Dusting off my French...the listing paragraph says that the house has incredible potential! Idiots! It's perfect as it is!

Actually the house belong to hoarders apparently and these pictures are after removing tons of junk. The house apparently has some major structural and condition issues. Someone in one of the other forums viewed it in person. But the pictures are pretty fascinating.

What a perfectly lovely time capsule... The chandeliers, wallpaper... oh my....

I'd buy it right now. And then I'd start cleaning. LOL That would probably take the first year or so...

Our kitchen with its still smoke-damaged ceiling from a recent microwave fire is positively full of light and joy by comparison.

Lovely cozy coffins rooms.

Interesting house, but in need of lots of work. I can see ceilings that are sagging, foundation issues - that basement is scary, and dirt everywhere. I would love to see it cleaned up; I bet the wallpaper is covered with dirt and nicotine. The wood looks to be in good condition. I love that light wood fireplace and the windows. As Worthy says, some of the rooms seem to be very small.
Diane

Wow. Thank you for posting it. Funny, though - no pictures of the kitchen!
Very instructive regarding "correct" use of woodwork, among other things.

Karin L

Here's why--uroboros5 viewed the house and took these:

On the up side, you'd be sure to find something interesting in all of those boxes. Heck, there's a beer there in the last picture...in front of the...? backward facing microwave? You might even discover a new species of mold.

I'm a sucker for the look of the house though. I'd love to come home to a house (in better condition) with such history and grace.

Oh, to win the lottery. I absolutely love it, kitchen ceilings and all. I hope someone who has the knowledge and money to fix it up buys it. This house is just amazing. I hope it can be preserved for the next 100 years.

I'd still buy it. It's fabulous.

In some of the pictured rooms there is an ornamental trim about 2/3 of the way up with different wallpaper above and below. Why was it done that way, or is it just an ornamental flourish?

When it is done this way, like a narrow bracketed shelf, I know it as a "plate rail" on which plates can be displayed if there is actually a groove in the top to hold the plate edge.

A narrower version is called picture rail, upon which shaped hooks could be placed to hold picture wire or cord for a picture frame, so pictures could be hung without nailing into the wallpaper.

When a narrow wallpaper, particularly the scenic paper is hung above, it is called a frieze.

Mostly I think it appears as a decorative element in this house.

Thank you for the explanation. It is a beautiful house.

Wow, hanging a plant from the upstairs sewer pipe. Now, why did I never think of that??

Thanks for the additional pictures, Palimpsest. The kitchen is, again, instructive. What I notice is something that was also true of our house, namely the lack of counter space. I guess a work table must always have been in the equation?

I love the cupboards to the ceiling... I wonder what the ceiling height is.

As far as woodwork is concerned, to add to what you said, I think a picture rail is also always higher. I wonder if there were conventions for what was used in what height of room. Our ceilings are 10'4" and we have picture rails, as I think is the case for most houses around here, I have more often seen plate rails with slightly lower ceilings. And in more formal houses too than ours is.

Plus, I always wondered what a frieze was!

Karin L

Until about 1900 or so, average houses tended to have walls divided into three sections in the public areas: the dado from the baseboard to about 3', the fill from the chair rail up to a picture rail, which was usually from 1-1.5' from the ceiling, then the frieze between the picture rail to the ceiling.
The location of the picture rail depended on the height of the room, but was usually no lower than 1.5'. This space could be papered, or painted to match either the wall or ceiling, depending on whether you wanted the ceiling to look lower.
The dado could be panelled, painted or papered with a heavy product like lincrusta with an embossed pattern. Just above the chair rail you might have a stencilled border about 3-6" which was often varnished--this allowed dusting to not damage the paint or paper of the 'fill'.
So far, I have seen no trace of picture rails in my 1908 house...though there were borders at ceiling level; in my pantry is something which is almost like a plate rail (with no groove). I am toying with the idea of adding them someday.
If I'm not mistaken, plate rails became more popular in Craftsman or A&C interiors, and hit their maximum popularity in the late 20s. Plate rail height was usually about 5-6' from the floor, often with vertical battens running from it to the base, with the 'panels' done in either paint or fabric.

That house made my heart sing! I wonder if that wallpaper could be cleaned enough. It looks pretty bad. Let me at that kitchen! I won't be saving the flower pot but the rest would get cleaned up/refinished. It's not much more in US dollars. The only thing I see that I couldn't live with is neighbors so close. I'd just stay in the house wiping the drool off my face.

The cost to repair is likely two to three times the price of the house, but if ever there was a house that deserved it, this is it. What an amazing space! If nothing else, I'm thinking of booking a trip up to steal the lighting....is that wrong? LOL

We bought a hundred year old house in a small Ontario town in 1978. It was stucturally sound but needed a ton of work. We did all the work over a period of 27 years, and it was a showplace by the time we were done. Of course, in the '70's we were young, enthusiastic, making decent wages, and house prices were really low as the town was in a slump. By the time we sold, we were retired, the town was a tourist mecca, and house prices were high. We loved it and had fun and did o.k. and miss it sometimes. If I were younger and rich....this house would surely attract me!!