Thursday, April 08, 2010

It's Like If These Walls Could Talk, But it is a Person Telling the Story

You have heard the expression "if these walls could talk", haven't you? Actually, now when I hear that expression I think of the miniseries that was on HBO. There were two parts, the first part had to do with abortion in various periods of times and the second had to do with lesbianism over certain time periods. This post is about neither.

As I am sure you know if you are a regular reader of this blog, we love old homes. We love touring them, seeing them, living in them. We were completely thrilled that we actually have the original blueprints to our house and the original deeds dating back to when it was built in the 1930s.

Every so often we will hear stories about previous owners from our neighbors, especially the ones that didn't want us to get air, since they have lived here the longest. Usually the stories are about the couple we bought the house from and usually start with "That Mandy sure did like to drink..." Seriously, one day I am going to have to share some of the stories with you. They are too fun.

And every once in a while we we will hear about the couple before them. An older couple that lived here a while. The ones who planted all of our beautiful flowers around the house. But we don't know too much about them, mostly their name and they liked flowers. For blog purposes, I will call them the Bunkers. Why? I think it would be a hoot if Archie Bunker lived in my house. Well, as long as he didn't smoke that nasty cigar.

So, to the point, the other day B comes home and says "Guess who I met?" all excitedly. I have no clue. That man meets all kinds of people. Turns out he met the Bunkers' son. He was doing some work on the house across the street. So B forced him to come tour our house because he wanted answers about our kitchen. You know - the kitchen with the very tiny dishwasher, the weird cut out, and only one drawer? Yes, B demanded answers.

This is what he found out. The Bunkers always had their fridge in the weird cut out. Always.


We thought it might have been the stove area or a heater, but he confirmed it was the fridge. He also said that the ownes before us tore up cabinets, the counter, and A DRAWER to move the fridge over to the other area:

If I could find them, I think I might kill them. They removed storage to create nothing but space. Oh and to get a bigger fridge. Also? They put in that teeny tiny dishwasher. His parents always had a portable one. Now, I wouldn't want a portable one either, but it would seem to me maybe putting a full size one where the fridge is might be a better idea. But what do I know? I am just someone that doesn't like having to run the dishwasher EVERY day and sometimes twice. We own stock in Electrasol.

Another fun fact? The door on the right in this picture was completely covered when the Bunkers bought it. The whole room was *gasp* full of paneling. It wasn't until they looked at the blueprints that they realized there was a door there and opened it back up:


And this weird area in the basement? It was a bar area like some had predicted:


Also? We are only the FOURTH owners of this home. Before the Bunkers, the house was built for a big funeral home family in the area. They owned it, the Bunkers, the Schmidts, and then us. Fascinating.

B plans on framing the blueprints and putting them on the wall. I think he is a decorating genius.




*Yes, these are super old pictures of the house, but I am behind in updating you on our progress and didn't want to ruin any surprises.

5 important things being said:

Andhari said...

I never understand tiny sinks too. Such a hassle to wash dishes. Even if you have a dishwasher.

Can't wait to see the final result to your home makeover :D

Debbie said...

How cool to get the stories about the house! I wish we knew more about the house we sold last year. It was built in 1924 and I'm sure it had a history. Then again, maybe I would't want to know. :) I agree it would be a cool idea to frame the prints.

j'lynn said...

First of all...how the heck did I miss this post last week!?! How cool is this!! I think the Schmidts were idiots for making the changes they did! B is brilliant with the idea to frame the prints...

I totally remember that series from HBO, but I think I only saw the first part...but the memory of the second part is a little fuzzy in the brain so maybe I did see it...

Jennifer said...

People are so weird. Why would you take out perfectly good counter / cabinet space to get a bigger fridge?? Craziness!!!

I also think framing the prints would be awesome!

*~Dani~* said...

Andhari - that tiny sink and super tiny dishwasher drive me crazy!! I can't wait either ;)

Debbie - It is so cool to hear the stories! I would love to hear about your house. 1924 is so long ago!

jlynn - I miss posts all of the time. I dont even know how. B is pretty brilliant. The Schmidts were pretty dumb. But they were smart about one thing - they sold us this house!

Jenny - people are so weird. Why make room for a large fridge when you can just put another one downstairs or in the garage or something. Makes me so angry.

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