The house is brick, two stories plus basement, about 38.5' x 15.3' inside on each floor (see photo right). It is configured as 3 BR, 1 BA, all upstairs. It's semi-detached, faces north with the east side detached. There is about 9' between houses on that side. The entire block was built by the same builder in 1879, and the houses all look about the same. It is in a designated historical district. It has a nice-sized back yard (for the city). The ceilings are fairly high (9.5' downstairs, almost 9' upstairs). The basement is dirt but 6.5' high (see photo in earlier post).
It was neglected and used for storage for the past many years (up to 25 by some accounts). Before that, it appears to have had a farily extensive remodel in the 1920's. It was also broken up and rooms rented, to judge by the painted-over transoms and deadbolts on the interior BR doors. Probably in the 1950s or 1960s, as that was kind of the worst time in the history of the city.
The roof is intact and there is no current leakage except for some in the basement through bad windows. Gas leaks if turned on, furnace does not work, water leaks if turned on, electricity is a 4-circuit fuse box. The outside structure is mostly OK and certainly savable. Bricks all need repointing, the brick parapet needs a rain cap, and the marble steps need reset, but not much else except a paint job. We plan to replace all windows and the front exterior door. We will make a french door opening in the back and resize a couple of windows (back and side only). The first floor is about 4' above grade in the back; we will put a small deck off the french doors.
The inside is a complete gut job. Lath and plaster walls, the only electricity is one light in the middle of each room and one outlet in most rooms, none in the rest. The floors are rotten in a few spots across the back due to previous water damage, but almost all joists are sound. Plaster has fallen in big chunks from the ceiling for the same reason (see photos in earlier post). The only plumbing is in the back corner with one cast iron waste pipe. We are saving the 2 marble fireplace fronts, the foyer light fixture, the transoms over the bedroom doors, the plaster on the party wall, and not much else. We briefly considered saving more but here is what we found: The layout is very chopped up and light does not get in. The stairs are in the middle of the house and are enclosed, too narrow to allow modern furniture and fixtures (see photos below. Scary eh?).
The floors are pine and very weathered and chopped up. The windows are not original and the casing is very beat up. So we decided (not too reluctantly) that it all had to go.
The inside will be very contemporary. We will put in new stairs along the party wall and open the entire first floor front to back. The only enclosed spaces on the first floor will be a coat closet and a powder room. We will have a contemporary style kitchen with a big island (like Hawaii). Upstairs we will do 2 BR and 2 BA with a proper master suite. We will raise the ceiling in the MBR, have a his-&-hers walk-in closet, and a bath with a Japanese soaking tub. To accommodate these luxuries, the 2nd BR and 2nd BA will be pretty small, but functional and comfortable (we hope). Stacked W/D in the upstairs hall.
The basement will be excavated to full 8' ceilings (with underpinning - watch this space to see how THAT goes!). We will put a nice-sized den and a bath down there, and a "project room" in the back part. To help ensure dryness, we will put in a sump pump and french drain.
So, that's the plan as of today. The outside look is not as well defined except for the deck and parking in the back, and an historical black iron fence around the front. We expect that the project will take 7-9 months once the building permit is issued. We are now targeting early January (2009) for that.
