Poll - How old...?

[Braxton36]

Out of sheer curiosity, was wondering how many around here live in vintage housing as well? So... how old is your current residence?

 

[Lauren]

Early 90's. 1990's, that is

 

[MK]

.

I love houses built in the twenties. I especially like Mediterranean style. Unfortunately they don't have much stucco or Spanish tyle roofs in the Pacific Northwest. I ended up buying a turn of the century house......


......21st century that is. It has a slight retro style to the front though.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

i live in a vintage house....or the top half of it at least.



http://pics.livejournal.com/neecerie/pic/0000fffc/


A fair bit older then Golden Era though....being built in 1895....

 

[Lauren]

That's beautiful! That's the sort of house I dreamed of when I was younger. If I could have a house in the country, I would definately pic that style.

MK, I know what you mean about the 20's houses. Right now I'm having a love affair with the 20's Spanish style homes.

And there's the constant attraction to bugalows from the teens. I love Arts & Crafts.

 

[Sefton]

I recently moved (about 8 months ago) from San Francisco where I lived for 10 years in a turn of the century(19th) 3 story apartment building. Hardwood flooring,one long hallway conecting the dining,living and kitchen to the back bedrooms. Unfortunately the kitchen and bathroom had been remodeled in the 70s/80s in typical ugly functional of the period. Furthermore the landlord had blocked off the original fireplaces. :rage:

The thin walls were probably fine at the time that the building was new but since most people don't play music on a Victrola anymore... Now I live in a 3 year old super modern building that looks like a hotel. Very convenient stuff. I always imagined I'd live in an european castle when I was a child.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

The house we live in was built in 1903, but the interior was gutted and refurbished numerous times over the years, so it doesn't really have any character.

 

[MK]

My house.

I know it is not golden era, but I love the place.

 

[shamus]

I always lived in old houses. Mostly turn of the century ie: 1900.

Current house is new for me.. 1937.

Old houses are nice, but not if you want to keep warm.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I always lived in old houses. Mostly turn of the century ie: 1900.

Current house is new for me.. 1937.

Old houses are nice, but not if you want to keep warm.

This is quite true, my bedroom has 20 foot ceilings, and the heat (if i run it) just goes up.

I just bundle up and its never that cold in So Cal, thankfully.

I do -really- miss England and its radiators though, thats -proper- heating.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I am living in a house that my family has owned since 1951. It was not new when we got it, it was built around 1920.

Over the years, my father remodeled it -- the wood floors are now covered with wretched wall-to-wall carpeting, the brick fireplace was covered by blond-colored wood, the old walk-in type closets were ripped out and replaced with sliding door ttpes. The front porch was cemented.

I don't much like the house anymore, but if I were to stay and inherit it, I would have the carpeting ripped out and the brick exposed.

I would love to live in a house with one of those big wooden porches, the kind that wraps clear around the house, and folks used to live on in the summertime. I notice they are disappearing, being ripped out and replaced with small cement steps and a railing, or converted to a wooden deck that does not look like part of the house.

I have mostly lived in apartments in my adulthood, some were old and interesting, some were more modern. I don't think I have ever lived in a building that was built in the 19th century, mostly 1920's to 70's, I believe.

karol

 

[Uberneot]

Right now I live in a building that was built in 1931 to house Irish railroad workers. Over the summer, I house-sat for a family in an East Village (NYC) townhouse. It was built in 1863. The family bought the house in 1952, but not a lot has been replaced. It still has a cast-iron spiral staircase, the old wood-framed windows with the counterweights in the walls and warped plate glass. I used to walk through the halls and ponder how when the house was built, the Civil War was still raging a few hundred miles away. An interesting note: when the house was built, the average house didn't have showers, so now, when you stand in the shower, you are in full view of anyone who cares to look inside. The window panes are obscured with blurry contact paper, but I still find that interesting.

 

[shamus]

Oh, on a fun side note... Anyone ever live in a remodeled chicken coop?

I did for about 2 years. It was part of an old fox farm back in the 30's. The chickens were the food for the foxes. It was never made for plumbing, so all the pipes were above the ground. The toilet was really the "throne" as it was about 2 feet off the ground on a platform to hide the pipes.

 

[The Wolf]

Mine is oldish

The house I live in a little house that was built just after the war. I live near the Junior College and it had quite an influx from the G.I. Bill and more houses were built nearby.

No place like home,
The Wolf

 

[CherryBombRock]

I've just moved into a 1920s apartment which has the fantastic original windows and cast iron radiators. What I would really love though is on day to have my own 'town house' - complete with a couple of steps upto the red front door and tiled entrance hall! I dream about how it will be when I'm bored....!

 

[Section10]

Right now I live in a house built in 1945 with beautiful hardwood floors throughout and a magnificent c.1910 wood range in the kitchen.
The most interesting place I've ever lived was in an old railroad camp car. In the late 1800's the loggers lived in camps deep in the woods. Most were regular cabins, but sometimes the logging companies would provide railroad cars that were set up for living quarters for the men. The advantage was in their portability so they could be used in different locations. When the logging camp era ended this one was brought to a site and the wheels were removed and it was set on a foundation. Long and narrow, it wasn't very easy to heat, but it sure was sturdy! All 4x4 studs with 4x4s running diagonally for bracing throughout. Also huge threaded steel rods closely spaced vertically in the walls with tightening nuts below the floor and above the sill plate on each end. Railroad rails running lengthwise underneath secured with steel straps to the cross members. I'm sure it would have withstood Katrina. I lived in it for almost 6 years.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I have a 1920s condo hardwood floors thru out and a tub with feet. Just love old houses and buildings. In the 80s I owned a house that was built in 1929. A Spanish bungalow with hardwood floors and a fireplace. Sold that and got a 1950s ranch on an acre. It had all hard wood floors and a beautiful 800 sq ft rec room and two fireplaces. I love my condo tho. No yard work. Nothin like a vintage home.

 

[BellyTank]

...late 19thC five story appartment block in Vesterbro, Central Copenhagen-
we live in the 'attic' appartment- cozy- dormer windows and Velux windows in the roof. It's two small appartments knocked-thru into one four room.
No elevator- moving-in by myself with ten flights of stairs to climb was fun...

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Personally, I love Victorians and Brownstones. We have quite a few here in Boston. In fact, we have quite lovely architecture of all sorts, from Modern, what we now call Art Deco, to Colonial (original Colonial), Victorian, and Contemporary.

I have always lived in Victorians or University Gothic Style apartment buildings. However, when IS and I bought this place, it was a bit of a departure. This building was built in 1988 and there are 69 units. We live on the 7th and 8th floor, we have a roof-deck that overlooks our lovely city, we have a lot of space, two fireplaces, two jacuzzi tubs, and two parking spaces. The interior is decorated ecclectically and period-inspired, if you will. So, we had to give up some of what we love to achieve other things. Also, I was tired of being thrown out of places because I own a dog.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I think roughly 1860s red brick. Downtown, or what counts as downtown.

The innards were destroyed through remodelling in the 70s (and a truly abominable extension). Now a victorian mansion is two apartments; Upstairs, Downstairs kind of deal. The plebs live downstairs Perhaps i'll offer them some servants jobs.

bk