Cannibalizing The House
So, y’all know I have been making a mess of the library.
I am going to take down the 2014 white shelves I installed on the west wall, to the right of the mantel. This will necessitate rounding up trim for the wide pocket doors into the parlor. The trim was removed (I think) circa-1950 when two pink bathrooms were inserted into the library, one against the sliding door. The trim was…mostly…stored in the basement and even marked: LIBRARY. Nice.
What is missing though are the upper corner blocks, and the bottom plinth blocks. These are easily found but not in the style of my blocks (which are distinctive):
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Also in the library is the newly moved small door back to its original location. This will need trim and blocks on both sides of the door frame (library side, and stairhall side).
Oh dear.
A few years ago, the fabulous Megan (who has her own old house blog, but has not posted since 2018, and nor has responded to my emails. I hope she is OK), sent me numerous corner blocks which were a close match to the original Cross House blocks. Ross happy.
In wandering around the house though I realize that I can actually resort to cannibalizing.
This is the entrance to the sleeping porch off the Sewing Room. It was originally a window (and will be again) meaning that…
…the two base plinth blocks can be removed, as the window trim ends at the sills. So, I can use these two block for the sliding door in the library.
Inside the recently taken apart bathroom in the Octagon Bedroom, originally a closet, is this surreal condition. The two upper corner blocks, and the trim between them, are likely original. But what…
…is this absurdity? I am gonna guess that during the various renovations of the house the original vertical trim was removed to be used in a more prominent place. So, these 1×3 boards were used. Huh? 1×6 boards would have looked sorta OK. But this? YIKES!
And one base plinth remains. I will remove all the trim around this door and reuse the original bits around the new small library door. I will still be short though. But less short. In the above bath I may use Megan’s upper blocks, and similar trim and base blocks I have stored away. This should not be readily obvious.
In the Round Bedroom, the original dressing room and closet were converted into a bathroom circa 1929, and a vent stack was stuck in the SW corner. As has been typical throughout the history of the house original trim was simply covered over rather than removed. I need to keep the vent stack (sigh), but can kidnap the upper corner block.
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You are lucky to have so many resources around to draw from.
I had to find some vertical trim in my house to replace a piece that had a chunk cut out of to go around a lights witch. It was installed too close to the door and their solution was to cut a piece out of the trim. Seriously? I took a piece of trim from a closet (yes, they actually put trim inside the closet) and swapped it with the abomination. Then I removed the plate and cut it down to be flush with the trim and put it back. No one notices it, whereas before you eye immediately went to that light switch and the piece missing from the trim.
You can’t do much about the base plinths or the top corners but the trim boards in between could be custom milled. It is expensive, likely horrendously expensive now so it wouldn’t be practical unless you needed a lot of it.
I had to have baseboard custom milled for my hallway and bedroom after I moved in. The two rooms are far enough for the original that the difference isn’t noticeable. When I need to replace it in the original rooms, my closets come to the rescue again as there was original baseboard in all of the closets. Since I put closet systems in two of them the baseboard had to be removed anyway so I have saved it all.
I am amazed at your energy and activity during the high heat of summer. Where I am it isn’t nearly as hot as where you are yet I don’t get a lot done during these hot months and when I do, it is mostly in the very early morning or late at night after the temperatures have dropped.
Just took a rabbit hole trip to Megan’s house…. she is on IG mayfairmistress and posts pretty often. How sweet of her to. Gift to you.
Great Idea on making Lemons into lemonade in the form of trim!
Love how your mind works! 🙂
I was just viewing all the “Kansas” category publications at University of Kansas Press and came across this, which I thought you might find of interest if you don’t already have it.
Victorian West
Class and Culture in Kansas Cattle Towns
C. Robert Haywood
https://kansaspress.ku.edu/subjects/kansas/978-0-7006-0624-5.html
It’s perfectly logical to reuse unnecessary parts from one area to restore another area. I’m sure you could have something similar made. There’s a woodworking shop close by that I’ve gone to numerous times to make trim. Yes, it’s more expensive. You’re paying for skilled labor to do custom work. I know Ross understands this.
Hi Ross,
Thinking about the ‘narrative’ of these missing pieces, have you considered using modern methods to have the blocks recreated? I would guess that these blocks would lend themselves very well to being 3D printed? Something to consider maybe and perhaps there is a local college who would be willing to help you with this as an interesting project for students to get involved with?
Hi Ross. Unrelated question to your post but can’t find an answer to this question anywhere. I am working on an 1880’s old hotel in NC. There are three levels of porches and when you pull off the breadboard that is not original to its being built you find the finished ceiling with is slats of wood about 3″ wide and spa es between the slats of an inch. Was that for air flow? Never seen it before. I have pictures if curious.
Smart use of resources, Ross.