What's Wrong With This Picture?

Chris and I came across this house while visiting my parents in Ohio a few weeks back.

It is so perfectly imperfect, it looks like it was made to be crooked on purpose.

Turns out this home is on the National Register of Historic Places as the John Snow House built, ca. 1815.

Do you have any quirky homes near you?


(Btw, Elizabeth of the Mustard Ceiling is hosting a Mix and Mingle party this week. Stop on by and check out some new-to-you blogs!)

The Thrift Store in My Basement

I was poking around in our basement shortly after we moved in and found this little guy. I didn't think anything of it at the time except to wonder which room it originally belonged in. 

I came across it again a couple of weeks ago and took a closer look. With a little love, this could make a cute addition to a guest room or the guest bath someday. I made a couple of calls to see how much it would cost to have it rewired. About $75. Hmmmm. Not exactly cheap.

I showed it to Chris who took one glance at it and said, "that doesn't need to be rewired". Sure enough, it appears to have already been done! 

So did the chandelier originally belong to the house and the previous owner rewired it? Or did he buy it second hand with the intention of using it somewhere in the house? We may never know...

All Keyed Up

Last weekend during our usual Sunday morning trip to Home Depot, I picked up a set of skeleton keys for the bargain basement price of $1.95. I was a bit amused that Home Depot sold such a thing and was also curious to see if they worked in our locks.

They don't.

However they do provide a charming purpose for some tassels I purchased while visiting my in-laws recently.

Then today I came across a post about vintage keys by Ashley White Designs, and thought, "Oh yes, I need to get me some of those!"... So next time I'm at an antique or thrift shop, I'll be looking for my keys :)

Etsy seller, Steampunk Supply

Blue Porch Ceilings

Ever notice how the porch ceilings of many historic homes are painted blue? There certainly are a number of them in my neighborhood, including my own house. 

It never occurred to me why a porch ceiling would be blue until we moved in couple of months ago and my brother asked about it.  Since then I've come across a couple of theories. 

One is that bees and spiders mistake the blue color of the porch for open sky and are discouraged from building nests and webs there. Another insect related theory is that around the time this tradition originally started in the 1800's, the ingredients used to make paint were toxic and that had the unintended benefit of deterring insects before they could enter a home.

Some say it is because a blue ceiling gives the impression of extended daylight as night begins to fall.

The most entertaining theory, however, originates in the South. The handmade pigment of this light blue-green color, referred to as Haint blue (Haint being an evil spirit of the dead), was formulated specifically to trick evil spirits into believing it was water. Apparently, evil spirits can't cross water and thus the home's inhabitants were protected.

Whatever the reason, we''ll keep our porch ceiling blue when we eventually paint our house. It is an easy way to stay in touch with our home's historic roots (and if it wards off evil spirits then that's an added bonus).

Here's a sample of some of the houses in my hood that have porch ceilings painted blue-green.

Are blue porch ceilings common where you live?

Note: For more information about Haint Blue, check out these resources:

Kitchen and Residential Design

Squidoo

Treasures

Living in a historic home has its benefits. Look what Chris uncovered while ripping apart the powder room

This was a little surprising because all of the doors in our house already have what look to be the original knobs, but what do I know? In any case, it was a fun discovery and we're wondering what else we might find during the course of our renovations.

Have you found anything in your home that was left by previous owners?

Our House Has a History

A neighbor of mine alerted me to the fact that our state offers a tax incentive to restore the exterior of historic homes. The credit equals 20% of the cost of the restoration work up to $2000 a year. Even better is that the $2000 credit rolls over each year it isn't used as long as you live in the house.  Not too shabby when we're looking to have a pricey new roof installed and have the exterior painted within the next few years.

Of course there are plenty of restrictions, for instance, outbuildings, replacement windows, and landscaping do not qualify.  We'll also need to apply for the credit and get the project approved by the state Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission prior to starting any work.  Additionally, we'll need to provide plenty of before and after photographs and, of course, all receipts.  Still, this is a small price to pay for a big reward.

One of the first hurdles is to determine eligibility for the credit.  This was actually simple, as I just emailed our address to someone at the state Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission and she confirmed it. Interestingly, she also provided this information:

RHODA AND WILLIAM PIMM HOUSE ca 1890: A small one-story, weatherboard

clad, mansard-roof dwelling with a turned-post front porch and a
bay window, both with a hipped roof. Pimm was a gold leaf manufacturer.

Garage before- 1918: A one-bay, two-car structure clad in weatherboard,

with a gable roof.

The interesting part is that previous owner had the preservation society in our city do some research on the history of the house and there are discrepancies in the information from the two sources. The city says that the original owner's name was Amelia not Rhoda, and that the house was built in 1886, not 1890.  The city says that the house was always a two-story structure, but the state says it was originally one-story.  

But both sources say that Pimm was a gold leaf manufacturer and I have to wonder if he had originally gold leafed the address number in the transom window above our front door (see it here).  Whatever the truth is, it is fascinating to think that about the life our house had before we moved in.