"...specific to houses of this age?"

Any very old house may have undersized floor joists.

While the wood quality is usually very good (old growth stuff is common) building codes were not present in many places.

Upgrades for interior plumbing and central heating may have further damaged joists.

Electrical lines are usually small enough to not cause an issue unless someone notched joists (or studs) instead of boring holes.

I thought you got that huge B&B house? Is that what fell through?
As far as a house built of 2x16's butted horizontally, I don't know what that means. I have heard of structures made of 2x6s stacked on top of each other horizontally; typically that's called grain bin construction; it's essentially solid wood walls 6" thick. It's incredibly strong, but hard to run plumbing and electric, because there is no space for wires or pipes.
1860's saw the arrival of balloon framing, but transitional "braced frame" construction was still being used. Many great brick houses were built in the 1860's. Architecturally you are at the heart of the Italianate style's popularity. Greek revival had waned, Other revivals (gothic, egyptian, etc) were not very popular, and more exuberant Victorian styles were still a decade or more off.
Houses built in the 1860's and 1870's are now usually old, musty-smelling, and in need of painting. You may want to upgrade all mechanical systems as well as electrical.
Without seeing in person, it's hard to tell whether the framing is undersized.
Casey

According to the Colwell banker site the house is still on the market and the price has been dropped $100,000.

Casey, we're not sure we're going to get the property after all. The old lady who owns it has not been responsive to offers unfortunately. We are considering purchasing another home and waiting for either that home or another larger one we know will hit the market in the next year. That owner is more acquainted with market values than our existing dream house...and we can dream about a different one if necessary. The other one is even more spectacular :) We're disapointed, but we're also willing to wait for the right house if the owner can't get a grip on reality. But in the mean time we need a home to live in this fall due to our son's condition, so we're thinking of buying a smaller home, yet just as special...it's the oldest house in town. It's cute and a good investment to hold on to. It has had significant money put into updating it and that's been done with the character of the home in place. I'd never heard of that type of construction myself, so I thought I'd ask :)

We want to be sensative to the historical character of all of the houses we buy in town...and I'm very familiar with victorians, but an older house, that's a new beast. We'll be sure to look at that issue with floor stregnth (since we'll probably want another french range in the kitchen). Although I can't imagine that a french range weighs much more than the current pro style (Wolf I think) they have...but that's worth paying attention to.

Fortunately it's not "old, musty-smelling, and in need of painting" :) But we'll put an extra effort on electrical inspections (thanks). The B&B had upgraded electricals, but this one might not since it's been a private home.

The downside of it is size (it won't be a long term house for us) and lack of bathrooms (1 1/2 I believe). But it's a darned sweet house and one I could easily love while we wait for the other to get on the market.

Linda, please, leave me alone? Please, I'm trying to ask nicely, but if you'd be so kind as to put me on mental "Ignore" I'd appreciate it. Your information here is not up to date, but again, please don't bother making an effort to update it. I would really appreciate it!

Igloo, I'm really sorry to hear that that amazing B & B won't be yours, for the house as well! I think it's tough to come by an owner that will respect and enjoy- good to hear that you have other possibilities. Good luck with everything!

lindac.....Do you have a link to the house? I would love to see pics....Thanks

Here ya go....

Here is a link that might be useful: consulate inn

Thank you!