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How old is your house?

dnjan

One Too Many
Messages
1,690
Location
Seattle
One of the problems with living on the west coast is how "young" most of the houses are. Ours was built in 1941, and I think it is the second-oldest house on the block.
 

Forgotten Man

One Too Many
Messages
1,944
Location
City Dump 32 E. River Sutton Place.
96

From what I have been told the house we rent dates back to 1914. Originally a farm house/shack that offered shelter to a small Asian family who farmed potatoes. It's the oldest house on the block. I would love to find some photos of it before WWII or earlier.
 

Forgotten Man

One Too Many
Messages
1,944
Location
City Dump 32 E. River Sutton Place.
dnjan said:
One of the problems with living on the west coast is how "young" most of the houses are. Ours was built in 1941, and I think it is the second-oldest house on the block.

Well, it really depends on the city or neighborhood you reside! There are older towns down here in Southern California that have homes dating back to the 1880s. In Pomona, there is a Spanish adobe that dates back to the late 1700s.

Up northern CA way, there are plenty of old "Gold Rush" era structures and homes. And I know up in Washington there are many places that are pretty old. But larger cities did hit a growth spurt in the 40s and just after WWII.

My home town Monrovia was founded in 1887 and we have many beautiful Victorians and bungalows!
 

dnjan

One Too Many
Messages
1,690
Location
Seattle
Unfortunately, a lot of the older houses in downtown Seattle got replaced with newer buildings, and most of the neighborhoods just aren't that old.

The house I grew up in (Illinois) would be close to 150 years old (at least the original part), but it was knocked down about five years ago to make way for a development.
 

Forgotten Man

One Too Many
Messages
1,944
Location
City Dump 32 E. River Sutton Place.
dnjan said:
Unfortunately, a lot of the older houses in downtown Seattle got replaced with newer buildings, and most of the neighborhoods just aren't that old.

The house I grew up in (Illinois) would be close to 150 years old (at least the original part), but it was knocked down about five years ago to make way for a development.

Ah, hate it when that happens! :eusa_doh: Forgot about those modern minded developers... jerks!:mad:

I tell ya, hell hath no rage compared to that of the rage I felt towards Wal*Mart when they built one of their concrete ARK sized compounds right in the backyard of my Aunt and Uncle's 1932 English Cottage house in Yuba City... In a town where there are plenty of empty lots, they chose to clear out acres of orange and almond groves that were there for a very long time to build a sterile concrete box. :rage: I recall being a child and looking into those fruit orchards as if they went on for eternity... *sigh* I want to cry now.:cry:
 

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
For a long time I was in a limestone row house in the Windsor Terrace section of Brooklyn, that was built in 1906. I always described it as where someone who went 2nd class on the Titanic might have lived. It was gorgeous, but my landlady sold it for a fortune. God bless her.
But now I live in an apartment building in the Bronx. The cornerstone was laid in 1937, and it opened in 1939. It is a late Art Deco - Streamlined Modern gem, and I'm decorating my place in keeping with the style of the building.
 

Nick D

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,166
Location
Upper Michigan
Built in 1927. The neighbors are restoring thier half to the original look (plus the modern conveniences), and our half retains some of the original furniture.
 

Alexi

One of the Regulars
Messages
200
Location
Boston
our house was born in 1870. the farmhouse I grew up in was born in 1743, with additions added all the way up to 1991
 

23SkidooWithYou

Practically Family
Messages
533
Location
Pennsylvania
Our house is about 100 or a little older. I've always wanted to know more, but have no idea how to research. My Grandmother's Aunts and Uncle (all unmarried) lived here. She lived next door with her Mother and siblings after her coal miner "Da" passed away when she was 3. We have the original deed signed by all her siblings to authorize purchase by my Grandfather. He converted it to two story apartments in the 50's or 60's. We have the fun task of putting it back to a single residence. Cracked plaster, warped pocket doors, ancient plumbing...I wouldn't change a thing.

We have this ornate mantle with mottled green tiles that I've learned to love. The odd thing is that the huge old house that is the local funeral home has the same tiles in their mantle. Even odder, the parlor with the mantle is where they used to "lay out" our relatives too!

Our neighborhood is really odd. You can find big old hundred year old homes like my own, what is left of the coal company row homes and a "modern" 50's/60's development of ranch homes all within steps.
 

cecil

A-List Customer
Messages
396
Location
Sydney, Aus.
Mine's Victorian, but no idea what year. It's a tiny one-storey terrace house, about 3m/10ft wide with another place either side (ie no windows). The hallway was originally open air and may have been shared with the house that's on the right when the houses are viewed from the front. We've had fun speculating what it might have been over the years, we think it was maybe a workers' cottage/boarding house kinda joint for when the railway lines were being built. Maybe a stable. Of course it could just be as simple as a home for a working class family. Who knows.
 

davestlouis

Practically Family
Messages
805
Location
Cincinnati OH
Built in 1972...ugly tacky 70s architectural details, aluminum wiring, crap insulation, plywood under the carpet, not the hardwood that a 60s house would have had...nothing to jump up and down about, that's for sure. I have never lived in a home without central A/C, my folks built their first house in 1966, the summer before I was born, and built the other one in 1971. They now reside in a condo on a golf course that's about 10 years old. No cool old homes in my immediate family!
 

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