Wrong code. Let's see if this works!

From the side:

From the front:

It's a late Victorian frame house with a light touch of the fancy trim that was popular then.

You could tart it up with a fancier paint job and add more trim to head into "painted Lady" territory or leave it as is for a more modest look.

Interior - you could do the simple farmhouse style or all the way into High Victorian with velvet and swags all over the place.

Another style that works is to have the building be restored or renovated into close to period and the furniture be transitional or modern ... sounds strange, but it can work if you respect the space and have a good color scheme.

What a great house! I agree with lazygardens about the exterior ID and interior options. If you did go the painted lady route, I think that bargeboard could look even more fabulous with some contrasting colors to bring out the detail.

Thanks, lazygardens! The furniture I've selected ranges between period and vintage, with French provincial styling. I have a healthy respect for the workmanship from back in the day so I won't change anything that has lasted but, unfortunately, there is a lot that needs to be restored. Most notably, the front double doors that were replaced by the glass block. I cringe everytime I think about it. So, for the things that I am replacing, I would prefer to stick to the original plan as much as possible. The outside will definitely get painted but that's a job for next summer!

Thank you, jlc102482! Please excuse my ignorance but what is a bargeboard? I definitely plan to liven it up a little! It is original clapboard siding and most of it is still in really good shape. The previous owner painted the house himself but it doesn't look like he got all of the old paint off first so it's going to be quite a job (for someone else!) to scrape and sand and repair before putting the paint on. I'm mostly working on the inside right now. The previous owner said that the bannister was stolen before he moved in so he just put basic wood up. And then painted it all dark brown. I'm in the process of getting the wood and trim stripped and trying to find someone to reconstruct the railing for something less than my monthly salary.

Ooh, cool newel post! Have you looked into using a salvaged bannister? Depending on where you go, it could be quite a bit cheaper than having a new one built. What area are you located in?

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a good link about bargeboards

I have looked, and continue to look, at the couple of salvage places here in upstate NY. I have yet to find that follows the curve at the top correctly or has enough railing to go all the way around the landing. I'm hoping to find spindles that I like and then just pay to have the railing constructed.

Thanks for the link on the bargeboards! I've bookmarked it. I have always loved old homes but I am still very much in the early learning stages. This is my first house and, right now, there is no Mr. Sapphire69 so it is taking me a little longer to pull things together. But, this is my first and my last home so I've got plenty of time!

Thanks JLC - I don't recall ever hearing the term 'bargeboard', either.

Sapphire, Bummer that someone stole the bannister but at least they left those nice curved baseboard caps & the newel post. BTW, I love the bare footprints in the dust - it brings back such memories. After 24 years, work my staircase still hasn't started so you're way ahead of the game!

LOL!! Antiquesilver, I have learned to accept dust as part of the fabric of my house! The previous owners used it as a double - he lived downstairs and the ex-wife lived upstairs, so the two floors were in different states of remodel. It's back to being a single family (thankfully, they didn't install or tear down any walls) so I have been in the process of making it feel like a home for the past two years. The two years before that were spent unpacking!

I hadn't planned to do the staircase until I had someone to do the bannister but I found someone to give me a phenomenal deal on refinishing my hardwood floors so that moved both of those items up on the schedule. The curved basebaseboard caps is one of the many things I fell in love with as soon as I walked in the house!

Sapphire, if you ever make it down to the Buffalo area, you should check out Buffalo ReUse. They sell salvaged materials, the majority of it being antique, and I know they have several lengths and types of curves of antique handrails in stock right now. They also have a large selection of rails with many of them being in complete bundled lots. Tons of old doors, windows, hardware, woodwork, tin ceiling, sinks, etc. too. They are EXTREMELY reasonable. An hour away from that in Rochester, NY is Historic Houseparts, which is more expensive but lots of fun to browse with a huge and unique inventory.

Here is a link that might be useful: Buffalo ReUse

Thank you, jlc102482! Can you say ROAD TRIP?! I live in Rochester so I've been to Historic Houseparts many times. You have to have hours just to be able to search and when you find, you have to have dollars. Many of them! I frequent ReStore, the Habitat For Humanity store and also ReHouse, which is another architectural salvage place that's a little more organized and less expensive than Houseparts. I hadn't considered Buffalo because I don't have a truck to haul anything but I just might be renting myself a U-Haul in the near future!

An authentic Victorian detail is to have the fancy stuff stop as soon as it is out of sight ... carved walnut banister changes to plain oak as soon as it's around the curve of the stairway, oak thin strip flooring changes to wide pine on the second floor.

All their fancy stuff was for show, for the visitors to see. So if you change to a less-fancy style for budget reasons, it's authentic!

One house in my old neighborhood had three changes of $$$ level from the carved cherry in the public rooms to ornate (but cheaper) oak in the family bedrooms, and plain local wood in the servant's quarters. Everything changed ... flooring, railings, moldings dropped down to match the social status of the persons who occupied that area.

Thanks, lazygardens! I might end up having to get creative. Right now, I'm thinking of having the spindles made of something paint grade and just having the railing made of oak. But my first priority is finding someone to actually do the installation and perhaps do some brainstorming with them. My hope is that if they do this kind of work that they would have some ideas on how to work with my budget.

Your comment about the flooring has also reignited my curiosity about the people who had this house built. It has the oak thin strip flooring all throughout the house.

Simplified Queen Anne cottage plan with Eastlake-ey details.
This was one of the most popular floorplans of the era.
They could be more or less elaborate, I suspect that originally yours was a bit more fancy than now, but still mid-range.
Here's an extreme version (which I helped restore once upon a time) from my old town in AR:

Thanks, lazygardens! I might end up having to get creative. Right now, I'm thinking of having the spindles made of something paint grade and just having the railing made of oak. But my first priority is finding someone to actually do the installation and perhaps do some brainstorming with them. My hope is that if they do this kind of work that they would have some ideas on how to work with my budget.

Your comment about the flooring has also reignited my curiosity about the people who had this house built. It has the oak thin strip flooring all throughout the house.

I have no idea how I reposted my earlier post but I was trying to respond to sombreuil_mongrel!

That is a beautiful home! I would love to hear about the things you did to restore it! Of course, pictures would be fantastic!!

I am trying to track down some of the people who are related to the lady who owned it for almost fifty years. It's hard not to come across as a stalker but I have to believe somebody has a picture of what it looked like before it was abandoned. One picture the previous owner sent me shows the porch all closed in. He opened it back up when he bought it. The real tragedy is the carriage house in the back yard. It was left neglected for decades with errant trees tearing at the roof. My plan is to restore it but the city is pressuring me to either get started right away, which I don't have the funds to do, or tear it down.

Sapphire69, I live in Rochester too. I'm over on the east side in the Browncroft neighborhood.

It's funny because when I looked at that picture of your house I thought "Gee that house would fit right in here in Rochester!"

Vicki

Hi Vicki! I'm right across from Corn Hill. I consider myself very lucky to have found a house that is all that I was looking for and then some!

Do you have any pics of your house posted?

I know Corn Hill well; my ex-husband lives there, and the Corn Hill Festival is one of our favorite weekends.

And, do I have pictures? Ha. More than any sane person wants to see.

Pictures of the whole house, although the interior colors are different (and much better). Oh, uh, so are the exterior colors!

This link shows various renovations. Most of those pictures are actually subalbums, showing what was done.

We love our house!

What a nice house, Vicki! Looks like you've put a lot of your own touch on it! I am taking a bunch of "before" pictures right now and I can only dream of the after!