I guess my mom's house is "retro"now

[jmm63]

I was just visiting my family in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park last week where I grew up and helping to take care of my 88 year old "Mother Unit" who isn't doing very well. We've owned the house for 40 years and I guess I never really thought to much of it but there's alot of retro things happening there. Plus, it still blows my mind at how well these little houses built. They are 1 1/2 story brick bungalows, all brick and stone, plaster walls, cove ceilings, archway opening in the halls, and it has a steel I-beam holding it up. I couldn't imagine how much these houses would cost to build today!

So here are some pictures of various things in order
Knotty Pine Bar - there's a vintage 3 compartment bar sink back there
More Knotty Pine
That's a porcelain laundry tub
Only the 2nd washer/dryer in that house. 1970 Kenmore 700's were there before.
Cool floor
Vintage rocker and matching Deacons bench
Empire Coffee Perc
Cake plate...miss my Mimi's banana cake in there.
Guardian Ware gravy boat and ice bucket
Chaffing dish
Milk Glass punch bowl set
More Guardian ware platters
Fake fire place
More Knotty Pine
My grandmothers Hoover Model 61 - still works
Steele I-beam holding the house up
Mom and I at dinner...God bless her!

 

[pulltostart]

Nice photos

Your mother looks good for 88! And I love the checkerboard floor. Those 9x9 tiles are soooo cool.

lawrence

 

[wayupnorth]

Its nice to be with Mom, wished I could now but my house gets crammed in with so many things from years ago. This nostalgia has to go for me and just get away from it. Are you going to clean it, I ask myself, Guess its time to do it and start the clean out. I tell myself, one of these days.

 

[jamiel]

There are a jillion of those house around here in Detroit--those were the heyday of the Big 3 and the heyday of home ownership here in and around Detroit. A friend lives in the next suburb in exactly that kind of house and basement...helped her clean out after a sewer backup a couple years ago.

 

[vacerator]

Looking swell

Jim! Your mom also for 88. Mine was only 77. Alzheimer's and dimensia is a nasty illness.
It was almost a blessing when her body began to shut down in 2013. Rivergate on Pennsylvania road took very good care of her though after my dad no longer could.
My aunt had also been there previously. One of us visited her every day. It was painfull watching her decline the two years she was there. I hope you don't have to go through it with your mom. I miss visiting mine once per week. She'd always ask if I'd had my check up, and told me to quit being stuborn about going to the doctor.
My dad said he lost his bride and he gave up after she passed.
Usually, it's the wife who cares for the husband at the end of life.
Some things just can't be planned for no matter how well off the family is financially. I was able to stop working and help while they were both still living at home as the eldest of five of us.
When my dad had a minor driving mishap, he became very beligerant with me when I took his car keys and donated his vehicle.
It's no picnic for sure. That's the last straw of independence they have. He would not ride the senior bus to Dialysis either, so I kept going three times weekly to drive him. One day, my sister was to pick him up after work, and she got stuck in traffic. He left the DaVita clinic , and before she could check every side street, he walked the mile home with his cane.
I'm about the healthiest of all of us. My oldest sister has survived ovarian cancer. The youngest has had thyroid problems since childhood, and general anxiety disorder. Still she managed to be a teacher, and raise three kids.
You'd think I'd be the one with hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, but no, it's the middle sister and my brother, and my brother weighs less than I do.
Best of everything to you and yours!

 

[cornutt]

Interesting construction

It would take a world war to damage that I-beam. These days, they use engineered wood joists and don't need the beam.

That drain plumbing on the lav seen through the door looks a bit funky. Did it used to have an S-trap that went down to the floor?

Nice fireplace. Is it a coal burner?

That vintage construction is solid, for sure. Don't know about the standard in Detroit, but around here that would have been considered a very nice basement back in the day. And it looks like it has stayed dry over the years.

 

[vacerator]

Steel I-beam

basement supports are still code throughout this area. It's all I've seen even in new construction.
The last of the old forest growth lumber was used up by about 1968. It is stronger, and those homes are well built. Some shoddy construction was seen in the mid 70's. Then energy saving doors, windows, and materials entered the building trades.
Engineered beams are fine for first or second floor load bearing walls.
They're putting up a four story hotel near me, and the entire exterior sheathing is oriented strand board type material, then they brick over it. My guess is it's built for an estimated life span of twenty years.
Many McMansions went up in the 90's with cheap wood siding on their second floors.
It needs paint or re staining every few years, or it rots away to nothing.
One newer house on the next street over had to replace all the trim and tudor style siding just last year. Only 20 years old.