Summer Plans II

[oldhouseman]

Rob

Good Spotting there! The back of the house was originally the front. The main road into town was moved in 1805 and the back became the front. You can see where the kitchen was moved up and attached in the early 20th century. The house was built by a man from Conn. I have several letters (copies) he wrote to family back home. He states that the town was a "community of New Englanders who are mostly Methodist".

I am glad to say that a new group of New Englanders are moving back to the area. We have had several residents move into the town. They all tell me it's become to expensive where they are from and middle Georgia is a good retirement area.

 

[rayjay]

Hey Greg... Rob had the same thought as I did. Most people stage their home from the front, but...........It is hard to tell which looks better, the front or back. lol

Well....Lets just say the house is fantastic from all the yards. It just looks so peaceful.

Great job!

 

[iheartmaytag]

oldhouseman

What a beauitful house.

I can tell you I can feel character from that house just from looking at the pictures.

The ladies I bought my house from told me "You don't really own a house, you only pay for the privlidge of being it's caregiver."

It appears you have been a good steward with this piece of history.

 

[oldhouseman]

Here

is the kitchen side of the house where I put a small herb garden in. The shutters are in storage right now waiting for repair. And on the other side...

 

[oldhouseman]

I have a small courtyard

garden area for the dogs to come and go as they need to. Next year I want to have a container garden in this area, just flowers. And you can see I still have lots of windows to rebuild. The door opens from the master bath behind my bedroom. I built in a pet door for the pups. Lot's of work left yet in this area -and some paint work already to redo!

 

[oldhouseman]

A little

better shot of that area

 

[rp2813]

Greg, that looks like a regular orb convention in that shot of you by the door. Perfect excuse to sleep in your room instead of the guest room if I ever come to visit . . . heh heh.

And as always, the house looks beautiful and much loved.

Ralph

 

[filter-flo_rob]

Greg,

I was intrigued to find out that the builder of your house was from Connecticut.

As you know, I live in a saltbox, and most think they are pretty standard in design. What I learned after purchasing the house is that the influence of our house was not from the Boston area but the Connecticut River Valley area. How do we know? Please look at the picture. In the Boston area influence, the wall looking up the stairs would have been solid. Connecticut influence has that wall open ... see pix.

 

[oldhouseman]

I wonder

if that's why my staircase is constructed like it is. There are no survivng examples of other houses from the late 1700's in the area to compare to. There is one other house in town with a similar staircase built in 1805 -and that builder was from Connecticut as well. The newest residents in town are from there also, a retired Methodist Minister and his wife. They are delightful and we are glad to have them in residence here.

 

[filter-flo_rob]

Stairs.

Interesting. Same type of balusters. Open all the way to the top which is unusual considering the age of the house.

The transom looks original to the house as well. How tall are your ceilings. They look quite tall!

Hey ... who is the maker of that tall case clock in your hallway. I am a certified clockmaker, btw.

Rob.

 

[oldhouseman]

Thanks Rob

The transom is original as are 90% of the windows. I love the wavy glass. The tall case clock is a Maryland piece. I have to check the works to see who made them. They need rebuilding/cleaning.

I have a chippendale style, 1770ish, oak tall case upstairs. No works. I bought it at an estate sale. The fellow who passed away was working on the clock at the time he died. The works were on his workbench scattered because he was rebuilding them, it was his hobby. The wife threw them away! I got the case at least. No face or works. I'll get a picture of the case for you if you would like to see it.

The ceilings vary in each room but they are all high. 9 1/2 feet in the dinning room, 11 in the parlor, 14 feet in my room and guest room, 10 in the library. I took the ceiling out of the kitchen and exposed the rafters.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~I am a certified clockmaker, btw.

How does one get certified?

 

[filter-flo_rob]

Clock pix.

Yes, by all means do send them some pix along.

As far as the Maryland clock, I'd be curious to see who the maker is, as the case has central/western Pennsylvanian influence (flat top, four column on the bonnet -- BUT don't hold me to that until I see more pix).

The Chippendale style ... do you know the area, at least, in which it came? That determines, quite a bit, the style of the case and the works -- no doubt 8 day brass wound from the face with a key (if it was a "quality" piece), or one day brass (or wood (wooden works are my specialty)!), pull up wind. A clock movement is not a clock movement is not a clock movement ...

Rob.

 

[oldhouseman]

The Chippendale

style clock case is English. It had a brass face. I was sick when I found out she threw out the face and works. I took the case anyway in hopes I could at least put other works and a face back in place. I don't have any pics of it at the moment but I will get some detailed shots of both for you.

 

[mikepaquette]

Major project

Looks wonderful It is a major project buy yourself. Keep up the fantastic work. Just got a feeling, you are worth it. Good for you, Mike

 

[thor]

Orbs...

Greg, first of all, congratulations on your beautiful home. I will surely plan to visit you in case I ever go to Georgia.

Greg, an eon ago I bought my first reflex camara, a Canon A-1. One of the warnings in the manual told about "closing" the eyepiece with a small side lever every time a time lapse picture was taken, to avoid room light getting into the picture through the eyepiece. When a time lapse picture was taken there was no eye pushed to the eyepiece to block the light from entering this way and getting into the picture.

This effect has thousands of times been mistaken for UFO's in time-lapse pictures people have taken and later seeing things in the pictures, most always blurred images, that were not originally in the image they shot.

Reading about UFO's, I once read about a lighted street night shot where a row of white aligned spots had mysteriously appeared in the picture, apparently from nowhere. The photographer instantly thought of UFO's. These white dots were actually the reflection of the back streetlights that had got into the picture through the eyepiece. The picture had been taken in the time lapse mode.

Most digital cameras are not the reflex type, only the most expensive ones are. Maybe this is the explanation why digital cameras shoot no Orbs. Is by any chance the digital camera you are using the reflex type? In this case, everybody I know takes digital pictures looking at the screen, with the camera quite away from the face. This could be the explanation of your orb in the first picture, it really seems like the reflection of a wall plate. Could this be possible?

On the other hand, I completely believe in everything that has been written in this thread! I have had my own personal experiences, and I don't accept anybody tellimg me that what I saw or what I experienced were a figment of my imagination!

Emilio

 

[oldhouseman]

Thank you for the information Thor

I have never taken any of the orbs to be anything but a camera issue.

I did have that odd night in the house and the dogs will not sleep in my room. The scamper out and refuse to sleep there. They run into my partners room and sleep on the floor in dog beds.

They know they can jump up and sleep with me in my bed like they did when we lived in Atlanta. Now they hurry through my room and run outside when they need to. They bark and act nervous when they are in my bedroom but I pay it no attention.

I am very comfortable and happy in the house. I have had my moments about restoring it when the work got really hard. I watched a plaster wall fall into pieces during a rainstorm. The water was running down the walls inside. The wall cracked and fell into the room. My partner looked at me like he was going to have a heart attack. He screamed at me "what have you gotten us into?" I said "the house we have always wanted"

He went to the car and sat for about two hours. Then he walked back in, mad as hell, and said " you got us into this so you had better figure a way out of it"

I told him to unfold his panties and shut up. There was work to be done and he had better follow my lead and not tick me off or he would loose his financial shirt.

He gradually gained interest in the grounds and began to take interest. He has done all of the outside yard work except for my vegetable gardens. They are mine, he does not garden, he made it clear to me.

My dear partner has put up with much on my part. I took him from a comfortable Atlanta house to a badly run down 210 year old house to restore that was falling in.

He has been a real sport about it all, even if he has cursed me out several times a month for the past two years. I just looked at him and smiled. Even when there were days I wanted to cry myself to sleep and did not let him know it. There have been some difficult days but it is getting behind us I hope.

And my partner has taken some pride in his work on the grounds and his Rose Garden he planted this past spring.

Now my goal is to find the right appliances for the house. Washer, dryer, refrigerator..... They have to be right for the place. And vintage.

We have spent to many sleepless nights wondering how we could fix this problem or that to let let details like the right appliances not be taken into consideration.

I hope you guys understand.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Looks vintage, anyway.

~Now my goal is to find the right appliances for the house. Washer, dryer, refrigerator..... They have to be right for the place. And vintage.

Seek and ye shall find.

Elmira Stove Works

The leader in premium, custom kitchen appliances. Elmira Stove Works has a reputation for unmatched customization, style, and colour with homeowners and kitchen designers. Made in Canada.

www.elmirastoveworks.com

 

[filter-flo_rob]

Greg/partner/new house/relationships.

Hi Greg,

Thank you for sharing that info. I can certainly relate to what you have said ... moving from Boston to the country was one issue, another one was when my partner decided to go to divinity skool at a moment's notice. Sometimes, it isn't easy!

Rob.

 

[filter-flo_rob]

Becoming a clockmaker.

Steve,

Within the past 40 years things have really changed. One can take classes at the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors in Pennsylvania and do everything there.

I started when I was about 10 (am 52 presently) and the local electrician/clockmaker, Mr. Davis was 90. I used to spend lots of free time at his shop learning how to cut gears, pour brass for blanks, how to season wood for wood works, mathematical calculations, using a divider plate making machine parts, jigs, etc. etc. etc.

I got my certification by him giving me an exam and sending the results into the American Watchmaker's Institute. The exam was not only cutting gears, but things like this:

Build a movement with a train of four gears:
If you have a one second pendulum (ca. 39 in., or 100 cm.) calculate the diameter of the winding barrel for a 12 lb. weight that would fall 6 feet in 7 days.

Cut some helical and involute teeth, and a corresponding pinion. What are the differences? what is the friction ratio?

Given a train of 48 48/6 48/6 30/6 what would the length of the pendulum be? A barrel with a diameter of 2.5 inches would require what size weight to fall six feet in 7 days and 3 feet in 7 days.

Create a wooden gear and pinion similar to Eli Terry's design and do the same using Chauncy/Jerome Ives and his roller pinion method.

Create a thermal compensation pendulum.

You were given a random clock movement with a gear missing. Figure out the diameter, etc. and make one, INCLUDING THE SHAFT!

Make a lantern pinion.

Stuff like that.

Hope that answers your question.

Rob.