I just came across this video for the upcoming Historic House Tour happening ins Spring City Utah and I had to share. I'm nowhere near there, but the video is wonderful, and if you can make the drive, it would be a wonderful opportunity to see some beautiful historic homes.
https://www.kued.org/video/contact-the-community-spring-citys-heritage-day-celebration
Showing posts with label Historic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historic. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2018
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Seaway International Bridge Walk
Hey blog buddies, I can't believe how far behind I am with posts on my blog lately. I've been meaning to make a post for the bridge walk for over a month now.
For those of you who aren't familiar with my home city of Cornwall, Ontario, I'll give you just a very quick overview.
For the longest time, we were mainly known for our stench, as a paper mill town. If you've ever passed through a city/town with a paper mill, you'll know what I mean by the smell. For the most part of my life, I lived at the far end of town way east of the paper mill, so the smell wasn't an issue, but any time we'd drive near the factory the smell was unmistakable. The stink is mainly caused from the boiling of the wood pulp in chemicals to soften and bleach it. The paper mill actually shut down operations several years ago, and 90% of the vast property and buildings have been cleared.
One of the other major landmarks in Cornwall is the Seaway International Bridge, which connects Cornwall to Cornwall Island (Native Reserve) and then leads to New York state (USA) by a second (suspension) bridge.
A few bridge facts:
- Built in 1962.
- 3000 tons of rebar were used in the construction of the deck.
- 41,000 tons of concrete were used.
- The bridge contains 5700 tons of steel girders.
- It took 32,000 gallons of paint to paint the bridge.
- The bridge is 120 feet high. The bridge was originally built to allow tall ships to pass underneath it, but none ever did.
- The bridge cost 8.2 million to build in 1962, which is roughly equivalent to 43 million today.
- 78% of the bridge is over land.
- Over the past 52 years, 78.2 million cars and 3.9 million transports have crossed the bridge.
That said, the bridge is being demolished starting this week. A new (and short) low bridge has been built, and is already in use, and will replace the old bridge. The old bridge has been costly over the years to maintain, and is in pretty poor shape (as you'll see from the photos).
I had been hoping to be able to make it onto the bridge to take photos for several months, but as soon as the new bridge went into operation, the old bridge was barred-off with a barbed-wire fence.
Then, in early July, just a few days before the event, I saw on Facebook that the Seaway International Bridge Corporation was going to open the bridge to everyone for the "Final Bridge Walk" which was to take place Tuesday July 8th, from 2pm to 8pm. I found it a bit odd (and unfair to a lot of people) that the bridge would only be open to the public for such a short time, and on a Tuesday (when a lot of people would be at work), but I made plans with my boss to leave a bit early for the event.
I left work around 3pm, and I made it to the bridge around 3:45 or so. This was a VERY hot and hazy summer day. One of the hottest days this summer.
When I arrived, I was pleased to see that MANY people had turned up for the event.
The first portion of the bridge has tall chain-link fences, so some photos were difficult (or a bit tricky) to take.
This photo shows Brookdale Ave. on the east side of the bridge. The east side has the majority of Cornwall, while the west end has smaller subdivisions, and newer neighbourhoods. Directly to the west of the bridge is actually the Howard Smith Paper Co./DOMTAR paper mill property. As I was touring/walking on the bridge, all the first photos focused on the east, and I planned to take photos of the west side on my way back, since there was much less to see on that side.
Here is a good photo that shows the condition of the deck. 52 years of patch work in every conceivable material has taken its toll on the roadway.
One of the old lights. The gaps in the fence on each side of the lights provided the only easy way to take good photos.
Here's a good shot pointing north-east towards my house (completely obscured by a tree, but visible later). In the FAR distance (under the crane), you can see the water tower.
Cornwall Water Tower:
A little farther down, my house was visible. It was easy to spot by looking for my neighbour's distinctly shaped front porch.
Note the three houses with the triangular pointed roofs to the left. Here's the "ground" view of my place, also showing those three houses.
This was the best "bird's eye view" (zoomed-in version of the earlier photo) that I was able to get of my house 'as viewed from the bridge'.
This was farther down the bridge.
Some of the views of the bridge may seem odd, as this one below, because the bridge actually has an "S" shape, so the curves allowed for some neat photos. Showing west side. You can see the second bridge in the distance at the upper right. You can also see the new low bridge at the bottom right.
General view of Cornwall/downtown. If you look very closely on the far right, just barely touching the horizon is the dark brown-black steeple of Trinity Church (my favourite church). I made an entire post over a year ago, showing the interior of the church (along with a video clip that shows the exterior) here:
My 1923 Foursquare - Cornwall Homes - Trinity Anglican Church
The church steeple in the centre top is St. Columban's which will be shown again. Here's a photo from the ground that shows this church. The church is a few blocks east of my house.
Centre of the bridge/girders.
A shot straight down Water Street, which then turns into Montreal Rd. (Hwy 138 South). The park along the waterfront is Lamoureux Park, and it's the location where all our outdoor concerts/events, hot air balloon festivals, and Canada Day celebrations take place. There is actually a carnival that was going on at the time, and you can spot a Ferris wheel.
Also visible in this photo is Nativity church (the church I attended as a kid) with the red roof (just right of the centre, and actually on the same street, which curves).
There is also a white dot visible on the horizon, just left of the centre road, and this is the ball over the Nav Centre (formerly Nav Canada) building (see image below).
Here are two photos of Nativity Church. This first black and white photo was photographed by Cory Marsolais from the apartment building directly across from the church.
Here is a shot of the interior of the church, taken by Richard Pilon. The interior is beautifully painted in light blue and gold, and features ornate oak woodwork.
A small paragraph of info about the church can be found here:
http://www.cornwall-lacac.on.ca/bignativity.html
This is an overall view of Nav Centre (viewed from the river, pointing north):
To give you a rough idea of distance, it would take me about 30 minutes to walk to the church (from the bridge), and another 40-50 minutes to walk all the way to Nav. It doesn't look that far in the photo, but it's quite far.
Also just barely visible in the park is the clock tower. If you scroll back up to the photo and look just a bit south of the red church roof, near the road in the park is a tiny triangular roof (just over a dark tree top), which is the roof of this clock tower:
This shot is taken from the same spot, but turned towards the north. Again, you can see St.Columban's church,
This is past the portion of the bridge with the chain link fence, and this time, looking to the west across the St. Lawrence river. The portion to the right is part of the old canal system, and to the right of this is parts of the old DOMTAR/paper mill property.
In the distance above, you can sort of see the Saunders Hydro-Electric Dam. Here's an up-close photo of the dam by Dean. I have other photos farther down. If you want information about the dam, have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses-Saunders_Power_Dam
Another shot of Cornwall, a little farther down the bridge. In the lower right is part of the new border/customs location as part of the new bridge. The water here is part of the old canal.
Another shot back on the west side, showing the remains of the former paper mill.
I took some photos with the railings partly to show how low they are. They come up just above knee-level, and made me quite nervous. In the distance is the dam.
West side, showing some of the curvature of the bridge. Again, the water here is the canal, not the river.
Here is the brand new low bridge. It was built right alongside the old bridge on the west side. This is the portion that spans the St. Lawrence river.
Here's a close-up of the dam. In the water, you can spot one of the old piers from an old train bridge, which collapsed long ago (early 1900s).
I'm not a huge "selfie" guy, but I took a few with a great view of the city behind me. It was starting to get cloudy at this point.
I like this one because you can see the steel girders in the sun glasses.
More artsy/interesting photos.
Second street (one of the main roads through town) looking west. This smoke sack was attached to the huge main building of the paper mill, to the left of the road. There were originally plans to blow it up in a big celebration, and have a big draw for who would win to push the button, but apparently there were too many concerns about carcinogens/chemical residues from all the dust it would create, so nothing has been done with the stack for a few years now. It's one of the last remaining things left to demolish on the property.
All the residential areas to the west are a few blocks away past the trees.
One of the 2 main designs of expansion joints used on the deck.
Heading back into Cornwall (back to the starting point).
I finished the bridge walk just shortly before 5pm, and as soon as I got home, it started to rain.
Overall, it was a great afternoon, and they had the entire event really nicely set up. They had large placards (not shown) that had photos of the bridge's construction, along with the facts I noted earlier. They also had one or two spots where they were handing out free bottles of water (because it was insanely hot), and a few benches set up for people to sit. Near the middle of the bridge, they had sidewalk chalk and were letting people (lots of kids) write their names and draw on the bridge. It was too bad that my Mom couldn't come (she was at work) and that my friend Lynne couldn't come (she lives over in Ottawa).
I hope you guys enjoyed these photos!
For those of you who aren't familiar with my home city of Cornwall, Ontario, I'll give you just a very quick overview.
For the longest time, we were mainly known for our stench, as a paper mill town. If you've ever passed through a city/town with a paper mill, you'll know what I mean by the smell. For the most part of my life, I lived at the far end of town way east of the paper mill, so the smell wasn't an issue, but any time we'd drive near the factory the smell was unmistakable. The stink is mainly caused from the boiling of the wood pulp in chemicals to soften and bleach it. The paper mill actually shut down operations several years ago, and 90% of the vast property and buildings have been cleared.
One of the other major landmarks in Cornwall is the Seaway International Bridge, which connects Cornwall to Cornwall Island (Native Reserve) and then leads to New York state (USA) by a second (suspension) bridge.
A few bridge facts:
- Built in 1962.
- 3000 tons of rebar were used in the construction of the deck.
- 41,000 tons of concrete were used.
- The bridge contains 5700 tons of steel girders.
- It took 32,000 gallons of paint to paint the bridge.
- The bridge is 120 feet high. The bridge was originally built to allow tall ships to pass underneath it, but none ever did.
- The bridge cost 8.2 million to build in 1962, which is roughly equivalent to 43 million today.
- 78% of the bridge is over land.
- Over the past 52 years, 78.2 million cars and 3.9 million transports have crossed the bridge.
That said, the bridge is being demolished starting this week. A new (and short) low bridge has been built, and is already in use, and will replace the old bridge. The old bridge has been costly over the years to maintain, and is in pretty poor shape (as you'll see from the photos).
I had been hoping to be able to make it onto the bridge to take photos for several months, but as soon as the new bridge went into operation, the old bridge was barred-off with a barbed-wire fence.
Then, in early July, just a few days before the event, I saw on Facebook that the Seaway International Bridge Corporation was going to open the bridge to everyone for the "Final Bridge Walk" which was to take place Tuesday July 8th, from 2pm to 8pm. I found it a bit odd (and unfair to a lot of people) that the bridge would only be open to the public for such a short time, and on a Tuesday (when a lot of people would be at work), but I made plans with my boss to leave a bit early for the event.
I left work around 3pm, and I made it to the bridge around 3:45 or so. This was a VERY hot and hazy summer day. One of the hottest days this summer.
When I arrived, I was pleased to see that MANY people had turned up for the event.
The first portion of the bridge has tall chain-link fences, so some photos were difficult (or a bit tricky) to take.
This photo shows Brookdale Ave. on the east side of the bridge. The east side has the majority of Cornwall, while the west end has smaller subdivisions, and newer neighbourhoods. Directly to the west of the bridge is actually the Howard Smith Paper Co./DOMTAR paper mill property. As I was touring/walking on the bridge, all the first photos focused on the east, and I planned to take photos of the west side on my way back, since there was much less to see on that side.
Here is a good photo that shows the condition of the deck. 52 years of patch work in every conceivable material has taken its toll on the roadway.
One of the old lights. The gaps in the fence on each side of the lights provided the only easy way to take good photos.
Here's a good shot pointing north-east towards my house (completely obscured by a tree, but visible later). In the FAR distance (under the crane), you can see the water tower.
Cornwall Water Tower:
A little farther down, my house was visible. It was easy to spot by looking for my neighbour's distinctly shaped front porch.
Note the three houses with the triangular pointed roofs to the left. Here's the "ground" view of my place, also showing those three houses.
This was the best "bird's eye view" (zoomed-in version of the earlier photo) that I was able to get of my house 'as viewed from the bridge'.
This was farther down the bridge.
Some of the views of the bridge may seem odd, as this one below, because the bridge actually has an "S" shape, so the curves allowed for some neat photos. Showing west side. You can see the second bridge in the distance at the upper right. You can also see the new low bridge at the bottom right.
General view of Cornwall/downtown. If you look very closely on the far right, just barely touching the horizon is the dark brown-black steeple of Trinity Church (my favourite church). I made an entire post over a year ago, showing the interior of the church (along with a video clip that shows the exterior) here:
My 1923 Foursquare - Cornwall Homes - Trinity Anglican Church
The church steeple in the centre top is St. Columban's which will be shown again. Here's a photo from the ground that shows this church. The church is a few blocks east of my house.
Centre of the bridge/girders.
A shot straight down Water Street, which then turns into Montreal Rd. (Hwy 138 South). The park along the waterfront is Lamoureux Park, and it's the location where all our outdoor concerts/events, hot air balloon festivals, and Canada Day celebrations take place. There is actually a carnival that was going on at the time, and you can spot a Ferris wheel.
Also visible in this photo is Nativity church (the church I attended as a kid) with the red roof (just right of the centre, and actually on the same street, which curves).
There is also a white dot visible on the horizon, just left of the centre road, and this is the ball over the Nav Centre (formerly Nav Canada) building (see image below).
Here are two photos of Nativity Church. This first black and white photo was photographed by Cory Marsolais from the apartment building directly across from the church.
Here is a shot of the interior of the church, taken by Richard Pilon. The interior is beautifully painted in light blue and gold, and features ornate oak woodwork.
A small paragraph of info about the church can be found here:
http://www.cornwall-lacac.on.ca/bignativity.html
This is an overall view of Nav Centre (viewed from the river, pointing north):
To give you a rough idea of distance, it would take me about 30 minutes to walk to the church (from the bridge), and another 40-50 minutes to walk all the way to Nav. It doesn't look that far in the photo, but it's quite far.
Also just barely visible in the park is the clock tower. If you scroll back up to the photo and look just a bit south of the red church roof, near the road in the park is a tiny triangular roof (just over a dark tree top), which is the roof of this clock tower:
This shot is taken from the same spot, but turned towards the north. Again, you can see St.Columban's church,
This is past the portion of the bridge with the chain link fence, and this time, looking to the west across the St. Lawrence river. The portion to the right is part of the old canal system, and to the right of this is parts of the old DOMTAR/paper mill property.
In the distance above, you can sort of see the Saunders Hydro-Electric Dam. Here's an up-close photo of the dam by Dean. I have other photos farther down. If you want information about the dam, have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses-Saunders_Power_Dam
Another shot of Cornwall, a little farther down the bridge. In the lower right is part of the new border/customs location as part of the new bridge. The water here is part of the old canal.
Another shot back on the west side, showing the remains of the former paper mill.
I took some photos with the railings partly to show how low they are. They come up just above knee-level, and made me quite nervous. In the distance is the dam.
West side, showing some of the curvature of the bridge. Again, the water here is the canal, not the river.
Here is the brand new low bridge. It was built right alongside the old bridge on the west side. This is the portion that spans the St. Lawrence river.
Here's a close-up of the dam. In the water, you can spot one of the old piers from an old train bridge, which collapsed long ago (early 1900s).
I'm not a huge "selfie" guy, but I took a few with a great view of the city behind me. It was starting to get cloudy at this point.
I like this one because you can see the steel girders in the sun glasses.
More artsy/interesting photos.
Second street (one of the main roads through town) looking west. This smoke sack was attached to the huge main building of the paper mill, to the left of the road. There were originally plans to blow it up in a big celebration, and have a big draw for who would win to push the button, but apparently there were too many concerns about carcinogens/chemical residues from all the dust it would create, so nothing has been done with the stack for a few years now. It's one of the last remaining things left to demolish on the property.
All the residential areas to the west are a few blocks away past the trees.
One of the 2 main designs of expansion joints used on the deck.
Heading back into Cornwall (back to the starting point).
I finished the bridge walk just shortly before 5pm, and as soon as I got home, it started to rain.
Overall, it was a great afternoon, and they had the entire event really nicely set up. They had large placards (not shown) that had photos of the bridge's construction, along with the facts I noted earlier. They also had one or two spots where they were handing out free bottles of water (because it was insanely hot), and a few benches set up for people to sit. Near the middle of the bridge, they had sidewalk chalk and were letting people (lots of kids) write their names and draw on the bridge. It was too bad that my Mom couldn't come (she was at work) and that my friend Lynne couldn't come (she lives over in Ottawa).
I hope you guys enjoyed these photos!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Random Update
Alright, this one is going to be a bit of a mix. I spent most of the day at an antiques auction, and I bought some art, but I'm making that into a separate post.
I had hoped that my antique chair would be finished by now, but I ran into some trouble with the gimp (the decorative trim). I wasn't really that thrilled with any of the colours we had, so I went to one of the local fabric stores, and I had a look through their gimp. They had a huge variety (probably about 100 different colours and patterns), and at least 3 or 4 that might work nicely in a very dark green. I took 2 samples back to the shop:
Although I got NO COMMENTS from my readers on the last post, I did get some votes on my Facebook, and most people liked the pink gimp (not my first choice). I was leaning more towards the black, but only one other person liked the black, and my boss really didn't like it, so the dark green seemed to be the best option (I loved it, and so did Pierre - my boss), so I was all set to go buy it (the one on the right in the above photo).
When I went back to the fabric store, they apparently LOST not only my first choice (the one on the right), but also the other roll too. They looked everywhere for it, and couldn't' find it.
I was then told that they might be able to re-order some, but then the problem was that ALL of the "forest green" gimp was "colour 21". The super dark green and about 6 or 7 other shades of green all the way up to a bright grass green/emerald were all "colour 21". Basically they couldn't guarantee me the same colour.
I was pretty pissed.
I left without buying anything, and they said they'd call me back the next day to see if they could order it or not. They ended up NOT calling, so Pierre called them (since he knows one of the main girls who works there), and he talked to them to see what was up. Apparently they couldn't order any. *ARGH!*
So I went back, and the only other gimp that was the same colour (or very very close) was a smaller one, or a much larger one with somewhat of a sloppy weave. I ended up buying 2 yards of the narrower one, and we'll see how that looks. I really would have preferred the regular sized one, but since my staples are pretty neat, I can probably get away with it. If all goes well, the chair will be home Monday evening.
***
In a bit of a "Cornwall Homes" side note, I was absolutely crushed to see the eye-burning paint job on one of my favourite old Victorians. My only thoughts on it when I saw it was "OH MY GOD WHY! WHY???"
It's seriously awful. While I understand that it needed a paint job (pretty badly), I just can't understand why they would want to pick an insanely bright red that matches absolutely nothing. It looks like the house is wearing whore lipstick.
I had featured this house last year in this post: http://my1923foursquare.blogspot.ca/2012/03/cornwall-homes-3.html
If there's a silver lining, I believe that they will be re-installing the beautiful original house numbers, since I can spot the holes from the plaque in the photos (before resizing them).
I had hoped that my antique chair would be finished by now, but I ran into some trouble with the gimp (the decorative trim). I wasn't really that thrilled with any of the colours we had, so I went to one of the local fabric stores, and I had a look through their gimp. They had a huge variety (probably about 100 different colours and patterns), and at least 3 or 4 that might work nicely in a very dark green. I took 2 samples back to the shop:
Although I got NO COMMENTS from my readers on the last post, I did get some votes on my Facebook, and most people liked the pink gimp (not my first choice). I was leaning more towards the black, but only one other person liked the black, and my boss really didn't like it, so the dark green seemed to be the best option (I loved it, and so did Pierre - my boss), so I was all set to go buy it (the one on the right in the above photo).
When I went back to the fabric store, they apparently LOST not only my first choice (the one on the right), but also the other roll too. They looked everywhere for it, and couldn't' find it.
I was then told that they might be able to re-order some, but then the problem was that ALL of the "forest green" gimp was "colour 21". The super dark green and about 6 or 7 other shades of green all the way up to a bright grass green/emerald were all "colour 21". Basically they couldn't guarantee me the same colour.
I was pretty pissed.
I left without buying anything, and they said they'd call me back the next day to see if they could order it or not. They ended up NOT calling, so Pierre called them (since he knows one of the main girls who works there), and he talked to them to see what was up. Apparently they couldn't order any. *ARGH!*
So I went back, and the only other gimp that was the same colour (or very very close) was a smaller one, or a much larger one with somewhat of a sloppy weave. I ended up buying 2 yards of the narrower one, and we'll see how that looks. I really would have preferred the regular sized one, but since my staples are pretty neat, I can probably get away with it. If all goes well, the chair will be home Monday evening.
***
In a bit of a "Cornwall Homes" side note, I was absolutely crushed to see the eye-burning paint job on one of my favourite old Victorians. My only thoughts on it when I saw it was "OH MY GOD WHY! WHY???"
It's seriously awful. While I understand that it needed a paint job (pretty badly), I just can't understand why they would want to pick an insanely bright red that matches absolutely nothing. It looks like the house is wearing whore lipstick.
I had featured this house last year in this post: http://my1923foursquare.blogspot.ca/2012/03/cornwall-homes-3.html
If there's a silver lining, I believe that they will be re-installing the beautiful original house numbers, since I can spot the holes from the plaque in the photos (before resizing them).
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Amazing House Tour
I got to see most of a stunning early house yesterday (Friday morning). My boss has a client who lives in Morrisburg (a city east of Cornwall) who he's done several pieces for, and we had to go and pick up an old sofa to be recovered.
We arrived early, so we walked around the property, and I took some photos.
My best guess is that the house dated from around 1830-1840, but it could possibly be earlier.
House from the road:
Front door. Note flat board siding, beautiful side lites, and beautiful casings.
Window on front porch:
The facade of the home has different mouldings than all the other doors and windows on the house. All the others are a typical early Fedeal/Georgian 1840's style, while the front ones have a more Greek Revival look to them.
Beautifully executed dentil moulding all around the top.
Main (back?) door in the centre, and the door on the right leads to the kitchen. I thought I had a better photo of the rear door, but I forgot to take one. The fluted columns and trim on it were stunning.
Garage detail. I would assume that the two fan windows currently removed on the main house (for ventilation?) have the same shape.
This house sits right on water front property with a beautiful view.
Believe it or not, but apparently the previous owner's children had no interest in the house after they moved out (or died - I can't remember, but they were very old), and the house was possibly going to be torn down before the current owner bought it. He also owns another beautiful Victorian house directly across the road. I forgot to photograph that one (it wasn't as interesting) but I snatched this photo off Google Maps:
I did get to go inside, first for the sofa, which was in the basement, but also afterwards, too. I wanted to take photos, but I would have needed to ask permission, and I had just met the guy. The entire house is like a time capsule. The main hall (and most of the house) was still covered in VERY old wallpaper, some of which was peeling, and showed signs of water damage. There were old radiators with exposed pipes going up to the second floor. I did notice that some incorrect strip oak floor was laid down on the main floor. I didn't really get to tour the house, but I had peeked in some windows, and one back room was a library/study with wood & marble fireplace and original built-ins, the main staircase had a very old urn shaped newel post (mahogany but later painted white), with the hand rail still in the original mahogany.
The owner also had a ton of beautiful antiques, including early American Empire pieces, art, and all sorts of other furniture & accessories. I was told that he also has old cars.
I did go up the stairs, and this is where I was really confused, intrigued, and surprised by the layout. Up the main staircase (which is on the left side as you walk in the front door), you end up in a hallway with a bathroom in the centre (to the front of the house), and then 4 bedrooms. Two smaller rooms to the front of the house, and two rooms at the back. Here's the interesting/bizarre part. Both interior walls to the two rear rooms were done in large louvred panels around a large decorative casing. Basically the entire walls (floor to ceiling) could be folded away to create one large room out of essentially 3 rooms (both rooms to either side of the staircase and the centre hall). The main doors into the rooms were part of these panels. I drew up this line drawing to show the layout of these. The entire thing was done in thick hand-planed wood, with pegged joints. They were painted white, but you could see the plane marks (facets in the surface), and the peg locations.
My boss said it might have been an Inn originally.
Lastly, this was another beautiful house just 2 doors down.
We arrived early, so we walked around the property, and I took some photos.
My best guess is that the house dated from around 1830-1840, but it could possibly be earlier.
House from the road:
Front door. Note flat board siding, beautiful side lites, and beautiful casings.
Window on front porch:
The facade of the home has different mouldings than all the other doors and windows on the house. All the others are a typical early Fedeal/Georgian 1840's style, while the front ones have a more Greek Revival look to them.
Beautifully executed dentil moulding all around the top.
Main (back?) door in the centre, and the door on the right leads to the kitchen. I thought I had a better photo of the rear door, but I forgot to take one. The fluted columns and trim on it were stunning.
Garage detail. I would assume that the two fan windows currently removed on the main house (for ventilation?) have the same shape.
This house sits right on water front property with a beautiful view.
Believe it or not, but apparently the previous owner's children had no interest in the house after they moved out (or died - I can't remember, but they were very old), and the house was possibly going to be torn down before the current owner bought it. He also owns another beautiful Victorian house directly across the road. I forgot to photograph that one (it wasn't as interesting) but I snatched this photo off Google Maps:
I did get to go inside, first for the sofa, which was in the basement, but also afterwards, too. I wanted to take photos, but I would have needed to ask permission, and I had just met the guy. The entire house is like a time capsule. The main hall (and most of the house) was still covered in VERY old wallpaper, some of which was peeling, and showed signs of water damage. There were old radiators with exposed pipes going up to the second floor. I did notice that some incorrect strip oak floor was laid down on the main floor. I didn't really get to tour the house, but I had peeked in some windows, and one back room was a library/study with wood & marble fireplace and original built-ins, the main staircase had a very old urn shaped newel post (mahogany but later painted white), with the hand rail still in the original mahogany.
The owner also had a ton of beautiful antiques, including early American Empire pieces, art, and all sorts of other furniture & accessories. I was told that he also has old cars.
I did go up the stairs, and this is where I was really confused, intrigued, and surprised by the layout. Up the main staircase (which is on the left side as you walk in the front door), you end up in a hallway with a bathroom in the centre (to the front of the house), and then 4 bedrooms. Two smaller rooms to the front of the house, and two rooms at the back. Here's the interesting/bizarre part. Both interior walls to the two rear rooms were done in large louvred panels around a large decorative casing. Basically the entire walls (floor to ceiling) could be folded away to create one large room out of essentially 3 rooms (both rooms to either side of the staircase and the centre hall). The main doors into the rooms were part of these panels. I drew up this line drawing to show the layout of these. The entire thing was done in thick hand-planed wood, with pegged joints. They were painted white, but you could see the plane marks (facets in the surface), and the peg locations.
My boss said it might have been an Inn originally.
Lastly, this was another beautiful house just 2 doors down.
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