Built in 1948 as a 4 room cottage that had a big screened in front porch. We bought it in 1971 when we were just 23 year old kids. It was only 1 bathroom, 1 bedroom , a dirt floor crawl space and knotty pine trim thruout. Paid too much then, $26.500. We added on to it 3 time as the family grew plus we built a new garage out back 5 years ago to house all our junk and rolling projects. I guess you could call it "Vintage NOS style".
Here is the house I grew up in, in Tampa. My parents paid $16,500 in 1963. They paid $100 a month for 20 years. The last time it was sold a few years ago it went for $950,000.
If you all don't mind, I'll do three separate posts. The first is my 1957 brick rancher "daily driver" that I live in most of the time. while doing various work around the house, I found a Budweiser can that was obviously left by the original builders because the surface underneath was spotlessly clean and when I showed my boss the can, his eyes lit up and he said "I haven't seen one like this in AGES." I also found a newspaper wadded up undeneath a windowsill with want ads & car ads in it, but there's no way that you'd get away with the employment ads that were in there today! One read something like "Wanted: attractive white girl for receptionist..." and another asked for "Negro girl for..." The view from the back yard shows my "traditional" big-bulb christmas lights that we use to illuminate the deck on occasion, and the traffic light that comes on via a motion sensor located near the driveway. I used one of those portable basketball hoop bases and filled it with water for the traffic light, and it works like a champ! If you look really hard to the right of the traffic light, you can see the chunk of 55 Pontiac that is buried in my wiffe's flower garden ala the Cadillac Ranch.
here's my place when I was window shopping it 7 years ago, 1941 edition but not sure when the garage was built
The second post is our old house out in Botetourt County VA. When we bought it back in 2007 it was a DUMP (which means that we got a good deal on it!). Here's a BEFORE & let's say DURING photo. The hippie that rented the place from the previous owner had album covers stapled to the walls, Christmas lights and black lights all over the place, and had even finger painted the walls in one room with fluorescent black light paint... But it was structurally pretty solid, and the area is pretty nice. Our plan is to rent it out on a weekly basis just like they do beach houses, etc. It is right on the James River, and we get to watch the people canoeing and kayaking up & down the river all summer. There's an old general store on the ground floor complete with 15' ceilings, the rolling ladder to get to the high shelves, etc. The plan for the garage is to put signs, an old gas pump and coke machine outside and to make it into a "full scale diorama" with an old car or truck and some more of my old service station stuff inside, and to make it look like someone went out to lunch in 1964 and never came back. Anyone have an old roller car or truck that they'd like to donate to the cause? It can be a real POS, as long as the body is basically complete.
The last post from me is of a friend of mine's place in Rockbridge County VA, not too far from Natural Bridge. When he bought his place, he said that it made my "before" pictures of my yellow house look great! It had animals living in it, vines and other plants growing INSIDE of the place, and it had some other pretty serious problems. He told me that during the restoration, people would often anonymously drop off boxes of "stuff" like signs, old oil cans, and other memorabilia just because they liked what he was doing with the place. The cars came from an old country junkyard that was closing and he bought all of the 40's & 50's cars that they had before they were crushed. Some Rustoleum brush paint & rollers made them look a lot better. Most of them really are pretty darn ruff when you get close to them!!! He'd like to get it on TV or in a movie some day, so if any of you "location scouts" for TV or movies want more info on it or on my old yellow place, just PM me!
Here's some new pics of my dad's place in Taylor, Tx. It's a three-story turkey processing plant, and it's for sale.
I hope I don't get in trouble for this, but, anyone out there care to add anymore? I love these pics. It helps me with what to look for in our next home purchase...
Here's a fresh shot of our place that I snapped tonight... Plus the garden/front yard... and the new garage going up out back...
Speaking of forgotten old houses, this one was located out in the sticks here in Maryland. When I first got my license we would always cruise out there at night just to check it out in all it's spooky glory in the moonlight. A friend of mine ended up buying it in the early 80's and was in the process of restoring it. Unfortunately it burned down on halloween night after a party. Gone forever. Rear view........
There are some really interesting houses here. I never thought about "OLD" houses while cruising on the HAMB site and really enjoy all the old pictures. The above home in Taylor Texas is RAD to say the least. Thats one cool place and thanks for posting .
that kitchen is awsome! ive been collecting stuff in my basement with the hopes that my someday farmhouse will have a vintage kitchen. if it doesn't, we will be doing a "renovation"
I don't have any pictures here or a way to get them right now, but my grandmothers house was built in 1904. It has been remodeled several times, but still looks the same on the outside.
A while back this thread really got to me. Here's the result. My lady and I picked this place up and have been working on it. One more preserved. Hope it brings this thread back to life for somebody else.
Hey, thanks a bunch redline. It's really been a fun project. We love this place man.. P.S. Spotted the gargoyle huh?
This is the house I grew up in. It's in Andover Massachusetts. It was built in 1898. In all there where twelve rooms. All the interior trim was done in natural wood varnished to the hilt. That me in my little race car. I found Hot Rods a few years later, and did race professionally twenty years later. How did my family afford this grand place? My dad went to Peru and flew gold out of the mountains in what's called a Healo Currier airplane. It takes off in a few hundred feet. He made $100,000 in around three months. That would be over a million in today's money. When he first started flying the gold out the rebels would take aim at him from beyond the end of the short runway. At first they would only put bullets threw the tail of the plane, but as time went on they learned how to lead. When the bullets where going threw the rear seat area where the gold was he decided it was time to quite. Every trip out of the gold fields he got a % of the load. We where rich for a few years. He was broke again by 1962, and by 63 hit it big again. He, and his brothers where the last of the soldiers of fortune. Making three fortunes in there lives.
this is the first time ive seen this thread...pretty amazing. awesome houses. makes me wanna go home now and fix my place up. thanks for bringing this back up
Last year sometime I was looking at this car, saved the pics cuz I though it was so neat (car and house) It is a 56' Ford Mainline.... (Sorry I can't get the pictures bigger. They used to be big, but lately, they got small. Just click on them to make them bigger) -Cody
And here is how it looks now - The link to more pictures - http://feltmansion.org/photographs.php I think they are doing a fantastic job and as a community projects with many volunteers.
The Jalopy Journal
