Show us your vintage home!

[rue]

That was a great idea. I always try to do that too

Like I said, the one you're using now is beautiful, so it's something you can be proud of, especially since your grandfather made it.

Loved seeing a bit of your home again. It's still one of my very favorites on this thread or anywhere

 

[Big Man]

That was a great idea. I always try to do that too

Like I said, the one you're using now is beautiful, so it's something you can be proud of, especially since your grandfather made it.

Loved seeing a bit of your home again. It's still one of my very favorites on this thread or anywhere

Thank you.

 

[dhermann1]

Interesting rug, Big Man. Is it an original hand knotted? Easy to tell if it drapes like cloth, rather than being stiff like a mat. If it's what I think it is, the style is called hatchli. It's meant to represent a door, and if you look at it, you'll see that it does.

 

[Shangas]

1940s doorbell

[/B]

An absolutely beautiful house! But I have to ask. A 1940s doorbell? How does it differ from a modern doorbell?

What does it sound like!?

 

[Effingham]

That footstool is the coolest thing. I love this sort of family heirloom archaeology.

 

[Big Man]

Interesting rug, Big Man. Is it an original hand knotted? Easy to tell if it drapes like cloth, rather than being stiff like a mat. If it's what I think it is, the style is called hatchli. It's meant to represent a door, and if you look at it, you'll see that it does.

Yes, it does drape like cloth. It has been around the house since before my time, but I don't know the history of the rug. My Dad bought back several rugs from the War (my sister has them now), and this one is similar to them, but not exactly the same. This one looks older than the others, and has always been in the old house. So, I don't know if it was one my Dad got in Europe or if it was something my Grandparents got for the house. I never thought to ask about it and there's no one left now that would know.

Do you have any idea on a possible age?

 

[dhermann1]

Well, if he brought it back form the war it's at least 70 years old. That qualifies it as an antique.
It's probably a genuine Persion rug. There are plenty of them in the world, and it may be only of middling quality, but it's still a darned nice rug. Hatchli rugs were originally used as doorway cover for the tents of the tribal peoples. As I said, they were designed to simulate the pattern of a wood door. Pretty cool. Take care of it.

 

[Grant Fan]

An absolutely beautiful house! But I have to ask. A 1940s doorbell? How does it differ from a modern doorbell?

What does it sound like!?

The last owner is an architectural historian. I am not sure how it differs to be honest but she informed us that it is in fact form the 1940s. To me it is rather quiet but I was raised in a 5000+ square foot house with an 1800s doorbell and it is incredibly loud so that you can hear it through out the entire house. But this one just chimes like an ordinary door bell nothing special

 

[Connery]

Grant Fan, your home is charming and looks very cozy. I hope your time there will be bring you many wonderful memories.

 

[Shangas]

Connery is right. you must give us a photo-tour once everything is set up.

 

[Bugguy]

Bugguy, my parents have a Tudor built just a few years before yours. Yours looks lovely, but it made me homesick!

Did you choose the colour pallette for yours or was it inheirited from the previous owner?

It's a great house with a step-down living room. Very bright and open. Funny, I thought Tudor's tended to be darker inside, but this one gets lots of light. The eyebrow window is my favorite detail.

The color was originally green(??) (sickly) I chose the current colors, but have toned down the cream this summer to a creamy grey. You can barely tell the difference, but it isn't as yellow.

I notice you're in NSW... if you look behind me in my profile pic, you'll notice a piece of your great outback. I'm standing off the highway mid-way between Darwin and Alice Springs. I just spent the evening before at a roadhouse with a local beer distributer. Foster's will never touch my lips again.

 

[Bugguy]

did you say you built that chimney yourself?

No, it takes more talent than I possess. I had several feet of brick taken down and replaced the chimney pots. I got lucky and found a contractor who had 4 that he "found" at a job site. After the squirrel fell down onto the grate (they used ether to knock him out), I added screens to the tops.

 

[Miss Golightly]

So many beautiful homes!

This is our new home in it's current "Before" state! It was built in the late 1940's and I reckon that was the last time anything was done to it. At the moment it is pretty much a monument to bad taste but work will hopefully begin after Christmas and should take around six or seven months (which probably means eight!)

There aren't that many period features per se but I would like to hold onto as many as possible like the Belfast sink, picture rails and the fireplaces (the one from the kitchen we hope to keep as a feature as it won't be a functioning fireplace - once it doesn't crumble when removed from the wall) and the floorboards are in fantastic shape so we hope to have them varnished etc.:

The hallway:

The cosy fireplace in the kitchen (loving the serial killer's home style wallpaper):

The room that will be our library:

One of the bedrooms (featuring the typical bar heaters of the time):

The old cupboards in the kitchen:

The garden (all 100 feet of it):

The Belfast sink from the awful kitchen that was kind of tacked on:

The fireplace in the front room:

This is going to be a huge job but I will post some photos when all the work is done!

 

[R.G. White]

So many beautiful homes!

This is our new home in it's current "Before" state! It was built in the late 1940's and I reckon that was the last time anything was done to it. At the moment it is pretty much a monument to bad taste but work will hopefully begin after Christmas and should take around six or seven months (which probably means eight!)

There aren't that many period features per se but I would like to hold onto as many as possible like the Belfast sink, picture rails and the fireplaces (the one from the kitchen we hope to keep as a feature as it won't be a functioning fireplace - once it doesn't crumble when removed from the wall) and the floorboards are in fantastic shape so we hope to have them varnished etc.:

The fireplace in the front room:

This is going to be a huge job but I will post some photos when all the work is done!

Wow! What a great house; so much potential! Those fireplaces are beautiful too. Wishing you all the luck in fixing it up, and I can't wait to see what it'll look like once you fix it up!

 

[MikeBravo]

Those fireplaces are awesome. The library has great potential, I could see myself reading in there

 

[rue]

Congratulations!! The fireplaces are amazing and that sink is wonderful! Don't you think you could save the cabinets? They look good in the pictures, but I know that can be deceiving.

 

[lolly_loisides]

I agree with everyone else here, lovely house, great potential & fab fireplaces. I like the kitchen cupboards too.

A few weeks ago I posted to an ad for my dream home (it was up for auction). It was passed in & now it's asking price is offers over $850,000. While that's still out of my price range it's much cheaper than I thought it would sell for.
Link to video of property. Awful furnishings, but lovely house[video]http://www.domain.com.au/ore/Public/Gallery/Video.aspx?adid=2009155822[/video]

 

[Miss Golightly]

Thank you everyone! I loved the house the second I walked into it - I just got such a lovely feeling from it. Funnily enough we went across the road to view a similar house for sale and I took an instant dislike to it - even though it was in better shape than ours - funny that!

So glad to see other people who appreciate the tiled fireplaces - most people seem to hate them - the amount of homes I have gone in to view where the original fireplaces have been ripped out and replaced with 60's/70's ugliness or replaced with fireplaces not in keeping with the period style of the house.

Rue - the cupboards will need some further inspection - we haven't had a good look at them and again - like the fireplace in the kitchen - they may crumble when removed but we'll see what the story is in the coming weeks.

Lolly - that house is fabulous - the bathroom alone!!!!! I wish the guy spent more time showing the fireplace and spent less time showing us the ivories. I hope whoever buys the house appreciates it and doesn't decide to rip the heart and soul out of it.

 

[Connery]

The fireplace caught my eye. Enjoy your new home. It has character and history.

 

[Miss Golightly]

The fireplace caught my eye. Enjoy your new home. It has character and history.

Thank you! We're very excited about it - can't wait to get started!

To be honest if the fireplaces had been replaced I would have searched high and low for originals to put in their places - I don't think you can beat an open fire (even if it is a lot of work to clean it etc.).