Show us your vintage home!

[HoosierDaddy]

That's what I can make out as well.

 

[sheeplady]

I found this board the other day in my house. Can any one read it? I can see it was written in 1890, April 19, and "yours with love", but not much else! Trying to read the last name at the top, so I can cross reference it to the 1890 city directory. Seems my house had at least three different house numbers, the farthest I can trace it back is 1898, clearly, this shows it is older, since it has been incased in a wall all this time!

I believe the second line is either something like:
2 for Sterns/ stems?

BUT i think the 2 could be an "and" and followed by what looks like WJ Sterns...

Unless it is a location... are you located in ny or nj?

But my bet is the 2 is an &

 

[Stearmen]

I believe the second line is either something like:
2 for Sterns/ stems?

BUT i think the 2 could be an "and" and followed by what looks like WJ Sterns...

Unless it is a location... are you located in ny or nj?

But my bet is the 2 is an &

Now that I look at it again, I think it is either 2 or more likely, and from up stairs!

 

[Stearmen]

JamesBeads (either) 2 or & from up stairs. When shall we three meet again.
When you look at this and read think of me. I am the lad that put this back on in the year of 1890 April 19, yours with love.

 

[Stearmen]

Thanks Sheeplady, couldn't do it with out you. I think the 2 makes more since, since with James that would make three! Unfortunately No James Bead, or Beed, or any one close to that name in the 1890 city directory. The farthest I can trace my house back is 1898, and it has had several street number changes back then. I now know why so few have received the historic plaque, it is really hard to research with all the records being destroyed in the early 20th century. The first owner that the city has records for, was 1909, clearly the house is older then that. By then, it was a boarding house, clearly it was not built as a rooming house, way too much wasted space for generating income!

 

[dh66]

Cool find, Stearmen!

Also...the floors look great, FF, and Engineer is right, the flange should have been set high enough to allow for the tile to be laid up under it. That way there's a better seal with the bottom of the throne.

Glad I finally found my way back here, I've missed you guys remodeling progress.

 

[dh66]

FF....it's not the end of the world or a deal breaker or anything, though. It'll still do what it's supposed to just fine.

 

[Fading Fast]

FF....it's not the end of the world or a deal breaker or anything, though. It'll still do what it's supposed to just fine.

Thank you for the color - I see what you mean, but oh well, as you said, it will still be okay. (Updated photos coming shortly).

 

[Fading Fast]

1928 NYC Coop Apartment Restoration Update:

These are the bookcases being installed next to the fireplace. We went back to 1920s design books and had them built in that style (I'll take some close ups next time so that you can see the trim details which are simple with soft edges - right out of the '20s). There's going to be a piece at the top that "finishes" them and library lights installed in the holes a row down from the top.


This is the other side of the fireplace and that is a fire door (to an internal staircase that's "firesafe"), so, obviously, we had to build around it. Initially we thought it was a drag (not having the exit, but having to upset the flow of the bookcases), but have come to like the look of going around the door (and there are more molding details to come to "finish" the design).


This is the only door we had made (all the others in the apartment are original) to close in the kitchen from the foyer, but leave as much light coming through as we could. We went back to both 1920s design books for the French door overall style and then mimicked the trim detail of the existing doors as can be seen in the up-close shot of the mullions. The last shot is of the hinge which we salvaged from another apartment in the building, so at least it lives on in its original home (the door's lockset and handle, yet to be installed, are also salvaged from another apartment in the building). We are hoping once the door has a few coats of paint, the trim will "soften" a bit to give it a more aged appearance and look more consistent with the other doors.

 

[Bamaboots]

Fading Fast, thanks for the update. Looks wonderful. I'm with you on the fire door, I think it's a stunning feature. Never seen a door incorporated into a design so well.

 

[Fading Fast]

Fading Fast, thanks for the update. Looks wonderful. I'm with you on the fire door, I think it's a stunning feature. Never seen a door incorporated into a design so well.

Thank you - we spent a lot of time on that feature and not all of the "design elements" (dear God - what has happened to me) are in, so it should look better when fully done. We, also, left an idea or two for it in the maybe-we'll-do-it-after-it-is-in pile as we wanted to see what it looks like first. All that said, we went from not liking having to build around it to really liking it and thinking it actually adds to the quirky uniqueness that is pre-war architecture (there are some crazy beams in our kitchen ceiling that only became apparent when we took out the drop ceiling and "high hat" lights that had been put in at some point). All that quirkiness is what we love versus the "perfect" architecture we see in new construction.

 

[dh66]

Everything looks great, FF! The place is really progressing nicely.

 

[ingineer]

Fading;
This just so pleasant to see; esp after working w/ my Father in the city turning old flats into sterile spaces with the swishy interior decorators
hope you get a CofO for Christmas
don't call it a fire door then the inspector will want steel over it

 

[Fading Fast]

Fading;
This just so pleasant to see; esp after working w/ my Father in the city turning old flats into sterile spaces with the swishy interior decorators
hope you get a CofO for Christmas
don't call it a fire door then the inspector will want steel over it

Funny you mention steel because that is what the door is made of. We discussed, at one point, stripping it and just leaving the exposed steel as that was done by some in the period for those going with a "machine age" aesthetic. Since, we really weren't doing that, we thought it might look odd. We've been in a few apartments in the building where the door is stripped, it's a very raw but cool look, but again, probably wouldn't have worked for what we are doing overall.

It's 50/50 on Christmas, my best guess is January now. Oh well.

 

[Stearmen]

It's 50/50 on Christmas, my best guess is January now. Oh well.

That's still not bad! I would settle for January on my project!

 

[Stearmen]

Finally broke down and hired a pro to remove most of the wall paper. Good thing I did, in the master bedroom and the main bath, there was a second layer underneath, that was painted over. He left the painted layer, with only minor damage, so I will paint over it. You can barely see the seems, so should look OK!

 

[Fading Fast]

1928 NYC Coop Apartment Restoration Update:

Additional "Sanitary Cove" tile work and detail in the bathroom and the first appearance of the very classic "black line."




More work to be done on the sill, but a pretty creative way to "finish" the tile at the window without having any mitered edges


More cabinetry in the kitchen - tried to emulate the 1920s style of individual furniture pieces being built in versus today's seamless cabinetry style. A lot more details to come




And finally, more pieces of the bookcases are being installed in the living


Close up to show the detail on the bookcases - right out of 1920s design books



And one wider shot to show the bookcases around the fireplace

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh my gosh...the bookcases!!! I need those in my living room!

Looks fantastic!

 

[Fading Fast]

Oh my gosh...the bookcases!!! I need those in my living room!

Looks fantastic!

Thank you. We counted before we did this and have +/- 2000 books.

I didn't show it above, but below is the bookcase we made for the opposite wall as the ones by the fireplace won't be nearly enough. Also, for my small office (I work from home), I purchased several early 1900s oak barrister bookcases. What's amazing is that they are made of gorgeous oak (you couldn't even find that quality of oak today), are built better than anything today and, while not cheap, cost meaningfully less than new bookcases.

This is the one on the opposite wall to the fireplace. They haven't finished the top or put the molding on the bottom, but when done, it will (hopefully) look like it was there in 1928 when the apartment was new.

 

[AmateisGal]

2,000 books? Holy cow. That's more than me! (Though if I had this many shelves, I wouldn't hesitate to fill them up.)