Mustang, Well, that's an extremely eclectic-style house, but I'm not sure I see much Greek Revival detail. Greek Revival frieze boards are most commonly wider along the vertical plane of the house than yours appear to be and the porch columns are definitely 20 c. styling. However, I think Casey has spotted the essential core which is a farm house in the very-popular-in-the-period vernacular Italianate style. If you look at the relatively narrow "main box" and the roof pitch and deep return on those eaves you can see some clues that typify that style here, at least here in upstate NY. It's the right style for that age of building, too. It looks to me like there may be additonal detail buried under some of the later additions and siding. You certainly will have your work cut out for you surveying the complexity of that structure and deciding what to keep and what might be better removed to reveal the underlying "bones". I hope you will be able to take some time to devote to just cleaning it and studying the building before you embark on a big renovation project. New house owners are always keen, often to the point of desperation, to rush right in. But I can tell you from my own experience over many years, that the ideas you come up with after you've lived there for several months, better yet a year, will be so much better than anything that occurs to you now. What you're thinking about now, has little to do with this house; let it tell you what it needs. The very first thing to do (other than clean, clean, clean ...) is make an accurate measured drawing of the house as it was when you bought it. And in your case with amazing complexity of that structure, this should keep you busy all winter! That first drawing will stand you in good stead down the road as you embark on renovating. I'm attaching my standard virtual "house warming present": a link to a series of very useful Technical Bulletins on old house renovation, care and inspection. These are published by the National Parks Service and I've found the information accurate and thorough, and more than once I've embarked on a new project with only these as a guide. Please come back tell us what you discover in your house, and feel free to ask further questions. Molly~ Here is a link that might be useful: Preservation Bulletin series: Every thing an new old house owners needs to know about!

Be it help with our car,landscape,health,financial or a broken porch post,most of us could use a man or woman in an apron from time to time. Every store used to have them until companies were forced to cut payroll in order to compete for customers through priceing alone. Aside to allminating great help for diyers, opertunity was taken away for retired people wanting part time work. I wager some of those answering questions on this forum would love to work a few hours helping people face to face,I would. It totaly escape's me why we pay SSI to folks and have them sit home distancing themselves from mainstream society but refuse to subsidize part time work. Would you pay Granny to show you how to prepare fresh veggies from the farmer's market? It's fast and easy asking on the net but believe me when I say you would be ten times better off paying gramps for showing you how to cut an edge with a 4" brush or refinish a table. I have attempted working out somthing where I furnish technical expertise,transportation and tools for on the job training young men unable to find work and can't afford school. What I've found is bureaucracy where noone is interested in such. It boil's down to lawyers and liability unless I pay more for insurance than both us togeather would earn. Ok,there's my mini rant for the day,I'm off to the fridge for beer and snacks,be back in a few. (;

Houses built in the early 1900s would have had interior walls of lath and plaster and no insulation in the walls. Horse hair and other fibers were added to the plaster to give it strength and crack resistance. At a later time, insulation could have been injected into the walls through holes bored through the outer siding and sheathing. A lath and plaster wall could have been painted, but many were papered if it were a farm house. A possible renovation was to rip out the lath and plaster walls, fill the wall with modern insulation batts, and finish the interior with wall-board. While the walls were open, plumbing and electrical wiring could have been added. Due to lumber availability and style, new base boards may not match the older items. Some old baseboards were straight boards from 6 to 10 inch in width. Another common feature in kitchens and dining areas was a "chair rail" along the wall. This would have been a board about 4 inch wide running all around the room whose purpose was to keep chair backs from damaging the walls. Early electrical wiring in attic spaces used knob and tube insulators to hold wire. The service entrance box usually had fuses instead of circuit breakers.

You don’t repair laminate. You replace. Especially since you can now buy vanity tops for just a couple of hundred.