me a private message on Fordbarn or an email at cj133@comcast.net

 

[Tom Cavallaro]

Going out on a limb, as an electrician working in lots of older homes in NJ, I would say your home was built in the 1800s. Lath and plaster, balloon framing, basement built with fieldstone, and looking at the attic, you have no ridge board. It was originally a cedar planked roof, and one of the extra rafters was an add-on as you can see the plaster residue. Probably has pipes inthe walls for gas lamps. You'll notice the lumber is true to size due to most were green lumber when built.
Tom

 

[MrTube]

Its been a while since I commented on this post and felt I should update those who were interested.


With the help of others I was able to find many maps of our area. The oldest being from 1874 as mentioned previously in the thread. This shows our house in what I had suspected was its original shape \ layout. It has had a few additions over the years some of which happened in the late 1800s and the newest being from 1924.


As Tom mentioned I do have a cistern under my kitchen floor which is approx 1000 gallons.


I have maps which even show where the outhouse was located and what type of roof it had.


Though the oldest map I have found so far is 1874 going by the style of muntins used on the windows as well as the type of saw used to cut the lumber and the nails we have come to a date of approx 1860.


Its a little older than a model A I guess.


I'd like to thank everyone for their help. I appreciate it.

 

[mmindling]

Mr. Tube,

We have been working on our old house in rural Washington County, Ohio, for several years. We also wanted to get the build date for the house and tracked down a number of things that didn't provide the data. In the end, it was the tax records that gave up the date. Between 1891 and 1892, the tax assessment for this property jumped, pretty obviously for a new house. The style, details and trim of the house also correspond to that date.

Other paths we tried were chain of title (didn't go back far enough, although for a heft fee it coudld be investigated) and there were no building permits or zoning amendments required in the 1890's in this part of Appalachia. The property tax records, however, were very complete.

The colors you see on our house are six different colors from a Victorian paint book. .

Good luck in your search,

Regards,

Martin Mindling mmindling@aol.com

 

[MrTube]

Mr. Tube,

We have been working on our old house in rural Washington County, Ohio, for several years. We also wanted to get the build date for the house and tracked down a number of things that didn't provide the data. In the end, it was the tax records that gave up the date. Between 1891 and 1892, the tax assessment for this property jumped, pretty obviously for a new house. The style, details and trim of the house also correspond to that date.

Other paths we tried were chain of title (didn't go back far enough, although for a heft fee it coudld be investigated) and there were no building permits or zoning amendments required in the 1890's in this part of Appalachia. The property tax records, however, were very complete.

The colors you see on our house are six different colors from a Victorian paint book. .

Good luck in your search,

Regards,

Martin Mindling mmindling@aol.com

\


Hi Martin,

You have a beautiful house!

Our house is a mint green color aluminum siding with dark green on the foundation. Oddly enough when I drilled through the siding to install my gas line and water heater the clap board I got out was the same exact color. I also could not find any other colors in the layers of paint.

There are also dark green shutters in my attic which I guess at one time were on all of the windows.

 

[matt92vr4]

A bit off topic but kinda funny. A college of mine was visiting from Italy. I showed him our house and explained that is was a little old, built in 1983. In Florida, houses built in 1983 are old! He laughed and we went on about our conversation. Later that year I was able to visit his house in Italy. He reminded me of our conversation and then showed me a stone on his house dated 1063, the year his house was built, lol. Perspective.

 

[Model A Man]

anyone here live in Astoria OR.? My wife and I are leaving Sunday from Ca, to head up there. We are checking out different places as we want to get away from Ca. My wife and I like the look of older homes. Thanks to all for posting pictures

 

[28RPU]

Did you ever do anything about the dead body in the basement showing in photo number one? Those are illegal, you know..

 

[Fred K-OR]

anyone here live in Astoria OR.? My wife and I are leaving Sunday from Ca, to head up there. We are checking out different places as we want to get away from Ca. My wife and I like the look of older homes. Thanks to all for posting pictures

Model A Man, sorry I do not have pictures of Astoria. We live in Banks, OR, about 90 miles east of Astoria. But it would be a great place to live. It does have many old homes and other buildings. It has become somewhat of a tourist town with some nice places to stay and eat. They are also bringing in ocean tourist liners which bring in many visitors to the old city. Astoria at this time may not have been "Californinated" like other Oregon cities. Good luck with your search for an older home.