Andy, this buds for you….
To All-
Just touring around and saw this. After inquiring found a bit of info.
Southern New Hampshire, Just West of Peterboro on RT202. Surrounded by a working gravel pit.
House is bone dry empty. Last rented about 5 years back.
Solid foundation. Be there, Be square.
be helping preserve
America, where are you now?
Don’t you care about your Sons and Daughters?
Freestanding with boxed stairs, this small deck is full of ideas for a long-lasting entry that will look great for years to come.
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Replies
Rez, when renaming picture files, please leave the ".jpg" suffix. It makes it a lot easier to see them with some browsers.
This area has freezing winters, right? Tempting, but my wife would never go for the climate.
-- J.S.
Wimps!
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
The house looks like it's in decent shape.
No holes on the roof, no obvious signs of rot.
AND a garage.
I wonder how my wife would like NH.
And from the first picture it's remarkably straight/square and the chimney is straight.I'd want to see how bad the siding is up close, and see how bad the mortar is deteriorating, but it has potential.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
That's one of things I noticed, too.
And it looks like the roof doesn't have any big sags.
Surrounded by a working gravel pit? As in... surrounded...? We talking about moving the house or living there?
I don't care I just hate to see a place like this fall in on itself.That porch deck deal on the secomd floor is the only rot I saw. The siding was all solid except needing paint bad. Shutters were gone but the hardware was still there. How strange is that?Told the liberty of peeking in the windows and saw some of the heavy old decorative radiators and a few from a later install at some time perhaps with the 50s update of the kitchen which was complete with metal cabs and those funky laminate counters popular back then.
Interiors seemed pretty much original. Dan- I wasn't aware of the jpg thing so I'll keep that in mind for future reference.
Edited 7/28/2006 4:49 pm ET by rez
How do you know the house wants to be saved?
It is a very nice old place though.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
http://www.peteforgovernor.com
No fish decal in the window.
http://jhausch.blogspot.comAdventures in Home BuildingAn online journal covering the preparation and construction of our new home.
LOL Mike
Trust in God, but row away from the rocks.
At least I know one person "got it" ;-)
http://jhausch.blogspot.comAdventures in Home BuildingAn online journal covering the preparation and construction of our new home.
It was speaking to me.
Really. Is it advertised for sale?
"With every mistake we must surely be learning"
No but we all know that everything is for sale for a price.Seen too many go tohell from neglect and this one ain't dead yet so I just thought to take a shot for it's own well being. Not advertised. Overgrown. No attention and to quality of a structurew to be let go.
be IMHO
Rez , thats how it starts.
Then if its still callin ya , you go to the court house and look up the owner . First look for the mail box or before and after mail boxes but dont talk to anyone on the road.
Be at the post office in the morning when they are loading mail and ask whose route it is and talk to him. Often they will know the owner and quite a bit more sometimes . You might want to talk to the past mail carrier as old as it is and they will normally tell you its old so and so home place or somthing about the owners . Believe it or not they keep up with what happens on their route. They can be very helpful.
Take the location numbers off the meter and give the power company a call. They will have a history on it and will be happy to give you names . You can even request a print out on it .
Are those storm windows or aluminum frame full screens ?
How was the glazing in the windows?
The plumbing and wiring will likely be out of date but the walls on those old houses are normally hollow with no insulation even in the attic.
Next thing , whats it worth in top shape ?
Are there any negative circumstances around it ?
What is the area like and what kind of main road does it have ?
Does it have city water and is it available ?
How far is it to town ?
What school district is it in?
etc.
Tim
Tho' I's born and raised in a snow belt I have as yet found no particular affiliation or appreciation with cold and snow, thus any involvement the likes of towards what you hint are not in the cards for this youngster.
be but some good info thanks
Yeah, you're not too far off. Except it was a neighbor, not the mailman who gave us the juicy info. This one wasn't surrounded by a quary, it was surrounded by 70-90 acres of lovely mature trees.
Managed to track down the guy who owned the property and he informed us in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't sell it. Apparently he'd rather let it rot to pieces than do something with it.
jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil
Edited 7/31/2006 5:25 pm by JohnT8
Sometimes ya just gotta dust yer britches and walk out of the arena. I love the hunt though , I do.
Tim
It is probably a good thing I'm not independantly weathly, cuz I'd be buying those places up left and right to work on them. I love hunting them down.
My biggest problem (other than finances) is that I lean more towards "modernizing" rather than "restoration".
jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil
Don- if you'll be thru J.Center this Wednesday I'll be helping out with the games at the annuual fair. It's a 1 o'clock to 4 thing and I'll be there early and late with setup and tear down.
Always great to meet a fellow BTer.
Cheers
Rez,
Probably won't be going that direction (work in P'boro & live in Lyndeborough), but it's nice to know there's another BTer in the area.
Don
Apparently he'd rather let it rot to pieces than do something with it.
If I had a nickel for everytime I have said that about a house just sitting around waiting for the end of time I'd have a pile of nickels!
I will never understand it either, I know it belong to uncle Ed but did he really want it to rot to the ground?
Doug
I think a fair number of them don't want to sell it because they don't want to sell the ground. And I can certainly understand that. Cash is a fleeting commodity; here today, gone later today. But land is something that you can pass down to your kids and grandkids and so on. If I bury a dollar in a jar...when my grandkid digs it up, it probably won't be worth 20 cents. But if I give him land, it is always worth "X" no matter how many years have passed.
But the problem is that they just won't listen to you. They've got it fixed in their mind that they don't want to sell the ground and won't listen when you suggest just selling the HOUSE. That's fine, keep the ground. But rather than letting the house fall down, sell it to me and I'll move it to a new location. Just in the last 2 or 3 years I know of 4 houses that have been let go rather than selling (and they're now either completely gone or gone beyond repair).
And then you've got the developers wiping them out. But you almost never know the trackhoe is coming until its too late. Attached pics are of a house that got in the way of a hospital's expansion. They turned it into a parking lot.
View Image
View Image
jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil
Edited 8/1/2006 12:13 am by JohnT8
Kick those developers and all building inspectors in the azz.
be knowing that that is letting them off easy.
be intentionally cruel next time.
Edited 8/1/2006 11:23 am ET by rez
If it wasn't for that pesky $$ thing....
One of my 'after winning the lottery' scenarios was to become a regular customer of the house movers. Move those grand old houses out of the near north side hoods into a better area. I figure if you could get a cluster of 10-20 of them, it would look like the neighborhood had always been there.
With the added benefit that you would be able to correct one major problem that many old houses have: the foundation.jt8
"The old Quaker Meeting house is almost 300 years old and as my sawzall made its way into the pegged ancient wood, a smell emerged that told me about dried, cracked things. The ancient Quakers sitting in the well worn pocket of their silence on the darkened pine benches were whispering something to me across the years. Something about why I was here, why we're here. Lord but it was hot. I reached in to clear anything out of what was the sill, nothing but the hardened mud, lime and sand mortar, dust and shadows." -- Jer
heh heh I found a couple more I'm going to dedicate to Blue and Mooney when I get normal access to post pics. Amazing what one can found when out roaming littletown backwoods nh. and mass.
Every watch the history channels docu on massive house moving? Those guys give a new meaniing to the word. Picked up and moved a freakin' huge stone lighthouse.
be a fella can dream, can't he?
What will kick your butt on a house moving isn't the cost of the movers, it is the cost of all the misc crap. Like the power company moving a power line, or getting permission to cross a state highway, or having public works trim some trees so that you can get down a street.
But if you can get the house for a dollar, and it doesn't need massive work... then moving is probably worth it.
[edit] I saw a lighthouse move a couple years back. Pretty amazing stuff. I also watched them move a 3-story house here in town probably 6 or 7 years ago. Pretty cool to watch, although it tended to move at a snails pace.
jt8
"The old Quaker Meeting house is almost 300 years old and as my sawzall made its way into the pegged ancient wood, a smell emerged that told me about dried, cracked things. The ancient Quakers sitting in the well worn pocket of their silence on the darkened pine benches were whispering something to me across the years. Something about why I was here, why we're here. Lord but it was hot. I reached in to clear anything out of what was the sill, nothing but the hardened mud, lime and sand mortar, dust and shadows." -- Jer
Edited 8/1/2006 5:31 pm by JohnT8
"Managed to track down the guy who owned the property and he informed us in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't sell it. Apparently he'd rather let it rot to pieces than do something with it."Had that happen to me a dozen or so years ago. Rented in a gentrified area downtown, lots of renovated homes. Except for one. It was a pit, never had any work on it, no one lived there, etc.Talked to the neighbors and found out it was owned by a woman (60's) who lived a couple blocks away. Went to her place just to ask some questions. Her house was in about the same bad condition. Her little lap dog came after me and she kicked me off her property without listening to one word.Noticed that she died a year ago and the house went up for auction. Thought about going to it, but then realized it would be a waste of time. I don't live in that neighborhood anymore, but my boss does and told me what he paid for his place in the 70's. Was something like $70,000, and it's easily in the upper six figures now.
Edited 8/1/2006 6:15 pm ET by draftguy
When you say...Buuudweiser:
Heeeere's Johnny!
hey blue,
this one's for you...
I like that one Rez, thanks.
I could get it down and have a nice bonfire by nightfall.
blue
Where's that one? Neighbor is too close.
jt8
""The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." --Dave Barry
Just a driveby in a sleepy little in northern Mass.
We were eyeballed quite at bit by the natives on cell phones. I can picture the conversation...'hey Jr. Call Billy and have him check out this slow moving car'.
be undercover"The old Quaker Meeting house is almost 300 years old and as my sawzall made its way into the pegged ancient wood, a smell emerged that told me about dried, cracked things. The ancient Quakers sitting in the well worn pocket of their silence on the darkened pine benches were whispering something to me across the years. Something about why I was here, why we're here. Lord but it was hot. I reached in to clear anything out of what was the sill, nothing but the hardened mud, lime and sand mortar, dust and shadows." -- Jer
Well the house might be falling down, but they got their Dish!
jt8
""The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." --Dave Barry
You been takin pics in my hood havent ya?
Tim
It was speaking to me.
I'm moving back to Iowa in a month or two and there's an old house with a little empire/victorian flare to it thats doing the same thing to me.
I see the owners have built a new house up on the hill behind it and I'm going to stop in and see if they'll give me the old one if I move it off the property!
Like you, I hate to see these old house rot to the ground.
Doug
Doug, congrats on the move back to Iowa! Maybe an upcoming thread on that "little Empire" house? I hope you go for it.
Here's a picture of my mother-in-law's house. "Your" house anything like this one?
View Image
-Allen
NO, nothing like that! I wish it was.
I see the remnants of some really nice architectural detail left in the old lady so I'm going to pursue the place hard when I get there.
Lets see more of the pix of your MIL place though, looks cool. You doing any work on it? Wheres it at?
Doug
Edited 7/29/2006 9:35 pm ET by DougU
Doug, there's more photos of my MIL's house at this site http://freenet.buffalo.edu/bah/a/lin/186/index.html
The house is in Buffalo. MIL and her husband bought it back in the 80s; I've not done any work on it.
Best wishes on your upcoming move "back home."
Allen
Your MIL has a cool house! I might consider toneing down the purple doors a tad though. :)
I really like the stairway, very nice, as is all the trim.
Doug
>I'm moving back to Iowa in a month or twoWhassup with that?
Cloud
We only came down here to TX so that my wife could get experience in a big volume outlet store, never was our intent to stay here forever.
Everything kinda fell in place. A recruiter that my wife always kept in contact with called her with an opening that allows her to advance a little sonner then she expected so back we go, plus its back where we had always intended to move.
I'm ready to, thats where I belong. I've enjoyed the hell out of this place but like Dorothy says, theres no place like home!
Doug
Edited 7/29/2006 9:36 pm ET by DougU
Godspeed.
I'm moving back to Iowa in a month or two
Huh? First Ed, now you? you are goingto have to find a couple of new BTers for west & southern central Texas . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I'll find my replacement before I leave!
Doug
"It was speaking to me."The nice people in the white coats have medicne for that now.
My wife tells me quilts do that.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Reminds of a trip to a basketball game once. My friend and I spotted a prominent Baptist preacher sitting beside an empty seat. My friend asked me if I thought he should go ask him if the seat was saved.
Uhhhhhh...thanks man but i can't open the file. Probably just as well cause I'm almost finished with this dump and almost ready for another...
Nothing Katrina...just talking to the computer...heh heh
Actually I was looking on Realtor.com in Colorado...then in N.Carolina but think I'll hang here for a cpl a more years till Jolies out of H.S...then who knows...New Zealand?
I figure a cpl a more years anyway till the market picks back up again before I sell here. MAybe when its election year things will be strong again for a spell and I'll be really ready by then.
New adventures on the horizon : )
BE well........ahhhhhhhh, its been awhile
BE forwarned
avi dass
Ohhhhh... see you at the fest, right? Don't answer that,just show up : )
If Blodgett and Gunner say, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>ABUILDS@OPTONLINE.NET
there were some 21 over 21 pane windows on that critter.
be trying a different browser
Excellent site for a subdivision Rez!
JK
I was expecting to see a junker but the house looks decent. I knew that flat roof would be rotted before I read your later post.
Personally, I wouldn't want anthing to do with a house like that. YOu see the final version and all I see is small rooms, inadequate closets, inadequate wiring, too high of an elevation and too much yearly maintenance.
Oh yeah the other mechanicals need to be gutted and made new. The windows are inadequate.
I see a rough frame with a too low basement that needs foundation drains. If I owned it, I would not hesitate to give it to you if you wanted to move it off the lot, so I could start my subdivision.
Oh...I guess I wasn't kidding.
blue
Renamed files
I'm guessing the place has been unoccupied for only 5 years or so, maybe 10. Prior to that it was fairly well maintained.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
yup
I drive by that house twice a day, and never gave it much thought. Now I'm curious as to what's up with it.
Don
That's great Don.
Glad to know that a fellow breaktimer is going to get that place.:o)
be dining at 'A Good Place in Which to Eat."
Wish it was closer.... oh wait, no I don't!
jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil