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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Aug 13, 2022 20:39:49 GMT
Any of you live in a house old enough to have any of these features?
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Post by divtal on Aug 13, 2022 21:35:39 GMT
I have two of the items that were featured in the video. My building dates back to 1917, and has two flats, or "apartments," each of which occupies a whole floor of the building. I'm not sure if it was, originally, constructed as one family home. But, given how common this format of current design is here, I tend to think that these buildings were constructed "as is," in separate dwellings.
I have a deep brick fireplace, with a brick hearth, and surroundings. The hard wood mantel suggests an older design, but it isn't decorative. I haven't used it for many years, largely because of environmental warnings ... although, I always used "Duraflame," or other artificial fuels. I always waited until the first rain of the fall, before having a fire. I didn't want to risk the dry autumn leaves, on the roof, igniting. It's still a nice focal point of the living room.
It's not "built in," but the video mentioned a "Hoosier Cabinet." The make of the one that I have is "Seller's," as opposed to "Hoosier." I don't know if one name is generic, and the other is a specific company name. It belonged to my grandparents, my parents ... and, now it's mine! It has a lot of storage, in terms of drawers and shelves. And, it has a pull-down front door, to close in the open shelves. One fun feature, which I don't use, is a flour bin, from which you can sift flour into another container. Several years ago, I had a horrible moth infestation from a bag of flour. Since then, I keep flour in the freezer. I don't use it that much, anyway.
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Post by Nora on Aug 14, 2022 3:43:50 GMT
grew up in a house from 1603 🤣
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Post by mystery on Aug 14, 2022 15:13:22 GMT
grew up in a house from 1603 🤣 Now, that is cool! My house is from the 1890's, so it's practically brand new compared to yours. Where did you grow up? If you don't want to say, I totally understand. I'm just kinda fascinated by old architecture. My house doesn't have any of those things in the video. It's a farmhouse, so milk delivery came from the barn, not the milkman. I think there used to be a Dutch door, but that's long gone. You can see the access points in the chimney for old coal or wood burning stoves, but the original stoves were gone before my time. The house has beautiful woodwork, though. The molding is very wide and ornate, and definitely gives the house an old fashioned feel. I bought a fancy cookstove from the early 1900's, and it fits in perfectly. I had originally planned on restoring the house back to what it looked like 125 years ago as much as possible, but it's becoming more of a hybrid between antique and modern. And I guess that's okay. I'm really happy with how it's turned out so far. It was quite a mess when I decided to adopt it.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Aug 14, 2022 15:37:01 GMT
mystery: My neighbor's house had a Dutch door, though the house wasn't really an "old" house - in fact, it was pretty modern. But it was a custom-designed home, so I'm guessing the owner must've liked the concept of Dutch doors and had one put in specially. This wasn't the main entry door, but rather a side entrance to the kitchen.
divtal: too bad you can't get more use out of your fireplace. my house has 3 fireplaces (2 upstairs, 1 downstairs), as well as a built-in barbecue pit in the patio. I use one of the upstairs fireplaces frequently in the fall/winter. Now with the price of heating oil through the roof, I am thankful for that fireplace and will be getting even more use from it this winter, due to my thermostat being turned way down.
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Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Aug 14, 2022 18:35:29 GMT
As to coal chutes, there's a funny scene in the Don Knotts film, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, where he enters a spooky old mansion by sliding down a coal chute, landing in the coal bin below. (Oddly enough, he climbs out of the coal bin with nary a smudge on him.)
The slot in the medicine cabinet for razor blade disposal was kind of bizarre. I don't recall ever hearing of that before. It led me to check the one bathroom in my house that does have a medicine cabinet... sure enough, there is a small slot in the center back of the cabinet, just big enough to drop a razor blade through.
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Post by divtal on Aug 14, 2022 21:10:39 GMT
mystery : My neighbor's house had a Dutch door, though the house wasn't really an "old" house - in fact, it was pretty modern. But it was a custom-designed home, so I'm guessing the owner must've liked the concept of Dutch doors and had one put in specially. This wasn't the main entry door, but rather a side entrance to the kitchen.
divtal : too bad you can't get more use out of your fireplace. my house has 3 fireplaces (2 upstairs, 1 downstairs), as well as a built-in barbecue pit in the patio. I use one of the upstairs fireplaces frequently in the fall/winter. Now with the price of heating oil through the roof, I am thankful for that fireplace and will be getting even more use from it this winter, due to my thermostat being turned way down. Actually, I could probably still use it. It would have to be cleaned, as it has been many years, and debris must have gotten into the chimney. Right now, I'm cautious about putting anything into the atmosphere, unnecessarily. My driving has dropped precipitously. I know that wood-burning is discouraged. In fact, it's forbidden on what the Bay Area calls "spare the air" days. I'm lucky, in that our weather rarely requires long periods of time where heating is necessary for reasonable comfort. I don't often have the "heat on," in the evening ... wine lends an able assist, here. ( ) A fire does, indeed, provide a lovely "warming," on several fronts. Maybe I should call the Fire Department to check on the current rules 'n regs, of home fireplace use. ******************* A former colleague, who lives in a somewhat rural area in another county, has Dutch Doors in her kitchen. I don't think that the house is particularly old ... I would guess mid 1950's. One day she heard an unfamiliar noise, and found that a stag had gotten his head into the open top-door, and was unable to pull straight out of it. He couldn't move forward, as the lower half of the door was closed. She panicked ... and so did the stag. It was a few seconds of him maneuvering, before he worked his way out. He never came back.
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Post by ShadowSouL: Padawan of Yoda on Aug 22, 2022 4:39:04 GMT
I have a few of that thing the lady with the headband is looking at.
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