A Dutch Colonial without a Gambrel roof

[LTParis]

Nope, it's been staged for selling, but has not been occupied for a few months. The house is in great condition. Couple holes in the plaster that we know of, a couple small leaks (dishwasher, main line) that is supposed to be fixed by closing, couple cracks in a couple panes in a couple windows, but nothing major.

First major plan is relocating the W/D to a properly built out laundry room in the basement. I think I will need to upgrade electrical on that so I would want to take out the 100A panel and get a 200A installed.

If you want to look at all the pictures I took, if you are bored, they are here:

http://www.ltparis.com/images/colonial/

[Don M]

Everything looks pretty nice; we had some of that wall paper pattern in previous homes though above or below a chair rail! Nice garage! The house appears to be pretty large; how many square feet? The laundry is currently in your kitchen I couldn't tell for sure. Two full baths upstairs? How many bedrooms? Porch off the back of the house? We upgraded to 200 Amps due to overloaded system & extranious sub panels.

[LTParis]

Everything looks pretty nice; we had some of that wall paper pattern in previous homes though above or below a chair rail! Nice garage! The house appears to be pretty large; how many square feet? The laundry is currently in your kitchen I couldn't tell for sure. Two full baths upstairs? How many bedrooms? Porch off the back of the house? We upgraded to 200 Amps due to overloaded system & extranious sub panels.

The garage unfortunately is falling apart. It had significant termite damage and there is some very noticeable bowing of the structure. I am thinking that if it has to be torn down to try to salvage and reuse as much as possible. That is probably Year 4 or Year 5 project. Right now Year 1 is to make sure things are usable and practical in the house. Laundry room, upgraded electrical. See how much heat I am losing out the windows to make an assessment for the future.

The house is registered at 1950 sq ft, but it seems much larger. Plus a 3/4 finished attic, and 1/2 finished basement to boot.

Two full baths upstairs, but they area bit cramped. We would really like a powder room downstairs but we have to see if that is even possible to fit in.

4 beds right now. We may convert the attic to a master suite if my MIL ends up having to move in with us. Small porch on the back, something that would probably converted into a porch/deck later on..

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

Hi,
I grew up outside Kingston, and my parents house was built in the 30's. I see some strange similarities that must have to do with the area; 6-over-one windows, paired; the scalloped wood cornices above the windows. Out house was solid stone cape/Adirondack lodge style (way out in the country on the Rondout Creek) .

If you want to see original, non-gambrel Dutch architecture, look at the Senate House and it's neighboring buildings in the oldest section of Kingston, and of course Stone Ridge and New Paltz, where there's not a gambrel to be seen.
Some Dutch building traditions as seen in NJ also do not use Gambrels.
Casey

[LTParis]

For those that don't know what he is talking about, Kingston NY used to be the capitol of NYS and this is the Senate house he is referring to:



My house is near that district, better known as the Stockade District. My house is at what was once known as "Grand View Heights" but as far as I know it has not been referred to as that for a very long time.

Yes 6-over-1 windows seem quite common for the area, be it the Victorians in midtown or the Colonials uptown.

[Don M]

As for your garage; you might see if it can be stabilized so it doesn't deteriorate further & also have it treated for termites; your house as well. They can do a lot of damage quite quickly. The fancy wood work & window valences were common in the late 40s & 50s along with quality pine paneling which was actually quite expensive compared with the fake sheet paneling common in the late 60s & 70s! Your house sure has a lot of those early details which I rather like!

[LTParis]

As for your garage; you might see if it can be stabilized so it doesn't deteriorate further & also have it treated for termites; your house as well. They can do a lot of damage quite quickly. The fancy wood work & window valences were common in the late 40s & 50s along with quality pine paneling which was actually quite expensive compared with the fake sheet paneling common in the late 60s & 70s! Your house sure has a lot of those early details which I rather like!

Luckily it was treated in the garage and there is no known damage to the house. The original owners seems to have stabilized it thus far, but it is in general poor condition. I may elect to replace it (and get close to the original design) since we are a two car household and also need some seasonal storage, so that size of garage might need to expand just a little.

[Sombreuil_Mongrel]

For those that don't know what he is talking about, Kingston NY used to be the capitol of NYS and this is the Senate house he is referring to:



My house is near that district, better known as the Stockade District. My house is at what was once known as "Grand View Heights" but as far as I know it has not been referred to as that for a very long time.

Yes 6-over-1 windows seem quite common for the area, be it the Victorians in midtown or the Colonials uptown.

Hi,
I remember some streets west of Washington Ave. that sort of resembled your street. I attended Geo Wash. Elementary, and had a schoolmate who lived on Navarro. Used to walk up there quite often (back in the early 70's!)
Casey

[angolito]

adressing some comments:

if you wish to retain the original faric of your historic home, adding dormers for the sake of light in the rec room would be counter to that goal.

also, you mention losing energy from windows. it appears that you have original sash from your photos. please do research on this site regarding the misperception that Old windows are less efficient than new. the science is simply not there to support that theory, as much as window salesmen would like to have it otherwise.

your house has survived so well over the years i Love your original bath, and all the built-ins. try to preserve them while updating for comfort. the two are not incompatible.

[melissakd]

SWOOOOOON! Do you have any idea how original that house is?!?! I'll try to dig up some pictures to show you. And by the way, welcome!

Be right back

MelissaKD