Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Save This Old House

I love that This Old House does an article on a new (old) house every issue. 

One thing that you will learn about me is that I'm very passionate about history.

In fact, if I could pick a dream career, I would be a "Historic Preservationist". 

I love historic houses and the history behind them.




Farmhouse with River Views

Price: $24,900
Location: Newport, N.Y.
Contact: Kay Delano, 315-826-7070

The History: After purchasing this circa 1850 farmhouse in 2005, John Slifka made an interesting discovery in the attic: a box of journals belonging to a former occupant named Emily Higgins. A terse entry from the winter of 1887 went like this: "Pleasant, plenty of snow for good sleighing. I have been making a variety of cakes today." Not the most riveting stuff-just an account of the simple things that brought joy to a girl in small-town central New York long before our modern conveniences. Around 1900, the house was sold to Frank Fitch, who ran Newport's limestone gristmill. In 1948, it became
home to the Sherman family, who remained there for 57 years.
An original staircase leads way to a second floor landing with 3 bedrooms.New systems and a kitchen update are necessary for this farmhouse.


Yellow-Pine plank flooring throughout and two-over-two windows give this living room great lighting.

The 2,198-square-foot Greek Revival house comes with one acre of land, but for an additional $34,900you can get an adjoining 22 acres.









What it needs: Exterior restoration, starting with a new front sill to replace the rotted one. The house also requires all new systems as well as updates to its kitchen and only bathroom. The asphalt-shingle roof is in good shape, and the house's water comes from a nearby spring. Once your work is done, you can start chronicling the charms of your own small-town winters, and even bake 
a cake or two.

2 comments:

  1. Actually, the house looks fine to me, but I certainly agree with your statement, Rich. The house really needs a renovation, especially the stairs. Old stairs can be quite dangerous to step on for it may break or crack at any time during the day.

    Elinor Haswell

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  2. You're certainly right about that, Elinor, especially to kids. Kids are very curious. They want to know about almost everything in the house, you know. If I'm not mistaken, there were 93,000 in total who were injured on the stairs yearly due to tripping, being dropped by a caretaker or by riding a bike down the stairs and so on and so forth - this is very alarming. If you haven't educated your child about going up and down the stairs, now's the chance.

    Alana Rascoe

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