Monday, March 9, 2009

I realized in my recent post of the farm 360 degrees, I never included a shot of the house - just the view from it. So I thought I'd share a couple of old photos we were given by the original owners. This top one was taken some time before the "remudding" took place. The house now boasts pale yellow steel siding. The beautiful gothic style cottage look is gone now. The original porch was torn off, a cement slab poured, and a metal awning type roof is supported by black iron posts. The front slate roof was replaced by asphalt shingles. The rear is still intact - the date 1886 is written in the slate using different colors.
Inside, the beautiful woodwork is mostly preserved, although the downstairs walls are covered with panelling. They removed the double screen on the front porch and replaced it with a metal storm door, but the double arched front doors remain. The open central stairway was enclosed at some time in the distant past. The handrail and newel post sold at the auction, and we missed purchasing it in the excitement of bidding on the farm.
Its not a big house, but the rooms are good sized and well planned, and the 9' ceilings give a feeling of light and space. There are 2 bedrooms upstairs with big walk-in closets in the gable, and a long, narrow storage space on the back that we use for an attic, but it could be finished for another room if we so desired.

This photo was taken looking east down the road from the main barn. You can see the main barn roof on the right in the foreground. Notice the split rail fence in front of the barn, and continuing down the road. The house is on the left in the background. In front of it is the large building people refer to as the wool barn. I realized that when I cropped this picture, I cut out the roof of the sheep barn, but it is there, just to the left. I can see the coal shed and the smokehouse up behind the house, too.
Sometime after this picture was taken, 2 machine sheds were added - one directly across the road from the main barn, and one beside the barn about where the split rail fence is located.
Interestingly, there is an electric pole showing in front of the barn. It looks like the one that was there when we bought the farm - crooked. :^)
What strikes me when looking at this photo is how bare the hills look. Now they are covered with trees, but that has all grown up since this photo was taken. Our part of Ohio is going wild again - coyotes, bobcats, deer, turkey, squirrels, rabbits, ducks, geese, herons and other wildlife are plentiful. Even bears are starting to be seen.

1 comment:

Lilac Haven said...

Those photos are really neat. You are lucky to have them!

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