New carpet and stair rods

[Banner]

Lovely, lovely, lovely. I hope everyone wasn't so busy looking down that they overlooked the newel post.

Kansas. 1911.,

If you didn't already know there is quite a story about the newel post light. It was gone, sold by the POs just days before we made our first offer on the house. We almost didn't buy the house because that light is such a focal point to the entry. It' had been there for 123 yrs before they hack sawed it from the gas line. We found the people that bought it and we bought it back but it was like paying ransom for a kidnapped child.

Dan (Banner)

[Kansas. 1911.]

I knew it was special but didn't know you had to buy it back. Was there an auction in the home, or was it sold to a random person? Sometimes where there is a sale, people will ask to buy random things and the seller will say, "Make me an offer." We have friends who bought a "built in" from this house, back in the 80's. We are going over to their house to see it one of these days. They are elderly. Maybe we will try to have a "reunion."

[Banner]

I knew it was special but didn't know you had to buy it back. Was there an auction in the home, or was it sold to a random person?

Kansas. 1911.,

Some neighbors knew what was in this house because they had visited the last living relative of James Vincent quite often before she sold and moved out. The young couple who bought the house from her were very nieve and foolish. They had dreams of restoring an old house but didn't have the slightest clue where to start. They ran into financial trouble, took out 3 mortgages and were upside down in the house. After months of not paying their bills they were about to loose the house. We stepped in and saved them from foreclosure by buying the house on a "short sale". Just before that happened the neighbors who knew what was here approached this couple and convinced them to strip out the light and several builtins including some furniture that was built just for the house. They didn't want to sepporate these pieces from the house but they were tempted by the money. They gave them $2500 for all this. They charged us $2500.00 for the light alone because they knew how important it was to us that it be returned to the house. These are some neighbors hay?

GONE !



GONE !



(Corner china hutch, sugar cabinet and silver storage chest (all made for the vincents and left behind whit the instructions that they stay with the house)

GONE !

We have friends who bought a "built in" from this house, back in the 80's. We are going over to their house to see it one of these days. They are elderly. Maybe we will try to have a "reunion."

I to hope we can somehow reunite these items with the house but I am very doubtful. I hope you have success with your built in.

Dan (Banner)

[downtowndahlgren]

Dan, If those are still your neighbors, I would think you'd not want to socialize with them much (like, ever). I hate to think what they'd want for the built-ins. Gosh, that really takes some chutzpah to do what they did.

[Alexander]

Unfortunately the world is full of scum like that. In our town while the son was fighting in WWII, a neighbor bought the house from the father that had dementia. Sold one mantle for the price he paid for the house. Tore down the house, parted it out, and build a 1940's modern house. The son returned from the war to find his elderly father installed in an apartment, everything gone and the house torn down ( his great grandfather was a Pennsylvania Gov and the house was a mansion). there was nothing to do.

I am waiting for the old bitch to die that went to my elderly grandmother and bought a $2000.00 desk for $25.00 in 1970.
The desk was appraised but my grandmother was failing and this old bitch took the desk and gave her $25.00. It is still 5 miles from my house and when the old bitch goes to hell I hope to buy it back.

One can only hope there is justice somewhere in this life or the other. Greed is a dreadful thing, it eats from within.

Perhaps you could have the missing pieces built from the photos in time.

Enough of a rant for one day,
Alexander

[Banner]

Unfortunately the world is full of scum like that. In our town while the son was fighting in WWII, a neighbor bought the house from the father that had dementia. Sold one mantle for the price he paid for the house. Tore down the house, parted it out, and build a 1940's modern house. The son returned from the war to find his elderly father installed in an apartment, everything gone and the house torn down ( his great grandfather was a Pennsylvania Gov and the house was a mansion). there was nothing to do.

I am waiting for the old bitch to die that went to my elderly grandmother and bought a $2000.00 desk for $25.00 in 1970.
The desk was appraised but my grandmother was failing and this old bitch took the desk and gave her $25.00. It is still 5 miles from my house and when the old bitch goes to hell I hope to buy it back.

One can only hope there is justice somewhere in this life or the other. Greed is a dreadful thing, it eats from within.

Perhaps you could have the missing pieces built from the photos in time.

Enough of a rant for one day,
Alexander

Alexander,

Sad, Sad, Sad. I know what you mean when you say enough of a rant. I/we can't let their greed take away from what we do have left. I so much appreciate what the house still has but I feel sad for the generations to come. Don't they deserve to see a place that hasn't been greatly altered and butchered for it's parts?

Dan (Banner)

[Banner]

Dan, If those are still your neighbors, I would think you'd not want to socialize with them much (like, ever). I hate to think what they'd want for the built-ins. Gosh, that really takes some chutzpah to do what they did.

No socializing that's for sure!!!

[Alexander]

Dan,

You at least have photos and no house really goes unchanged but it is sad when for the want of such a small amount of money they stripped the house with no regard for history. The built-in that was in my dining room was torn out by an owner in the 1960's and taken with them when they left. They left a gaping whole in the dining room floor where it once sat.

Either way your house is beautiful and the woodwork is just wonderful. Who knows, keep an eye on those neighbors one never knows when disaster will hit and you may be able to get the pieces back or at least a few of them.

Enjoy your lovely home,

Alexander

[Kansas. 1911.]

How unethical. The young couple knew you were interested in the house, and they didn't give you an opportunity to meet the price? And the neighbors were equally unethical because they made such a clear profit.

I hope karma jumps up and bites them all. You, too, Alexander. At least with the cupboards in our case, we don't have the spot for them anymore. We would have to make room in a different location. The older couple are people we know from church, and they can't buy any more stuff at auctions because they are "full."

A lot of times, when people downsize, it's the biggest pieces that have a hard time selling. You will get your chance, Dan. Maybe you could be "fake" friends with them and make an "innocent offer" to take those pieces off their hands when they are tired of them.

[Hoosier Foursquare]

Although you had to pay a price for it, you got the lamp back which is a good thing.

We weren't so lucky with a "part" of our house. When we took the first walk-through of our future old house we notice that the original colonnade had been removed from the now walled up entry from the Foyer to the Parlor. We made mention of it to our realtor and she was quick to tell us that the P.O. (who now lives in Florida) had taken them with her when she moved!! But she also mentioned that the P.O. had made mention of including them i the sale of the house. The only hitch was that we would have to drive from Indiana to Florida to get them. We were ready for the road trip!

So, on the advice of our realtor, we included the columns as a written item in our purchase agreement. She agreed to the sale price of the home but in the end said "No columns!" The only thing we could figure out was that she was ticked that the house didn't sell for more so we didn't deserve the columns.

I ended up getting in contact with her son and asked him about them. He told me that she indeed had them and that they were being used as plant stands. He took a few pictures of them so we at least had an idea of what the originals look(ed) like......