M is for Money

I can’t explain my love of old houses. It’s certainly not a rational, reason based type of affection. It’s entirely an emotional response. Old houses are like people – they all have issues. And like people, often their flaws are a large part of their charm. Each is unique, reflecting the forces of time as each generation is born, grows old and passes away.

Our recent remodeling efforts have allowed me to peer into the bones of my house, to reconstruct some of its history and the forces that have shaped it into the structure it is today. But first, the legend:

The house was started in 1925, built over a period of years by the original owner. As a result it has a hodge-podge of stylistic elements – craftsman, Spanish and Art Deco. He occasionally had help and paid those workers in Prohibition liquor. So my house was built on illegal booze. Given how crooked the structure is, it appears they took their pay on the job!

The neighborhood’s fortunes have risen and fallen with the decades and the house has never received the love and care it deserved. Maintenance was delayed - we are dealing with issues that should have been addressed long ago. Cheap repairs were made – we are dealing with those too. So how does an old, neglected house still stand?

REDWOOD

Yep, much of the house appears to have been constructed with redwood. We’ve uncovered the original siding and even it is redwood. Only one portion of the house, a back wall that appears to have been replaced, is not. That section has extreme pest and rot damage, unlike the rest of the place. My house embodies the statement – they don’t build them like they used to! Can you imagine the cost to build a house from redwood today, you’d have to be insane.

A Victim of the 60’s

My gorgeous 1920’s house fell victim to the 60’s, when the current owner remodeled the place. The back section of the house does not match the front section, I often wondered if it was built later. While the front of the house has gorgeous textured plaster walls and hardwood floors, the back section has wallboard and cheap flooring. The front of the house has the original wood framed windows, the back has aluminum ones. The back wall was clearly replaced, with structural elements not found before the 1960’s. But I now know that the current footprint is original.

Underneath that wallboard lies the original lathe and plaster, like the rest of the house. I don’t see any evidence of a fire or flood, my guess is the house sustained earthquake damage. The rear wall had to be rebuilt and rather than repair the plaster walls, they covered them up.

If These Walls Could Talk

My house holds over 80 years worth of memories. It has shaped and been shaped by the people who lived there. More importantly, it has finally found someone who loves it enough to erase the years of neglect. Someone who cherishes its history and finds its quirks both irritating and charming. In a few years, when I’ve saved up enough money, we’ll address some of the remaining issues. Maybe we’ll even rip down that wallboard and restore her to her former glory.


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Photo: Warren Brown Photography
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