The House Which Lost its Face
Across the street from the Cross House, at 517 Union, is a house. It is painted blue. So, I always think of it as the Blue House.
A glance reveals that the house has been much altered over the years. Windows have been changed, porches enclosed, and the whole re-sided. Still, the house looked to be around 1920 and of a type called a Four-Square.
A few months ago it was listed for sale and an open house scheduled.
Of course I went. Of course!
The instant first impression, once inside, was that there was nothing left of the original interior. The whole first floor had been gutted and rebuilt circa-1960. It looked like any standard 1960s ranch home inside. As I love ranches, this is not a bad thing, but it is unexpected inside a 1920s home which must have been filled with wonderful doors, trim, and other cool stuff.
Wandering through the Mad Men interior I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. Right before me was an unmistakable 1870s mantle.
WHAT was this doing inside the house?
I was wholly befuddled, and after some pondering had two thoughts:
- The mantle had been moved into the house at some point.
- The mantle was original, which meant that the house the was significantly older than I, and the realtor, had assumed.
After staring in bewildered amazement for a while, I continued the tour, although now with a nagging suspiciousness.
Upon re-entering the small foyer, I noticed the front door. It had been open when I arrived and I had not noticed it.
It was unmistakably 1870s.
Zounds. My heart leapt. The likelihood of TWO important 1870s items being in a 1920s home was very very very remote. In a flash I knew that, no matter its appearance, this home was indeed 1870s.
Suddenly, thrillingly, I was VERY excited about the place.
I then glanced over to the staircase. It was enclosed in sheetrock and no hint of a grand 1870s newel post nor balustrade remained. But…but…the base molding along one side of the stair was unmistakably 1870s, and it swept down at the bottom riser, only to meet up with decidedly NOT 1870s base.
Fragments. Of the past. I was tingling with excitement.
Upstairs revealed nothing about the original interior save two things:
- There were three doors, and each was without question original to the house and 1870s. They were paneled, thin, and with age-appropriate hardware.
- Unlike the first-floor windows, the windows upstairs were not vintage Mad Men, but vintage 1870s: long, narrow, and almost to the floor.
After departing, I raced to my computer, for the magic machine could offer that oh-so-satisfying thrill: confirmation.
And thrilled I was.
Pulling up an online 1870s Sanborn Map, I was able to confirm the age of the house.
NOTE: Just because the 1870s Sanborn map showed a house on the site did not automatically mean that what existed today was the same house which existed in 1870. The 1870s house on the map could have been replaced by another home in, say, the 1920s. However, I knew this was not the case. What I toured had too many unmistakable 1870s signatures. There was no question that the house was 1870s.
The Sanborn Map revealed a 2-story square-ish home (check), which had a one-story porch across the front (check, now enclosed), a bay to the south (check), and a narrow one-story extension (check, now engulfed in later additions but its hipped roof was visible).
Wow.
I cannot express enough how exciting I find this kind of adventure.
In the end, I knew that my neighbor was not a 1920s Four-Square, but a once-gorgeous Italianate from the 1870s. And maybe one day….
The above two side-by-side images offer a startling contrast. To the left is how 517 Union pretty much likely looked when first built. It had a one-story porch across the width of the main facade. It had (and still has) three windows upstairs on the main facade, and three openings downstairs (two windows and one door, to the right). The house certainly had eve brackets. The tall, thin 1870s windows shown on the left image are extant on the second-floor of 517.
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OH I love this site! It’s like getting a new book from the library and getting pulled into the deep by every page!
Sorry about all my comments – in person I talk a lot…but since I’m kind of a solitary person and don’t get to do my share of talking I write a lot. lol!
Hi Maddy!
I am glad you are enjoying the blog.
And I love comments! Comment away!
Ross
Hi Ross! I love your blog! I did see houses like yours and “the blue house” in Sorrento, Italy! It’s being very interesting for me having the opportunity to see this resemblance! It is very interesting how cultures are shared and kind of revived in different times and spaces! I with my husband are one of those such couples who are mad enough to restore an old house while raising children. Mine are just two (boy and girl) and are already grown up, but it’s still a crazy thing going on such an adventure with the economy as it is these days. In our case is much worse, cause we live in Venezuela. I’m sure you should have heard of the issue (politically) we have down here. We still have hope, we think anything is to be taken for granted since living is in itself an adventure. It is a matter of getting into it or not. Fully and unconditionally. That’s the only way lives have to be lived. My mother and sister live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ll keep your home in mind in case I pass by. Congratulations for having taking the challenge and honor to leave such an added value to your local history! Congratulations!
Best regards from Caracas!
Hello, Claudia, from Caracas!
It would be wonderful to see you the next time you are visiting Mom!
Much love,
Ross
I used to enjoy watching “home improvement” tv shows, but began to notice myself yelling at the tv…sigh. Why on earth buy an old house, with intact details, only to rip out all the molding, remove arched doorways, and alcoves? If you don’t like the style of the house, keep looking!
Oh, I want to buy up all the old houses and restore them to their former glory. One thing I hate about living in a very new area, only about 13 years old, is the sameness of the houses, with contractors filling neighborhoods with cookie cutter homes it brings a blandness to our visual lives. And in some ways I think diminishes our capacity to embrace differences not only among houses and architecture styles, but ideas and people.
A few years later: the blue house looks OK on the outside anyway, sort of like a nice 1920 house. And more room inside than originally. What is really unfortunate is ruining the interior. It would cost vastly more than it would be worth there (maybe not in San Francisco or similar high priced place) to restore it to a recreation of its original glory. But it would be nice if maybe some do-it-themselves people did it. Wonder what happened?