the 'before' picture

wow you really did a clean up on the grounds ! I think moving the entrance to the middle would be great and fairly easy since there are
windows there already.
We live on a busy street, and have a wrap around porch. We use it a lot, but it is screened in and we put lattice over the screen so we have a bit of privacy. You might get more use from a porch than you think.
I know there are sites you can use to photoshop your home but I don't know the url hopefully someone else will have it.

After you've spent a summer in your house, you may reconsider putting a porch with a roof on the front (south) side. In winter, a south window is wonderful to spread the light inside and make the rooms cheerful. It hangs lower on the horizon, so would still shine in, more or less unhampered by a roof. In summer, however, with it more directly overhead, that roof might be welcome to shade those rooms. I live in a house built two centuries ago. One can tell they took the lay of the sun in the seasons into account. My windows are primarily all on the south side of the house to catch the winter sun, and in summer as it moves overhead the house darkens and is cooler.

Here is what your house could look like....

I'd leave the door and first floor windows right where they are...restore not renovate in this case.

Do nothing unreversible for the first year.

Here is a link that might be useful: You have a 4 square house

Wow, thanks for the responses. Caliope. I once had an old Farm House also facing due South on which I put a wrap around porch. I LIVED on that porch but I also suffered in the winter from lack of light.
Q: Does the height of the roof or the pitch of the roof impact the light? I have that line going across the front painted green which is a detail that should remain seen, I think.

jmc1 - double wow. The place I moved from had a Sears Kit house next door. It was not until I found this house (and was told it was a four square craftsman) that I realized my neighbor was in a craftsman. In fact, her pillars are deeply influencing the look of my pillars. This house was built in 1920. I'm in Newport RI. I don't believe it is a kit house though but will do some more investigating. I do have the bump out, sort of as described in the kit house you posted. Mine is in the back right and is both up and downstairs. 3 windows creating half an octagon. None of the pictures in the link or the links your link linked to :) exactly replicated what I've got. It is a 4 bedroom and it originally had one bath. Two of the bedrooms do not have radiators (odd). None of the bedrooms have a closet worth mentioning. I do have a porch off the back with a shed roof that extends the whole way but the porch does not. Not sure if that was the original set up. There is also the equivalent of a 3 bay garage. One bay has two wood doors opening out for a car with a shed roof and the other two bays is the craftsman shape with exposed timbers on inside roof and some really beautiful hardware that facilitate the sliding wood door. I could post a bunch of pictures if wanted. I hear what you are saying about waiting a year and holding off on the renovation part. My issue is that the first flight of stairs going to 2nd floor is quite steep. I need to extend them and that means I have to knock down a wall. There is actually an inner front door as well and a radiator in between! :) The previous owners who lived there for 20 years said it was always that way. They created a vestibule by adding a jagged wall (so as not to interfere with the front windows. The two entrances are not in line, you jog to the right to get into the 2nd door. , I have to address the stairs which means I have to eliminate the inner front door and it's wall. I'm not a big fan of walking in the front door and seeing the staircase straight ahead. Ergo, moving the door and making it a single door entry protected with an overhang.
Here is a picture showing the inner front door, the wall and the staircase. Note the radiator in the front hall, one the same size is on the other side of the wall at the bottom of the stairs. I think I would eliminate the one in the front hall. The other one should be able to 'do the job' if the wall comes down. What is the trick to posting more than one picture in a single post?

What is the trick to posting more than one picture in a single post?

Don't use the "Optional Link URL" box. Instead, put the html right in the body of your post.

Upload your pictures to a picture hosting site. The easiest way to get the url is to right-click on the picture and choose "Copy Image URL." Then, in the body of your post where you want the picture, put:

〈img src="put your url here in quotes" 〉

Resize your pics before you upload them. Cameras today take these gigantic pictures that result in multi-MB files. You want yours to be in the kB, not MB.

And now let me comment on your post! :-)

Your picture shows wonderful wood; I'd like to see more of it. I implore you to listen to jmc01! Don't do anything that you can't easily undo during the first year. Painting and things like that, no problem. Knocking out a wall? Oh, that makes me cringe. I live in a neighborhood of lovely old houses and every one that has had serious internal "renovation" (involving demolition) makes me want to cry. Restore, don't renovate.

I will go along with new kitchens (I don't think that everyone wants to cook 1900-style, although there are a few people here who do, and more power to them!) and I positively encourage updated wiring and plumbing. But taking out walls? Think carefully, live with your house and listen to it before you do anything drastic. Whatever you can do this year, you can do next year, and you might be able to avoid incurring an expense that you later come to regret.

They're not making houses like yours anymore. Consider yourself a caretaker as well as an owner.

Beautiful entryway. I think the main thing with your house frontage is simply it is flat and lacks dimension. You can assume that at one time it had a porch, even if just a small one directly over the entry door. I just fooled around with Paint, to see how a small porch would help to balance the windows, and I think it helps. Nevermind the palette, it can be anything you want, but I think it needs a porch, not to mention the protection it will give you as you come and go in inclement weather and to protect the wood of a good, vintage door.

I almost hate to post because I'll open up a can of worms here.
I've never heard Craftsman four square. I think someone "fudged" the name because Craftsman has more sell appeal than foursquare. I've also seen foursquares called "Victorian". I would not move the front door, it would ruin the integrity of the house. Once you get used to the foyer with the staircase, it will make sense. And I realize that the overhang would be useful and budget might be a consideration but I'd save my money and go for a porch. That Colonial overhang makes me shudder. If some type of overhang is required right now, search and see (I will) another type overhand which might be more appropriate for a foursquare.
Have fun and good luck, I envy you, it's gorgeous!

I almost hate to post because I'll open up a can of worms here.
I've never heard Craftsman four square. I think someone "fudged" the name because Craftsman has more sell appeal than foursquare. I've also seen foursquares called "Victorian". I would not move the front door, it would ruin the integrity of the house. Once you get used to the foyer with the staircase, it will make sense. And I realize that the overhang would be useful and budget might be a consideration but I'd save my money and go for a porch. That Colonial overhang makes me shudder. If some type of overhang is required right now, search and see (I will) another type overhand which might be more appropriate for a foursquare.
Have fun and good luck, I envy you, it's gorgeous!

OK, here are some more pictures. And thank you for the idea of using paint. I never played with it before but I gave it a stab.
This was previous owners LR and DR, you see another set of the pillar jobbies. You can see 1/2 of the other set on the left where you look into the front hall and staircase. Beyond the LR you see a door which steps down to a new enclosed back porch which acts as my office (no heat).

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/116LRDR2013.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/116LRDR2013.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This is the garage/studio I spoke of

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/116GarageStudio.jpg
This is looking forward from the dining room
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/116FromDRlookingforward2013.png.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/116FromDRlookingforward2013.png[/IMG][/URL]
And here is my stab with MS paint
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/MSPaintoverhangandarbor.jpg

I truly hear what you are all saying about restore not renovate. I bought this place because of the amount of land, the fact that it had a garage and a plus that it had a 'studio' type space. All of these are quite rare in Newport. From day zero (before I even put an offer in) I found the house VERY dark. These previous owners took the fact that it is a Craftsman very seriously - down to the Stickley furniture to the Craftsman's "pallet" of paint choices. Every wall is a muted color, none reflect any light. They had 2 story + arborvitae up against the house in front of the windows. As you know I got rid of all that but it is all still quite dark. I need to take and post some better front hall pictures so that you get a better idea of what I'm struggling with inside. I DO consider myself a caretaker. I've got a beautiful backyard that can not be seen (enjoyed) from the two back rooms...the kitchen and the DR, which is now my LR.
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/116backyardviewfromoffice.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/116backyardviewfromoffice.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

the entrance to the kitchen
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/IMG_1943.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1943.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The jungle on the right side that has since been removed
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/IMG_1935.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1935.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Looking to the back from what is now my DR
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/IMG_1944.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1944.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Looking forward from what is now my LR
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/norteig/media/IMG_1942.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1942.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This post was edited by WomanoftheTides on Sun, Dec 22, 13 at 15:06

ok, that didn't work well did it?

Here you go. Five pictures:

I am a self-confessed sucker for Arts & Crafts and Stickley design. Wow, what a house! Live with it for a year. See it in all different seasons, with the sun at different angles. Your woodwork is stunning, I'd kill for the colonnades. (OK, probably not. But only because there is no logical place to put them in my house.) The sensitive renovation in the kitchen looks wonderful. I personally wouldn't touch a thing; you have to do what you live with best. But to make permanent alterations to that house.... Ow.

Thanks for posting the pics. What did I do wrong?

What are the chances that the inner front door used to be the original placement for the front door, and the first alcove you enter was once a recessed porch? The old brick house across the street from my parent's house had their front porch like that, with the ceiling the underside of a room above it.

You didn't use angle brackets, you used square ones, and you tried to link to the page where the photo was, rather than the photo itself. When you choose the URL to put in the tags, it should end with .jpg, .png, .gif, or some other image format extension. I just pulled the picture's url out of your posted urls and did this:

&ltimg src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/116LRDR2013.jpg">;
&ltimg src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1943.jpg">;
&ltimg src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1935.jpg">;
&ltimg src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1944.jpg">;
&ltimg src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/norteig/IMG_1942.jpg">;
And that's all she wrote!

You mention that your stairs are steep....perfectly normal in this era home.

Bedrooms in this era homes don't have closets to speak of....perfectly normal. you'll have to get creative with storage ideas:)

Radiators...don't mess with them without doing a full house heating assessment. Radiators and the system are positioned as they are for a reason.

You are soooo lucky to have so much original! There are loads of photos online, lots in blogs, of homes like yours.

OK, I surrender. Me and my mostly white (beachy) furniture will not knock any walls down for at least a year, if ever. I will keep the entrance where it is, keep the doors, repair the sill and add an overhang. I will start with paint and see if I can't brighten things up a bit. No need to implore that I should leave the woodwork alone, I'm on board with that.

As for the stairs, I realize they are in keeping with the era they were built but I also know that they are dangerous and my 7 year old four legged friend who had a hip replacement last year is not going to find them any easier as time goes by - or me, for that matter.

It is not unusual for houses a bit earlier to have a room or two upstairs with no closet one might think was a bedroom,but wasn't intentionally built for that. I had a similar home, (circa 1908 however) with what I used as a third bedroom upstairs, but my father, who was born in 1912 informed me it was a trunk room.

My house, built in 1922 as part of a very upscale development (no house could be built unless it cost at least $10,000!) has eensey closets in 2 bedrooms. The master BR has 2 somewhat less-eensey closets, and the 3rd, smallest back bedroom has 2 middling-eensey closets. I think people back then just had fewer clothes.

My 1900 house has closets. But they originally had two short clothing rods that hung front to back, inside of one long one running side to side. Someone switched the old rods out, and now there's one long rod. But except for the space right inside the closet door, the closet is not deep enough for modern day hangers.

But to address some of the OP's concerns.

If the house is dark, the house is dark. The way to make it seem lighter is to clear out some of the trees outside. Then inside, paint in lighter colors. And add more artificial light. Lots of lamps. Get a couple of outlets, or one plug in a couple of outlets, wired to a wall switch, so that you can turn a bunch of lamps on all at once.

Things that sparkle add light to a room--mirrors, shiny metal, glass objects.

Put down lighter-colored rugs.

As for the porch--my grandparents lived in an 1820s house. They moved their living space depending on the season. For the winter, they used the sunny living room. But in the summer, they moved their daily activities to the very large dining room, which had windows shaded by the porch.

Very large older houses had "morning rooms" designed to take advantage of the morning sun. People would move to other rooms during the evening. So think outside the box a bit on when and how to use each room.

Oh, and the two front doors offset from each other? Could very well be a way to keep cold air from entering the rest of the house. You've got a little airlock there, and with the two doors offset, less of a wind tunnel than if they were in a direct line.

It is a personal bugaboo of mine to see lots of lovely old New England homes which have a vestibule designed to help keep winter cold out of the house, which are now being flipped or remuddled and everyone tears out the vestibule to "gain more room."

So now they have a front door that opens directly into the living room, or the "living space" if they've torn down all the interior walls, which mostly they have. And now they can't understand why they are so cold all the time.

In the early 1910s and 20s, "permanent furniture" came into vogue. The idea was to give homeowners some built-in bonuses (such as bookcases, buffets, window seats and phone niches) to spare them the burden and expense of having to purchase those items in addition to the burden of a new house payment.

Closets also became more popular because a built-in closet was much easier to deal with than some massive armoire, and it spared new homeowners the expense of having to buy armoires!

Most houses from this time period have closets and yes, they're pretty tiny. In fact, many Sears Homes from the early 1910s and 20s have bedrooms that are the size of today's walk-in closets! (About 8 feet by 10 feet.)

Trunk rooms were typically put directly over the kitchen, because the room over the kitchen was considered uninhabitable. The smell and heat rising from the kitchen below would have made the room above most unpleasant for sleeping (or so it was believed).

In the 1920s, the average woman spent 75% of her time in the kitchen, and typical cook stoves produced a phenomenal amount of heat. Some were even built into small stove-sized coves in an effort to keep the heat and grease in one place.

It's also the reason that kitchens have so many windows. Our 1925 Colonial had the kitchen jutting out from the rest of the house, and had tall windows on three sides, for optimal ventilation.

If you read the old Ladies' Home Journal of the day, women often passed out in the kitchen from the stifling heat and lack of oxygen, and they would sometimes fall forward onto the stove, suffering horrific burns.

I've always wanted to write a book about why early 20th Century houses have all the goofy stuff they have...

:)

It all had a reason, but those fascinating reasons are often forgotten by contemporary living!

Here is a link that might be useful: Permanent Furniture

I will bet you dollars to donuts, Womanofthetides, that your house originally had a full-width front porch. It you walk or cycle around your neighborhood, you may well see an almost identical house with the original porch.

Out of an abundance of possibly misplaced enthusiasm, I happen to co-own two homes that fall generally into the category 'foursquare with front porch and entry to doors to one side.'

The one already renovated is a Sears kit house, 26 feet wide. Its porch screams 'bungalow,' but it really is a foursquare house. The porch is eight feet deep and faces south. The summers here are hot, the front is unshaded, and there are plenty of windows on the sides of the house, so the shade of the porch is welcome. If the living room seemed to dark because of the porch, I would put skylights with workable shades in the porch roof.

The other house we just bought this year It is more of a real foursquare, but narrower and less generously fenestrated. It came with a kind of rustic porch-around-the-original-front-porch, which we recently removed. The original porch and its roof are going to need renovating in the spring. It faces west but there is also a century-old oak that shelters that side of the house from the afternoon sun. Even though the porch is shallower, I may put skylights in that roof because there are no windows on the side of the first floor near the front.

All of which is to say that I don't think you will ever regret adding a full width porch to your house. If your living room proves to be too dark, sky lights are not that expensive to add; just position them in front of your windows.

The inside of your house is splendid in design and condition, and I am shockingly envious. The front deserves an upgrade to its original curb appeal.

Anyway, scanning the catalog sketches of the Sears kit homes in the Sears archives is a quick way to survey lots of porch options for foursquares. You can decide when the porch is in whether you need skylights.

I have linked to a Sears kit hip roof foursquare design that might fire your imagination.

Cheers.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I don't have a lot to add except to say the interior of your home is GORGEOUS!!! Honestly? I wouldn't change a thing!! The cedar shake and "plainness" of the front doesn't match the inside, in my opinion. I would go with cheap fixes to start. Maybe shutters and window boxes with bright red flowers. New landscaping to hide the basement. Or something to warm up the walkway. A flag. Mailbox. All those things really add up and can make it look INFINITELY better!
The door placement doesn't bother me too much and it works when you see the interior.
FWIW, our 1870's house has small closets and two bedrooms out of six without closets.
You are ABSOLUTELY in the right place for any changes you need in your house. I have lived on this website for YEARS (10, I think?) every time I do a renovation and they always have the best and most up-to-date advice of any place on the Internet!!
Sarah in Albany, NY

I agree: "GORGEOUS!!!"
Diane

This is the second time I've looked at this post. I just want to say that I love your beautiful home. Good luck with all your plans for it.
Kathy

Oh my gosh, your interior is amazing!!!! What beautiful woodwork!!! I love the window in the door, too!!

And a house is not a home without a dog, in my opinion. I've never been without a dog, a cat, or both. We just have one dog now, he is getting old poor baby, amazing how much a Chihuahua can shed.

Aww look at that beautiful sweetie laying on that lil round rug just like it was made especially for him! :-) Love him!

Thank you all for your comments. To clarify, the 'vestibule' is not original. Originally the front of the house had a room the full width of the house. The only way into the house from that room was via the inner front door. This room had (and still has) a radiator on the inside wall between the exterior double door and the interior door. Previous owner created the jagged wall separating front room from front door. They then removed the wall between the DR and the front room. It is all quite odd.

The staircase IS going to be extended and made to code so something has to give somewhere and so far I've dealt with an interior designer and an architect and neither seems to be worth their fees. All very discouraging.