Show us your vintage home!

[Fading Fast]

What's really curious to me is why that test unit is just sitting there. Was somebody recently working on the panel and went out to lunch? Or did they get laid off mid-job?

I think they stopped work the night before and left it there - it happens regularly in this building. It is a union building, so rules / hours / etc. are strictly followed, so I guess, it was quitting time.

 

[vitanola]

Those Tonarc fault locators are still in current use. They are particularly helpful in finding problems in dry core cable. "Dry Core" is the original telephone cable technology, wires in twisted pairs, insulated with paper, protected from moisture with a sheathof lead tubing. This cable type was in general.use from the early '90s up until the 1980s. Many thousands of miles of it are yet in service. It has excellent transmission characteristics, better, in fact, than those of modern thermoplastic insulated cable, but is difficult and hence expensive to install and service. Old, leaky, cables may be kept dry by pressurizing them with nitrogen.

The "arc" in "Tonarc" comes from that little electric plug attachment. When a cord is affixed, the unit may be used to clear shorts in cables by burning them out.

 

[Warden]

Just fitted a fireplace in my son's room thus the dinosaurs on top.

The pic is on Instagram so I am afraid you need to click on the link to see

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0WUuVMhfwh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[Fading Fast]

From time to time, I've posted some pics from our 1928 apartment house's basement, but coming out of the gym this morning, I thought I'd take and share some more. There's a lot of cool stuff down here (just remembered a neat door that I'll have to capture the next time I take some pics).

 

[Daniel H]

My grandmother, and her parents before her, lived in Rivermead Court, London. They purchased the flat in the late 30's/early 40's from their landlord who also sold to them all of the furnishings. When my grandmother moved out to a nursing home in 2005 I took my last visit to the flat that I had known all my life and snapped as many photos as I could, even taking a tape measure to document room sizes, trims, doors, windows, etc. The flat was still in its original condition. A singularly amazing experience for me. I was able to save most of the furnishings which I had shipped to the US and are now living another life with my family. I am typing this on my laptop sitting at their old writing desk. A few photos here. Not an easy place to shoot and the quality is poor but just thought I would share.
And happy new year all. Cheers to another round of the 20's.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Original 1954 push-button stove:

 

[vitanola]

M

Original 1954 push-button stove:

meh. That’s what we had in the house in which I was raised. In fact that cook top, a 1961 model with the controls in one corner, is still there!


since we had that modern thing in my natal home I was of course interesting in nothing more modern than the “cabinet ranges” that I saw on “Our Gang”

 

[Trenchfriend]

Isn't it nice, that the old shape still exists? From supermarket, today. Ceramic, but okay.
Solid, handy, easy to clean!

 

[DocRedfield]

Well, here we are; 196 PAGES into a thread @LolitaHaze started back before I'd even met her (which was 2007 I think). Holy Carp!!!
I've been making some Shelfie Vids of late of my 1963 House here in Phoenix (where this thread started) and you can see some HERE:

And my Artist's Promo shot in my home:

-Doc
vaughn-media.com

 

[Big Man]

 

[ThankfulGirl]

Two of my big lugs (we have four... and yes, the Tank is sitting on the toaster) in my kitchen.
The sash windows and the Belfast sink are originals to the house, as is the slate flooring.
We don't have kitchen units, we have open shelving, so the gingham curtains over the cupboards are my attempt to deter the furrier members of the household from sleeping in the cast-iron casserole dishes.
The yellow wooden trolley under the worktop is a skip reclamation painted up, I'm guessing 1950s by the screws and fittings. We keep kitchen paper, foil, odd bits of rarely used kitchenalia like nutcrackers, in it.

 

[Big Man]

In the front yard of my house there is (was) a big maple tree. My granddad, Will Brown (1877-1932), planted that tree sometime in the early 1920s. The old tree provided shade and a big limb for a swing for a long time.

Over the last couple of years two of the main branches, as well as the "crotch" of the tree developed some rot. Due to this damage, the tree was no longer safe. Should the tree fall (or just one main branch fall), the house would be hit. The potential for major damage was just too great to allow the tree to remain.

With great regret, I made the decision to have the tree removed. While I was sad to see it go, I have been very relieved that the danger of it falling on the house is now gone. It will take a while to get used to the "new" look of the house - but it's growing on me already.

Here are "before and after" photos.

 

[Woodtroll]

In the front yard of my house there is (was) a big maple tree. My granddad, Will Brown (1877-1932), planted that tree sometime in the early 1920s. The old tree provided shade and a big limb for a swing for a long time.

Over the last couple of years two of the main branches, as well as the "crotch" of the tree developed some rot. Due to this damage, the tree was no longer safe. Should the tree fall (or just one main branch fall), the house would be hit. The potential for major damage was just too great to allow the tree to remain.

With great regret, I made the decision to have the tree removed. While I was sad to see it go, I have been very relieved that the danger of it falling on the house is now gone. It will take a while to get used to the "new" look of the house - but it's growing on me already.

Here are "before and after" photos.
View attachment 373325
View attachment 373326

I hope you won't be offended that I don't mark "Like" on your post - I hate to see mature trees go.

We've gone through the exact same dilemma here over the last few years - two maples planted off the front corners of our old farmhouse by my great-grandfather, somewhere (we think, based on old photos) between 1900-1920. Rot started in a crotch in one about 10 years ago, and about 5 years ago I gave up and cut it because, like yours, it would endanger the house if it fell with the prevailing wind. I miss that one particularly because a pair of screech owls nested in the cavity of that tree for several years. Really neat (if somewhat noisy) neighbors.

The survivor got hit by lightning a couple years after I cut the first, and two years later it had completely died and I had to cut it, too.

I miss the shade, and also the link to my past family. It's nice not to fret every time the wind blows, though!

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ I'm glad that both of you were able to enjoy these trees for generations. I think the new view really accentuates the house @Big Man . After loosing so many of our 50 - 100 year old trees (about 200 on the 70 acres) last year to a small tornado and straight line winds we are getting closer to getting it all cleaned up and are learning to enjoy the new views of the neighboring hills (and sleeping better now that a few of the threats to the house are no longer threatening -- and that they went horizontal without hitting the house or barn).

 

[Woodtroll]

^^^^^ I'm glad that both of you were able to enjoy these trees for generations. I think the new view really accentuates the house @Big Man . After loosing so many of our 50 - 100 year old trees (about 200 on the 70 acres) last year to a small tornado and straight line winds we are getting closer to getting it all cleaned up and are learning to enjoy the new views of the neighboring hills (and sleeping better now that a few of the threats to the house are no longer threatening -- and that they went horizontal without hitting the house or barn).

I remember you posting the "before and after" photos when that happened - it was a drastic change! But yes, the improved views do soothe the sting a little bit. Nothing in nature ever stays the same, but it takes years of living to fully realize that. At least it did for me, but I can be a little slow sometimes.

 

[tonyb]

In the front yard of my house there is (was) a big maple tree. My granddad, Will Brown (1877-1932), planted that tree sometime in the early 1920s. The old tree provided shade and a big limb for a swing for a long time.

Over the last couple of years two of the main branches, as well as the "crotch" of the tree developed some rot. Due to this damage, the tree was no longer safe. Should the tree fall (or just one main branch fall), the house would be hit. The potential for major damage was just too great to allow the tree to remain.

With great regret, I made the decision to have the tree removed. While I was sad to see it go, I have been very relieved that the danger of it falling on the house is now gone. It will take a while to get used to the "new" look of the house - but it's growing on me already.

Here are "before and after" photos.
View attachment 373325
View attachment 373326

Taking down a tree considerably older than oneself can’t help but heighten one’s awareness of the impermanence of all things. Yet we strive, with varying degrees of success, to preserve what came before us. If there’s any one thing that keeps me coming back to this joint, it’s that it attracts many a kindred spirit in that regard.

Having gotten moved around quite a bit in my early years, I find myself a tad envious of people like you, who can trace their ancestry back several generations in the place they still reside. And I applaud you and your ancestors for keeping that house mostly as it was when it was built. If it ain’t broke …

 

[Trenchfriend]

Linen or half-linen bedclothes, anyone else?

 

[MitchellFW]

Our house is fairly old (1940's) and has a few original features but someone did a big "update" in the 1980's and put in a new kitchen. It was in pretty bad condition when we moved in so we decided to replace it with something more fitting with the period of the house. Not true vintage, unfortunately, as it's almost impossible to get vintage appliances and features in central Canada, but we tried our best and are very happy with the results so far.
I tried to do a bit of a before/after combination here:

 

[dh66]

Our house is fairly old (1940's) and has a few original features but someone did a big "update" in the 1980's and put in a new kitchen. It was in pretty bad condition when we moved in so we decided to replace it with something more fitting with the period of the house. Not true vintage, unfortunately, as it's almost impossible to get vintage appliances and features in central Canada, but we tried our best and are very happy with the results so far.
I tried to do a bit of a before/after combination here: View attachment 583055 View attachment 583056 View attachment 583057

Outstanding job!