AKA Rod International or perhaps "The Down By the Sea Lamp Co., Inc." I found a lamp base that was of some kind of chalky white plaster, like concrete, very heavy, with a chalky painted round, wood ball finial. The lamp itself is shaped like a bolt of fabric twisted into a draped, floor length female toga, that ties at the empire waist sash, and puddles down to the floor, like a dress on a mannequin, without the mannequin! and without the typical female landmarks! In the Goodwill for $9.99!!! I took it to my favorite lamp shade store, and bought it a lovely new shade. Store owner said it could be (or very similar to) the above artist. That lamp with the new shade is now a 2007 gorgeous...the fact that it is plaster or rough ceramic introduces another texture into the otherwise feminine room, and yet is feminine itself. Again, anyone had one of these types of lamps???

Thanks for all the answers and kind words, everyone! Now I need to stop calling the house a Second Empire with a mansard ;) No wonder I couldn't find any info on my home's design...I was looking in the wrong place! Casey, looking at the aerial view of my house on Google, the it actually does appear to be pyramidal. The very middle of the roof comes within a few feet of coming to a point. The front and back of the house appear to be slightly shorter than the left and right sides, but just barely. I have a library copy of Downing's "Cottage Residences" on my coffee table right now, but haven't had a chance to really go through it yet. I'll take to take a closer look at it. Calliope, you bring up a good point about the siding. I had been told it was original, but you're right - there's no way it can be, since the 1940s addition has the same siding. Duh! As for the oil heat, that has always confused me. I had been told that oil heat was the home's original heat source and I don't know too much about this topic, so I never questioned it. I have looked, but haven't been able to find any remnants of a fireplace anywhere. However, I have found the vestiges of round holes in the wall in front of the old central chimney where it looks like stovepipes would have gone. Maybe the house was heated by woodstoves? The area it is in was a huge lumber producer in the 1850s - 1890s so that would make more sense. autumngal, I have seen photos of the houses you're talking about down south - they're gorgeous! It's perplexing because my home is in New York State, very close to Canada. I wonder if the people who commissioned the house were originally from that area and that's where they got the idea from? I'll have to do some research. I apologize for asking so many questions, but I really can't resist when there's experts around to learn from! would love some input on the following. My fiance and I were thinking of adding very short roof cresting to the house, in a pattern that will match the short iron fence that will soon enclose the front yard. We also were thinking of a ceiling medallion for the dining room chandelier and dentil crown molding in the same room. (The room has neither right now.) I am now wondering if these ideas would be out of place - especially the roof cresting, since I apparently do not have a Second Empire! I would NEVER make any changes to the house that would remove, destroy or alter original features, and I know molding/medallions are easily removed, but I am also very keen to do right by the house and not be a remuddler. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? Also, a little off topic, but if anyone has any good info sources about stained and painted glass (books, websites, etc.) I'd love to hear them. I'm curious about the stained/painted glass in my front door, and am not even sure what to call it since they're whole pieces and not leaded. Thank you so much! Here is a link that might be useful: Stained/painted glass in front door

I live in South Jersey and always take NJ Transit when I go into the city. I get on in Trenton and take the Northeast Corridor line into Penn Station which is conveniently located- you can walk to the Empire State Building easily but you'd need to take a cab or subway to Ground Zero. New Jersey Transit has a good web site that you can check. The closest station to you is probably Port Jervis, NY (we have a vacation house just across the river in Milford, PA in Pike County). But that would be a fairly long train ride and you probably would be more comfortable in your car. So I would drive further into New Jersey and pick a train station that's closer to the city. I can't help you with parking at the Statue of Liberty- I've been there but it's always been with a bus load of elementary school kids. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

I am about to install Atroguard Southern Trail in my entire downstairs. I had a water leak which damaged all of my engineered hardwoods, which I hated. I've looked at other engineered hardwood, Coretec, luxury vinyl, and now the water-resistant laminate. The water-resistant laminate looks and feels so much more like real hardwood. I brought a piece of hardwood home and actually liked the look and feel of the laminate much better than the vinyl, Coretec, or engineered hardwood. It is 7.7" wide and about as thick as real hardwood. I certainly hope I don't have any of the problems described above.