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What kind of house do I have??

19 years ago

Hi all,

I'm new to this site. I need help finding out what type of house I have. It was built between 1906-1920. It's made of brick with ballon framing. The front was a porch that got closed in and the back was added on about 40 years ago. It's been made into a 2 family and we live on the top 2 floors. We want to bring it back to a 1 family. Please help!!

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Comments (8)

housekeeping
19 years ago
I'm afraid without pictures it's hard to know from your description.

Posting pictures here is something I can't help with, though I did see a link on another post on another forum. I'll try to find it and come back and add it here. Some people seem to be able to load the pictures right here in the thread, others use links to outside sites to click on. Beats me how anybody does either one, though. A word of caution, a way that was formerly used was Ofoto, which apparently doesn't work any more.

If you want to research on your own, there are a couple of good books that describe house styles. I'd take a trip to a large chain bookstore and peruse their stock.

If you can figure out how to get a picture, there are forum members who are very knowledgeable about house styles and generous with their help. This is the right place to get the info, so I'm hoping you can figure out the picture thing. I look forward to seeing your house and I'm sorry I'm such a Luddite that I can't help you get the pictures up!
m~
HomeMaker
19 years ago
If you sign up for a PhotoBucket account, you will find detailed instructions in the thread linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket instructions are in this thread
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I should be able to have a photo or two up tomorrow, but until then, here are some details... First of all, I think the situation is a bit unique in that it was built by the same family who owned it until we bought it last December. The woman who lived there was 94 years old and went into a nursing home in the summer of 2004; she had moved into the house when she was 6 days old. Although the house has only minimal upgrades, it's been kept in pretty good structural shape, I believe mainly because it didn't cycle through owner after owner. Anyway, it has two main stories, plus a full (unfinished) basement and walk-up attic, tin roof (we think original, judging by what we can see from the attic), wrap-around porch on two full sides with "shipwheel" woodwork at the tops of the porch pillars. Upstairs are three bedrooms and what was originally a small covered balcony-type porch, which was converted to a half-bath in the 1920's or 1930's (judging by the newspapers we found under the floors). Downstairs in the back of the house is the kitchen with a large bathroom directly off of it, then a dining room, and in the front, a partially-divided living room/parlor-type area. The stairway going to the second floor comes directly in front of one of the two main entrances into the house, between the dining room and parlor. There aren't any particularly striking features inside, except for the interior doorways going into the kitchen, dining room, and between the living room/parlor-- all are arched, almost Spanish-style. The exterior siding is now vinyl but was originally tongue-and-groove wood, laid horizontally. The overall shape definitely isn't foursquare; the lower level is an "L," the upstairs covers the same footprint as downstairs except at the kitchen end of the house. The house now sits in a neighborhood that dates from about the 1940's-1950's, but it has a two-level outbuilding which has a lot of old stuff which suggest the land used to be a small farmstead of sorts-- butchering stuff, etc.
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snoonyb
19 years ago
Contact a preservation society in your area.
rosethornil
19 years ago
What happened to all the posts on this thread???
HomeMaker
19 years ago
There are two threads, Rose. Confusing! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: The other thread
wangshan
19 years ago
You know , thats a good question...I have asked what my house style is and the only answer I have ever got was "bungalo on steroids". Does that mean I'm elegible for the breaks bungalo owners are getting around here now? Here's how it looks.
{{!gwi}}
spewey
19 years ago
Wangshan,

Your house has a few aspects borrowed from the bunglaow style, but it's basically a vernacular house. It's a house built during a transition from Victorian styles (bay windows) to the emerging bungalow aesthetic (extended Tudor arch porch, shed dormer). A few interesting details thrown in as well, like the Palladian serliana. It's a very stylish house, but it doesn't fit into any of the textbook architectural styles. I am guessing it has a wonderful interior plan.
wangshan
19 years ago
Thanks spewey..That's what I thought because the details are all more geometric than curly except for the beveled glass design.Actually the aticc dormer is a recent one or is the shed dormer something else? You really know a lot ..are you an architect? I had to look up Palladian serliana. It does have a lot of original woodwork and stained glass , 2 of the second floor bedrooms have tandem sunrooms with french doors,and casement windows with small art glass designs in the center above windows seats flanking the fireplace.I wish I could move it out to the country because there are windows everywhere. I will have to put some pics linked to my page when I figure that out.

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