They don't know what 'updating' means.
Our house was built in 1884. As in not this century, or the last one, but the one before that. She's old, folks. The first roller coaster was built in America at Coney Island in 1884. The Ringling Bros started a circus, Mark Twain published Huckleberry Finn, and the The Wild West was still Wild. The Statue Of Liberty wasn't even here yet (that was 1885). The massacre at Wounded Knee wasn't until 1890.
Our house was built without electricity and as far as we can tell - no plumbing till later, either. It has original windows and woodwork. We've found remnants of chimneys and a couple of wood stoves (can you imagine a MN winter without a furnace?). It has hardwood floors downstairs and softwood planking upstairs. We have ONE, count it, ONE electrical outlet on the entire upper level. The only rooms that have light switches are the kitchen and bathroom (thank you whoever upgraded those rooms in the seventies). And when we got here, there was no shower. Yes, for 126 years, this house had only bathed it's people. Amazing.
Until I get my photo's in order, find pics at my Facebook album here and also in previous blog postings labeled 'house'.
We're having fun with this place, honest!
And FYI - we bought this book while we were on the old house hunt. It has been a great resource and we reference it often. It makes all of the problems of owning a vintage house a little bit less scary :)
