Old House Plans
Posted: February 10th, 2014, 6:05 pm
I've tried elsewhere but thought maybe the folks here might have some experience with this.
Some years ago I put together a history of our house. I wanted to find original plans or drawings of it but never succeeded. I know who the builder was, when it was built, the development company and I even found the original Minneapolis Tribune ad pricing it at $4,175. It sold for much less according to the abstract. The builder, John Calder, seems to have been somewhat well known at the time and I think he has his own addition to the city up in North. I looked up the original permits which also list the plumber.
I'm almost certain it was a stock plan but not something from Sears and the like since I haven't ever found any catalog numbers on beams or other parts. I contacted Barbara Bezat at the Northwest Architecture Archives and looked through a bunch of home catalogs there (Keith's etc.) with no luck. The Archives are a bit thin for the period the house was built (1905). I also looked at a few old home magazines at the Central library but nothing came of it. I did find an interesting book on period interial detailing which fleshed out some of what the interior finishings ought to look like.
The Henepin History Museum did not have any photographs of the house and a search of the MN Historical Society online photo archive didn't turn up anything.
I am hoping maybe when the builder passed on his collection of plans went somewhere safe, perhaps to a relative or library somewhere.
We are slowly restoring this thing. We're doing an exterior overhaul this spring and plan to someday open the porches and restore the trim and doors on the second floor which were completely removed and replaced with ranch-style design (ugh) by a previous owner. Most critically, a wall and foyer entrance was removed separating the parlor (?) from the first-floor living space and dining area. We've considered restoring that but have no idea what it might have looked like. I think it may have been an open arch but the footprint where the floor was touched up (where the walls used to be) seems just a slight bit too narrow for a proper archway. I don't think the house was fancy enough to have pocket doors and in any case I think those were out of fashion by the time the house was built.
Can anyone suggest other places to search for old home plans or other ways to get at what the original look might have been? I try to hit open houses when I can to compare and there are several houses in the area that look similar to ours. I haven't yet had the guts to ask someone to let me in one of those.
Some years ago I put together a history of our house. I wanted to find original plans or drawings of it but never succeeded. I know who the builder was, when it was built, the development company and I even found the original Minneapolis Tribune ad pricing it at $4,175. It sold for much less according to the abstract. The builder, John Calder, seems to have been somewhat well known at the time and I think he has his own addition to the city up in North. I looked up the original permits which also list the plumber.
I'm almost certain it was a stock plan but not something from Sears and the like since I haven't ever found any catalog numbers on beams or other parts. I contacted Barbara Bezat at the Northwest Architecture Archives and looked through a bunch of home catalogs there (Keith's etc.) with no luck. The Archives are a bit thin for the period the house was built (1905). I also looked at a few old home magazines at the Central library but nothing came of it. I did find an interesting book on period interial detailing which fleshed out some of what the interior finishings ought to look like.
The Henepin History Museum did not have any photographs of the house and a search of the MN Historical Society online photo archive didn't turn up anything.
I am hoping maybe when the builder passed on his collection of plans went somewhere safe, perhaps to a relative or library somewhere.
We are slowly restoring this thing. We're doing an exterior overhaul this spring and plan to someday open the porches and restore the trim and doors on the second floor which were completely removed and replaced with ranch-style design (ugh) by a previous owner. Most critically, a wall and foyer entrance was removed separating the parlor (?) from the first-floor living space and dining area. We've considered restoring that but have no idea what it might have looked like. I think it may have been an open arch but the footprint where the floor was touched up (where the walls used to be) seems just a slight bit too narrow for a proper archway. I don't think the house was fancy enough to have pocket doors and in any case I think those were out of fashion by the time the house was built.
Can anyone suggest other places to search for old home plans or other ways to get at what the original look might have been? I try to hit open houses when I can to compare and there are several houses in the area that look similar to ours. I haven't yet had the guts to ask someone to let me in one of those.