Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Welcome To My Historic Hood

This last week was completely unproductive in the house.  My husband was out of town and I don't have anyone to watch my boobear while I tackle projects.  So not too much to report, unfortunately.  I did buy a light for the family room which is a huuuge accomplishment.  I've been looking for one for a couple of months and just couldn't come up with anything that I really liked.  It's hard to try to be true to the style of the house and still get what you want.  I decided that, yes, my house is almost 130 years old, but it's not a historic museum so I'll make a conscious effort to get some period looking pieces but I'm not going to stress over it.  Sorry, that was a bit long-winded.  Anyway, I haven't put the light up yet so I'm still not even sure if I'll actually like it once it's hung.  I'll try to get my husband to do that this week and post pictures.

Instead of working in the house, boobear and I just had fun together.  It's been raining and gray here lately so when  "Mr. Golden Sun", as my daughter refers to it,  made an appearance this weekend we were thrilled to get outside and go for a walk in our neighborhood.  I thought I'd bring the camera along and take some pictures of some of my favorite homes in the hood.


I love this old victorian.  It has 14 fireplaces!  I've been in it and it practically is a museum.  There is not one square inch of the walls that isn't covered with some type of art.  And, the owner is a former librarian who has more than 10,000 books (literally) in the house.


My favorite roof in the neighborhood.  I've seen pictures of the inside of this house.  It's basically my dream home except for the fact that there is no garage.  Very common in my neighborhood and the reason why we moved.


This house used to have the largest wrap around porch I've ever seen.  I wish they'd bring that back.


This is my all time favorite in the hood (although this is probably the worst picture I took).  I love the black shingles, and the stone which is marble.  Yes, marble.  It would cost a fortune to build this house today.  An opera was written in the house and President Taft had dinner here.  How awesome is that?

Historic homes are so incredible.  They just don't make them like they used to.  All the old houses here are triple brick.  I think today they just use a brick facade.  And there's just so much character and charm.  On the other hand, they can be soooo painfully high maintenance.  Charm comes with a price tag...in this case it may very well be my sanity. 

6 comments:

  1. I am living in new construction now and I miss the charm of and old house. I do not miss drafty windows and mice! Your neighborhood is lovely, though.

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  2. I call my area the "hood" too. Whenever a new person moves in..I send a note saying "welcome to the Hood". They all know I'm nuts! Your area is so beautiful. There is nothing like an older home with character.

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  3. Thanks for stopping by Kerry. Yes, drafty windows suck. I would love to get energy efficient windows, but there is a historic board here that would sooner burn my house down than see it without the original windows. I get it. I do, but they're not the ones with the outrageous heating/cooling bills;)

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  4. Every once in a while I wonder if the best of both worlds would be to build a new house to look like an old house. Hmm, I'm going to try to forget I just said that.

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  5. Your neighborhood looks EXACTLY like mine. (#sarcasm) Just gorgeous, Tiff. I can't wait to come and visit!

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  6. Ah! I love neighborhoods like yours. It is one of the benefits to owning a historic home :)

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