Cehrabehra
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 11,071
What is fun/weird/interesting about your home?
- Thread starter ephemery1
- Start date
- Status
Cehrabehra
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 11,071
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_McLarenDate: 6/28/2007 1:49:52 PM
Author: decodelighted
Our living room is an old Blacksmith''s Shop from pre-1800. It used to be across the street, but the Blacksmith went out of business and a young man bought the building and moved it to where our house is. Down in the basement you can see the handhewn logs that support the floor. The house inspector thought they might be Colonial era.The front part of the upstairs was probably added next (turning attic space into what''s now a bathroom & guest room) ... and then there are two more sections that have been added on since.
Also - we have a cigarette smoking ghost in our basement. Anyone wanna help me name him?
My vote is "Wayne". See above.
nytemist
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
- Messages
- 962
The house I grew up in (mom is still there) is one of the big, old Boston A-frame houses. We''re only the third family to live in it and it was built in 1895. We though it was early 1900''s, but my mother was so suprised when she got a copy of the original land deed from city hall after my dad passed. We know there is a ghost in the house- since I was little I would always tell my dad that someone would always come into my room at night (you know the strange feeling that someone is watching you or nearby) As I got older, we all would hear the creaking of the stairs. Mom guessed it was just the house settling, but you would hear each step from the upper staircase, down the hall, down the second staircase, into the foyer, through the kitchen and then the kitchen light would go off (or on) occasionally. Sometimes it went in reverse. Scares my niece to the point she won''t be in house by herself now.
I know this sounds crazy, but when I friend and I used a Ouija board a few times to find out what spirit, if any, was living in our house, we found out that the ghost was a neighbors child that came over a lot to play with the kids in my house at the time. Since cars weren'' really common yet at that time, they would play in the street. One day the poor boy was struck by a car. Apparently he comes back to the house where he had fun.
I went to the library to do some research after the Ouija session. Found an old article about it. Creeped me out a bit, but at least he''s friendly.
I know this sounds crazy, but when I friend and I used a Ouija board a few times to find out what spirit, if any, was living in our house, we found out that the ghost was a neighbors child that came over a lot to play with the kids in my house at the time. Since cars weren'' really common yet at that time, they would play in the street. One day the poor boy was struck by a car. Apparently he comes back to the house where he had fun.
I went to the library to do some research after the Ouija session. Found an old article about it. Creeped me out a bit, but at least he''s friendly.
jas
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- May 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1,991
So as I''m taking pictures, DH asks what I''m doing. I tell him and he says, "Oh, I have a picture I took when you were sleeping."
Which explains the wacko hair and the fact that I let anyone take a picture of me. But I love this hammock. I love a little less the fact that y''all can see that sometimes I let the housework go.
Which explains the wacko hair and the fact that I let anyone take a picture of me. But I love this hammock. I love a little less the fact that y''all can see that sometimes I let the housework go.
Allisonfaye
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2004
- Messages
- 1,456
Date: 6/29/2007 10:46:26 AM
Author: jas
We live in a 100-year old converted wood beam timber loft that used to be an old Chicago warehouse. The previous owner actually bought the two side-by-side units and knocked down the dividing wall and took down one of the kitchens. We have glorious views of downtown, and these really awesome beams running floor to ceiling, which allows us to have a hammock strung up.
It''s something we picked up on a trip to Mexico -- handwoven, gorgeous thick strands of rope, soft as all get out, and on the ends, instead of a normal triangular gather, it has old oxen yoke! (Minus the oxen, of course.) I love that hammock and try to swing in it every day. Very relaxing
However, the best part of the house is that we are about three blocks away from a chocolate factory. About three days a week, there is the most wonderful aroma of chocolate in the air -- it''s not sickeningly sweet, either...it''s a warm cocoa or dark chocolate aroma. I tell people that I live in the best place in the world because we have chocolate air! (And because of DH of course.)
Do you, by any chance, live near the Merchandise Mart? Every time we go there, I smell brownies baking. Yum.
jas
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- May 9, 2006
- Messages
- 1,991
NYCsparkle
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,371
Cehrabehra
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 11,071
very VERY cool - any window?Date: 7/1/2007 3:47:57 PM
Author: NYCsparkle
The room is not huge, its big enough for a small table and a chair....i use it for storage now...aka...the place where the mess goes.
You know what I''d do - I wouldn''t tell the new owners about it when you eventually sell and leave a little "time bomb" in there about you guys and what you know of the previous owners. There''s no secret room here, but there is a "time bomb" that comes with this house... be really fun to find it in a secret room you didn''t know was there! lol
phoenixgirl
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2003
- Messages
- 3,390
We live in an urban detached row house built in the teens. All the homes on our block were built at the same time by the same builder, but it''s neat to compare and contrast. They alternated style of porch columns, and one house has only a half porch (probably not original). We''ve still got the original side benches on ours. Everyone''s got pretty much the same lay-out.
Inside all the houses only have bathroom upstairs, but thankfully the previous owner, who bought it a few years back from someone who had owned it for 50 years, did a lot of renovations. He added two bathrooms and laundry facilities, opened up the space between the living room and dining room and added columns for support, cut out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and added a granite bar, moved the back door for more kitchen space, and rebuilt the back porch to be the length of the whole house. We just learned that he took down an old tree to add the parking space where I park. He tried to demolish an old fountain but stopped when he found out how hard it is to remove concrete, so now we have a fish pond in the crater that was left. He planted all sorts of wonderful plants (DH could name them; I can''t) so that we''ve had blooms somewhere or other since early spring. He closed off the door connecting two of the bedrooms and we closed off the door between ours and the guest room and added a closet. He expanded the existing bathroom into the master bedroom and added a closet and double sinks (with only one bathroom upstairs double sinks is a must). He closed off of the porch off of the master bedroom and added a large closet in there. So our bedroom has three closets which is amazing for a house this old.
He was an older gentleman, retired, never married, who passed away (in the kitchen) about five years after buying the house. Sometimes we think about him a bit sadly, knowing he did so many wonderful renovations but didn''t get to enjoy them for too long. Sometimes when we mention his name and joke that his ghost must be haunting the house, the motion detector light in the backyard will turn on that instant.
Several people on our block have pretty much unrenovated homes . . . as much as we love an old house, I don''t think we''d have wanted to take on all the things the previous owner did, so we are grateful to him and try to appreciate it in such a way that will honor his memory.
Inside all the houses only have bathroom upstairs, but thankfully the previous owner, who bought it a few years back from someone who had owned it for 50 years, did a lot of renovations. He added two bathrooms and laundry facilities, opened up the space between the living room and dining room and added columns for support, cut out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and added a granite bar, moved the back door for more kitchen space, and rebuilt the back porch to be the length of the whole house. We just learned that he took down an old tree to add the parking space where I park. He tried to demolish an old fountain but stopped when he found out how hard it is to remove concrete, so now we have a fish pond in the crater that was left. He planted all sorts of wonderful plants (DH could name them; I can''t) so that we''ve had blooms somewhere or other since early spring. He closed off the door connecting two of the bedrooms and we closed off the door between ours and the guest room and added a closet. He expanded the existing bathroom into the master bedroom and added a closet and double sinks (with only one bathroom upstairs double sinks is a must). He closed off of the porch off of the master bedroom and added a large closet in there. So our bedroom has three closets which is amazing for a house this old.
He was an older gentleman, retired, never married, who passed away (in the kitchen) about five years after buying the house. Sometimes we think about him a bit sadly, knowing he did so many wonderful renovations but didn''t get to enjoy them for too long. Sometimes when we mention his name and joke that his ghost must be haunting the house, the motion detector light in the backyard will turn on that instant.
Several people on our block have pretty much unrenovated homes . . . as much as we love an old house, I don''t think we''d have wanted to take on all the things the previous owner did, so we are grateful to him and try to appreciate it in such a way that will honor his memory.
divergrrl
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2002
- Messages
- 2,224
I live in a 103 year old Craftsman home that we completely remodeled & added on to since we bought it in 1999. (it was 1600sq ft, now its 3200sq ft). All of it is cool...you know how lately the Pottery Barn catalogues seem to be shot in old homes that have tongue & groove wood painted wood paneled walls, ceilings etc? Well they could have shot those in my house. We''ve been painting all our wood walls & ceilings antique white over the years.
When we remodeled we did our very best to hang onto the original woodworking, trim, beams etc & added those elements to the new addition we built in 2004. Cool thing is, guests can''t tell where the ''old house'' stops & ''new house'' begins. We spent a fortune on lumber & now my DH can trim out anything. LOL.
We have a detached 2 car garage with a separate shop & covered open area behind it (both HUGE & not included in our home''s sq. footage), a gigantic, private, and tree lined yard, 640 sq ft dedicated dance studio/gym complete with state of the art gym equipment .. our guest room has flagstone floors, my dining room has 103 year old 5inch wide plank fir floors (very old and cool)
But my house is big & has 3 stories & lots of separate living space for everyone. It''s a great house, in a great neighborhood, with great schools & DH & I are very happy here. We have done most of the work ourselves, so its a "labor of love" home & we had an awesome time remodeling...took 2.5 years, but we acted as our own GC, and our subcontractors were delightful to work with & we had no "issues". It was a smooth project...partly because my DH & dad are so handy & partly because our house had GREAT bones & was built so well, that we had none of the "old house" crud that trips some people up.
When we remodeled we did our very best to hang onto the original woodworking, trim, beams etc & added those elements to the new addition we built in 2004. Cool thing is, guests can''t tell where the ''old house'' stops & ''new house'' begins. We spent a fortune on lumber & now my DH can trim out anything. LOL.
We have a detached 2 car garage with a separate shop & covered open area behind it (both HUGE & not included in our home''s sq. footage), a gigantic, private, and tree lined yard, 640 sq ft dedicated dance studio/gym complete with state of the art gym equipment .. our guest room has flagstone floors, my dining room has 103 year old 5inch wide plank fir floors (very old and cool)
But my house is big & has 3 stories & lots of separate living space for everyone. It''s a great house, in a great neighborhood, with great schools & DH & I are very happy here. We have done most of the work ourselves, so its a "labor of love" home & we had an awesome time remodeling...took 2.5 years, but we acted as our own GC, and our subcontractors were delightful to work with & we had no "issues". It was a smooth project...partly because my DH & dad are so handy & partly because our house had GREAT bones & was built so well, that we had none of the "old house" crud that trips some people up.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 15,438
There is nothing interesting about our current house but we used to live in an old cold storage factory that was actually the first loft conversion in Chicago, done by architect Harry Weese back in the ''70s. We had 2,250 square feet--with no walls except in the bathrooms. This is the best pic I have, but it doesn''t even show the full length of the unit.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 15,438
We were right where the two branches of the Chicago river come together and this was our view. Man do I miss that place... (But I do NOT miss the fact that it was so poorly maintained that our assessments were almost $1,100 a month and I'm just convinced the whole thing is going to crumble right into the river some day!)
We also had a 6' round black jacuzzi in the living room (installed by the previous owner!) and it's amazing how many people I've run into who actually spent time in it. A little scary frankly.
JAS - now we live in Kinzie Park. Talk about being close to the chocolate factory! Sometimes when the smell is particularly marvelous the dogs try to lick the air, LOL.
We also had a 6' round black jacuzzi in the living room (installed by the previous owner!) and it's amazing how many people I've run into who actually spent time in it. A little scary frankly.
JAS - now we live in Kinzie Park. Talk about being close to the chocolate factory! Sometimes when the smell is particularly marvelous the dogs try to lick the air, LOL.
KimberlyH
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,485
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 15,438
Kimberly, I remember you posting about the boat tour. We would hear them go by about a zillion times a day. When we would be out on one of the balconies people would wave at us. Now we're in a riverside complex that you also went by (designed by Pappageorge Hammes [sp?]) just north of the previous building but we're not in the townhouse row right on the water--on purpose. You would not BELIEVE all the noise from the river. Party boats blaring music, barges in the middle of the night that had to blare their horns in warning as they approached the bend because they couldn't see if anything coming, that sort of thing. So damn loud! Now we see the boats from the dog run (which, as you know, is right on the water LOL). Who knows; maybe we were over there with The Demon and The Monster at the same time you were going by.
KimberlyH
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,485
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 15,438
KimberlyH
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,485
cnspotts
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2003
- Messages
- 524
Fun Topic!
Our 1940 built stucco home has some history alright...we''re not sure about it''s earlier history but we do KNOW that it sat empty for 5 years after is was raided for crop of large green aromatic plants growing in the basement! The owner and "gardner" at the time was also an attorney....you''d think he would have known better.
The upside to it''s past is that we have the best soil since all the potting soil was relocated outside around the home.
Our 1940 built stucco home has some history alright...we''re not sure about it''s earlier history but we do KNOW that it sat empty for 5 years after is was raided for crop of large green aromatic plants growing in the basement! The owner and "gardner" at the time was also an attorney....you''d think he would have known better.
The upside to it''s past is that we have the best soil since all the potting soil was relocated outside around the home.
- Status
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings - 04/14
300x240.png)