Architectural Antiquities

[glenn kangiser]

Here is a topic from the last old forum which didn't make it here.  I found another interesting project that will fit here.

Topic Summary
Posted by: glenn kangiser       Posted on: Jul 23rd, 2005, 7:17pm
I really like old buildings and am constantly studying them to see how they were built.  Who knows - I may discover new old methods.

Well, today -new cell phone with handy camera in hand- I drove by a gold rush era cabin, still in use and asked the owner if I could take a picture of it.  She said fine - has had it about a year - it is 13'x30' with a popout on the back giving about 450 square feet if I recall correctly.


I transferred the picture with Bluetooth wireless technology to my Ipaq Pocket PC then synced it with my laptop and transfered it through my wireless and DSL routers from the bowels of my underground cabin, to Tinypic to provide you with this wonderful semi-clear picture of this neat old little house.  Just goes to prove that I am one highly technologically advanced troglodyte.  

Probably near 150 years old and still functional.  See what happens when you build to exceed code.  

Posted by: Amanda_931       Posted on: Jul 23rd, 2005, 7:50pm
Nice.

Both the house and how you got it here.

Posted by: PEG688       Posted on: Jul 24th, 2005, 5:12pm
Glenn very "techie" of ya . Just think the guy who build that place , might  ,,might , have had a early Skilsaw . LOL and you record his building with all sorts of gagets   Thanks nice shack    Really , I love old buildings/ boats / stuff.  HTBH  PEG
Posted by: DavidLeBlanc       Posted on: Jul 24th, 2005, 9:22pm
Needs paint - and is that a shadow or a hole at the left end of the roof ridge?  

Otherwise, not bad!  

Posted by: PEG688       Posted on: Jul 24th, 2005, 9:34pm

David LeBlanc said:

Needs paint -  

   Paint ?? Jee Dave that place never needed , nor does it  now need paint    Aw natural    How ya doing BTW? HTBH  PEG

Posted by: glenn kangiser       Posted on: Jul 24th, 2005, 9:47pm
You would paint natural 150 year old pine boards, David Huh   I'm so upset  

It's home to a little ol' family and they love it.  


Posted by: glenn kangiser       Posted on: Nov 6th, 2005, 10:53pm
An interesting site with pictures of structures built for WWII defense -Thames area - In your spare time click their home button and look around the rest of the site-- lots of cool stuff.  

http://www.undergroundkent.co.uk/maunsell_towers.htm

[glenn kangiser]

Here is an interesting restoration project in Wisconsin, with a valuable lesson.  

The task facing the small Friends of Beckman Mill organization was a formidable one by any standards and many said that saving the mill was an impossibility. However, the skeptics didn't take into account the group's determination nor the experience and skills possessed by its members. Looking back, there was one memorable decision that illustrates the confidence they had. It was the rejection of a costly professionally prepared mill restoration plan. Rather than deplete their meager financial resources, the group decided on a "We can do it ourselves!" approach

Just because it is out of financial reach, there is still no reason it can't be done if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and get to work, using all the resources you can muster.



http://www.beckmanmill.org/

Click their site links for more information.  The Cooperage was made into a house by the Beckmans and restored also.



Installing new log floor joists.

[glenn-k]

I am looking at a solar job and some other work for a friend in the gold mining country.  On his property is an old Chinese settlement called Buffalo Gulch.  I took a few pictures while I was there.

I understand that this was the bottom level of an old Chinese store.  The rock foundation is loose stacked and still there today.  Built in around 1850 to 1860.  There was a mine and quartz mill nearby and I was told that the Chinese raised gardens on the terraces.  There are many rock foundations and terraces scattered through the trees in the surrounding area.

[MB25ACRES]

interesting stuff thanks for posting them. I am learning lots from all on here  Thanks Mike Barrett

[glenn-k]

My pleasure, Mike.  Glad others enjoy them too.

Here is another I just found on the net.  Go to the link for an interactive map with many examples and information.

http://www.roundtower.de/





     

[mark_chenail]

Glenn:  Perhaps you have seen this website but I thought I would post it.  Mostly log construction but some wonderful photographs of various details.  Id kill to own a couple of these buildings.  Wish I had deeper pockets.  Check out the Harris dogtrot.    

http://www.vintagelog.com/index.htm

Some real small house inspiration on this site.

[glenn-k]

That is a great site, Mark.  I'd move into that corn crib if I had it over here -- at least I'd make it into an extra room.

If others go there to look at the pictures - be sure to click on the photo of each one to go to detailed photos and descriptions.  Very interesting old buildings.



7x17 - 1850 just right.

[mark_chenail]

Glenn:  Id like to know more about that Harris dogtrot.  The fireplaces are wonderful but I am really intrigued by the fact that this seems always to have been a two story dogtrot and it looks as if the dogtrot was originally two stories tall as well with no intervening floor. Its pretty obvious the dogtrot was enclosed at a later date judging by the construction, maybe when the house was sided and it got that beautiful greek revival doorcase.   In fact, I wonder if the house actaully started out as  one two story house and they added on the dogtrot and another 2 story pen.  I think its odd that one chimney is on the outside wall and the other is inside.  Not the usual dogtrot arrangement at all.



And equally intriguing is the Krenn dogtrot another 2 story, but this one its obvious the 2nd floor continued over the dogtrot. And that walk through center stone fireplace is amazing piece of stone work.  





Anyone care to speculate or comment?

[Amanda_931]

The 2nd nearest house to me, when I moved in was a two-story dog trot.  I was never in it, never even took a picture.  But I suspect that the second story was continuous from the beginning.  Now the local arsonist has gotten it  (probably....there is one).

(nearest house, also abandoned, is still standing, although things like some nice cabinets have been removed.  Heavily overgrown area, last person to live there moved out right quickly because of mold and mildew.)

[glenn kangiser]

The only thing I can figure about this, Mark is that they may have used the same plan for both pens hence the fireplace in the middle and the other on the end.

Looking again, that doesn't work as the fireplaces are different  and someone left the dog in the second pen.

ceiling is different above the fireplaces too - one is open - the other has a room above -

I guess it was standard to have living quarters on side - bedrooms other side for kids to sleep -- parents to party down.

[glenn kangiser]

The one in the middle, I assume it is appears to be a double fireplace - with one turned into the breezeway.  Maybe it was used as a spare room also after being closed in.

[Mark_Chenail]

Glenn:  Your statement about someone leaving the dog in made me think that perhaps  "dog" has some architectural meaning I didnt know about.  I went back to look and spotted the back end of the dog in the picture. I hadnt noticed.  You might be right about them using the same plan for each pen, but I dont think the ceiling is open on the one side, I think its just missing now.  Why would they have gone to the expense of windows upstairs if there was no room there.

As to the central chimney in the Klemm house, where do you see a fireplace in the  dogtrot.  According to the description, the chimney actually has a tunnel through the center so that the dogtrot can go through.  Theres a fire place in each pen but none in the dogtrot that I can see.  Rather like a center chimney colonial with a through hallway.  its a sensible solution but must have meant a good deal more work for the stone mason.  I seem to remember a similar solution in brick in the foundation of a chimney in a center colonial they once showed on This Old House.  In the basement, the chimney had a through vault.  Intrigueing design one way or the other.

[glenn kangiser]

The one I think might be there is in the Harris House.  What appears to be the center fireplace looks to be double wide andI assume it is because there is one facing the other way.  Outside center chimney seemed wider too.  Note what appears to be creosote stains on the right side of the picture below.

[Mark_Chenail]

Glenn:  Ahhh I misunderstood which house you meant.  You are absolutely right. I hadnt noticed the doorway on the right which would have to lead into the dogtrot.  I wondered why this firebox was off center and a twin on the other side would explain it.  Side by side but facing opposite directions. Less intrusive into the space that way.   I sure do wish that website would provide simple floorplans but theres nothing like working out the plan from outside appearances and what you can see through the windows.  Lord knows Ive done that many a time.

What amazes me is the  elegance of  some of these old time solutions. The side by side chimneys and the simple flat trim of the main door case.  Very grand and monumental but no fancy moldings really to speak of, just simple flat boards. And that small hood molding over each window to shed the rain and add a little shadow line.  

Can you tell I really am taken with that house?  Maybe I will email and get a price just out of curiousity. Think how easily it could be built with conventional framing.  You would spend more on the chimneys than the rest of the house.

[glenn kangiser]

Having my own sawmill makes me realize that simple and functional was the easiest thing to do in the old days.  Every thing after that requires more work, so it would have probably only been done after the necessities were taken care of.  At least that's what I keep telling my wife. :-/

[Mark_Chenail]

Glenn: Not exactly construction pics but again an example of old time elegant solutions.  These are from the HABS site and the building used to stand in a town near where I was born and raised.  In fact, my grandmother lived in a similar mill tenement although hers was not as elegant as this one.  These were built into a hillside. The three story facade is the backside and the central door leads to a small vestibule that serviced both sides of the duplex.








I particularly like this view of the first floor with the sunny fitted pantry in the middle.  It must have been pleasant to stand there and wash dishes.  The big front room you are in was the kitchen in my grandmothers house, the back left room was the parlor and the right hand room was a nursery/sickroom.  Look at the width of the floor boards under the scraps of linoleum.



I think this doorway and the windows are just wonderful. Clean and crisp.





There are still a lot of these old tenement houses all over New England, particularly in smaller towns and cities.  A whole lot nicer than what passes for public housing nowadays.

[glenn kangiser]

I visited my distant cousins in Brockton, Mass.  They were in a really neat old almost Victorian looking 3 story house.  

Plenty of exercise there. :-/

[Mark_Chenail]

Glenn:  Yes 3 stories arent very practical, but even in my condition, I still like a multi story house.  There is something very majestic about even the simplest of cubical 3 story houses.  Grandeur on the cheap I guess.

[glenn kangiser]

Sweetwater Mine is off the Hites cove in the Sierras.  A neat little old house still stands there.



Note the newspaper wall paper and the double layer cardboard and batten insulation and wall covering.  Sometimes the simple way is good enough.

[Mark_Chenail]

Cant remember when I got this picture but it was somewhere near Mena Arkansas.
Despite appearances, the schoolbus was NOT part of the structure.



Actually I bet its laid out a lot like Johns Little House.  And it seems solidly built too with a good foundation and not at all an intrusive presence among the trees.  A lick a paint wouldnt hurt any and a bit of grass seed.

[glenn kangiser]

Landscape - trees etc. makes a lot of difference in whether a house looks good, OK or bad many times.  In general it seems that the less landscaping a house has, the more gingerbread it needs.  I guess that is why I buried mine.

[Homesick Gypsy]

Personally, besides the corn crib which would be perfect for a little hideaway in the woods, I liked the Sugartree Poplar - just the right size for John's little house plan.

[glenn-k]

Here is a short video of areas of Rome showing many ancient buildings but that is not what is most amazing about this.

This guy could rival John's sketching abilities.

http://drawn.ca/2006/10/03/the-human-camera/