Our House Through The Years

 24 March 2022

We feel that part of restoring a house like this includes gathering as much of its history as we can and preserving it. As we keep meeting new people and getting more information, our understanding of who has lived in the house, what the house has been through, and what changes have been made to it keeps expanding and evolving. This is a timeline of what we think we know so far about the house.

Our house first appears in official records with a date of 1850. Based on the arrangement and type of structural beams (hand-hewn versus mechanical pit saw) I have found under the house, I believe that there was a structure here prior to 1850 similar to this example, the Charles Sweeney Cabin located in Virginia. I believe the only parts left of this original house are the foundation of the chimney, the stone piers, the hand hewn beams in the floor, and the floor boards.

During or after the 1850's a detached kitchen was added behind the house. Then, prior to 1890, a major renovation or renovations were undertaken that saw the addition of a second floor along with 4 rooms on the south (right) side of the house, and a dining room added that connected the house to the kitchen. This is the oldest picture we have of the house. In this photo, shutters are present (all that's left are the hinge mounts now), and a standing seam metal roof is on (which had replaced a cedar shingle roof). We can also see a sidewalk or pathway leading to some steps through a stone wall at the edge of the road.

Between 1890 and 1900, more renovations were done, adding two more rooms on the north (left) side of the house, and a redo of some of the exterior trim work. A gable was added on the roof in the center of the house and the gable over the front of the right side of the house was redone to match to two new gables. 

In 1902, part of the porch on the north side of the kitchen was enclosed and turned into two small rooms, one probably a pantry for the kitchen and the other a storage room accessed from the 'work' porch. this may have also been when the barn and shed were constructed, but I'm guessing.

The next photo leaps forward about 75 years after the house had sat empty for 2 to 3 years (1971-1973). The metal roof has been replaced by asphalt shingle, and the shutters are gone. We believe that this photo was taken by the person who purchased the house in 1973 and owned the home just prior to us.

This photo we think shows the house after repairs and a fresh coat of white paint on everything, around 1974 or 1975 perhaps.

This photo was taken a little bit later, perhaps still in the 1970's. It is featured in the Architectural History of Randolph County. The description says 'The T-plan house with bracketed polygonal end pavilion has porch and cornice brackets, as well as elaborate gable ornaments." Interestingly, the same dog seems to appear in the same location in both the photo above and below.

These photos, from perhaps the 1980's, show that the porch railing has been put back. In the first photo, you can also see that at least one of the lightning rods on the house is still there. We found just a couple remnants of the grounding wires when we bought the home. The top photo also shows the bathroom addition which was added in the 1910's to the right side of the house.

Some time during the 1980's or 1990's, the house is painted again by friends of the owner, this time getting the light blue accent, white trim, and light gray siding that we found on the house when we purchased it. This seems to be the last time that the house receives any serious attention until the roof is replaced, for at least the 4th time, in 2010.

                                         

During the 2000's, the house seems to decline from lack of maintenance on the house, and the landscape around it. This photo is dated July 2009.

And then we jump forward again to late 2015 when we purchased the house.

In the fall of 2018, the tree happened.

And here we are in 2022.

Hopefully, with good fortune and good care, the house will see another 170 years!