Photos of house's history!

[Zebra]

Recently I wrote to the seller of my house, the son of the previous occupant. I sent photos of everything I've done, in case he was interested to see, and asked if he had any photos of the house in its earlier days. Today I received a reply. Many of the photos were of the house as it was when I bought it, but there was one, a reproduction of a painting done in 1907, which showed how it was before the 1960s extension! The original front door! A little pretty porch! Tiny tiny windows!

 

[Zebra]

Oops.

 

[Zebra]

This time with the photo..

In the background, needless to say, is the church. It still looks exactly the same, although I think the spire has been reroofed since then.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh how charming. What a sweet cottage! How lovely to have that image! I wonder if old photos of the town / church might show your house pre 1960s? Have you done lots of image searching on the church?
I'm a bit confused about the prop thing and the open window upstairs.
You must get the image framed and up! Wouldn't it be fab to find the original painting?
We found this image painted from my garden at around the time BC was built. It's my belief, given the date, size of the canvas, and viewpoint, which is the view from the house, that the painting was organised by the person who had BC built as he was a man of some culture and wealth. I'd dearly love to buy it, but it sold a few years ago for £14,500
Nevertheless I must get a reproduction printed.

I've never been lucky enough to find an old old photo of the cottage though!


You must look for old paintings of the church! They might show yours!

 

[angrybird]

Zebra you must use had a lovely surprise when you saw that photo. I would have been over the moon.
I love the way the upstairs window is propped open

Joce you must try and find a print it would be lovely to have hanging In BC.

I found this old photo on the internet its very poor quality.
A lady from Australia did a blog about her family that once had their Blacksmiths and grocery store here but lived in the cottage across the road.
The photo shows the right hand side of my house where Miss Nutall had her dress making shop and she lived in one of the cottages in the garden.The access to her cottage was through the arch on the right.


]

 

[88v8]

Zebra, fantastic!

Loss of the original windows is a great shame, especially in a unique house. The Victorians started it with their sashes and great slabs of plate glass. Tiny windows, lovely.
Do your outbuildings survive? Wonder what that diagonal pipe (?) was on the right.

Ivor

 

[mims&pip]

How lovely to have been sent that Zebra It really is a charming cottage and wonderful to see it as it was in the past. The way the window is propped open is fascinating. You definitely must have it framed/hung in your home!

Joce, what a shame you were unable to obtain that painting of BC A framed reproduction is definitely called for!!!

Jacqueline, we also had some piccies of our last house sent by descendents of the original inhabitants who now live in Australia. Our previous owner had traced them and letters/photos had been exchanged. They showed our Georgian village house when it was operating as a saddlery with attached house in the late 1800s. So lovely to have these historical reminders of how our houses were originally used.......

We've seen only one historical pic of our current house, by searching online and sadly it only shows a glimpse of the less interesting lane elevation. It also dates from after the extension was added in 1924. I would love to find an earlier photo showing the house as it was originally built as well as one taken from the garden front.

Mims x

 

[Zebra]

I don't think that is a prop to keep the bedroom window open. It would be huge, and right in front of the door. I think both that and the diagonal object on the right are plants in the foreground of the painting.

No, the outbuildings are not surviving. Only "my" half of that outbuilding is on my plot. The other half is the neighbour's garage, and as many of you who've been on here a few years will know, I rebuilt the remaining half a few years ago, retaining only the timber frame.

 

[malcolm]

Could you post an 'after' photo from around the same angle? It's fun to see how buildings evolve.

 

[Flyfisher]

Lovely picture Zebra, and nice of the previous owners to send it to you.

The open window and 'prop' does look a bit curious but for me it's the fact that the window is open at all. We have a 1908 photo of our house and one of the bedroom windows is open. No big deal perhaps but I've noticed over many years of looking at old photos of houses how many of them show open windows.

It's hardly a rigorous analysis of course, but it'll be a feature of my forthcoming treatise on 'damp management in period properties. In short, old houses were intrinsically cold so opening the windows to let fresh air waft through rooms during the daytime did not carry the financial penalties of wasted heating and, unintentionally perhaps, greatly aided the management of dampness within such houses through far greater ventilation than we typically see today. Well, that's my theory anyway. :lol:

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Zebra - you are probably aware that there is an obscured view of the back of Zebra Towers on the interweb, showing it in April 1921.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Zebra, what a lovely surprise to receive that photograph, I am sure that it makes all your hard work well worth while and how satisfying to seee the cottage safe and sound for another good few years. xx

 

[plasticpigeon]

Wow, what a survivor, it looked quite tumbledown then! Looks very smart now.

 

[Zebra]

Zebra - you are probably aware that there is an obscured view of the back of Zebra Towers on the interweb, showing it in April 1921.

No... Really?

 

[Zebra]

Could you post an 'after' photo from around the same angle? It's fun to see how buildings evolve.

Here you go...

 

[Hobden]

Amazing! Love the bowed roofline. How old is the house?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Zebra - you are probably aware that there is an obscured view of the back of Zebra Towers on the interweb, showing it in April 1921.

No... Really?

Assuming you really didn't know. A google image search for "[name of village] church gate"

 

[paulc]

This thread touches on one of my other interests, photography.

If you intend to photograph a building for posterity, it is well worth doing so with a film camera and having a print made on good quality paper - This rules out using a snappy-snap 1Hr service. My preference would be to use a black & white film, print on to a fibre paper, and then toned with selenium, sepia, or gold. As long as the final print is properly processed and framed in a decent mount, it should outlast most of us.

Digital files printed with an inkjet printer are unlikely to last more than a few years.

 

[Flyfisher]

Despite hearing Fred Drift clearing his throat in the wings, I agree with your point about an actual photographic print but I must take slight issue about the longevity of said print versus a digital file. A physical print must have a finite lifetime, long though that may be, whereas a digital file is capable of being preserved in perfect condition for as long as human beings care to exist, if not longer.

I'd suggest that the main hazard for such photos and other information being lost is simple carelessness or indifference by whoever inherits our worldly goods after our demise. In this respect, digital copies of such things squirrelled away in many dusty corners of the Internet are more likely to be preserved in perfect condition for joyful discovery by future generations of period property aficionados than a physical photograph.

Of course, there's no reason not to do both - belt and braces! :wink:

 

[Zebra]

Zebra - you are probably aware that there is an obscured view of the back of Zebra Towers on the interweb, showing it in April 1921.

No... Really?

Assuming you really didn't know. A google image search for "[name of village] church gate"

Ooh. Ah, yes, I think I might have seen that one before. There is a similar long distance view in a book about the history of our village. However, rear views don't tell me much, as the rear hasn't changed.