How interesting! The kitchen was dark but charming in its own way, it was my favorite room. Thanks so much for posting this.

Wow, that's amazing. And strange. And sad.

Some of those cans of food were definitely more modern than 1920.

If you will note, the house was lived in by the sons of the original owner until 1985...of course some of the food was newer than the '20s...but the point is that they respected their father so much that they left the place as he would have wanted it.

What many fail to understand today is the deep affection you can have to a place; in America, we see houses as replaceable things in five or ten years when we move--that does not make your house a 'home'...a home is a place where you feel at one with the location and your neighbors as well as your family. But then, a lot of us today only count as family our immediate relatives, parents and children or grandchildren, and perhaps a cousin, rather than the extensive network of aunts, uncles, cousins, great-aunts/uncles, etc.

I have always had an interest in my family's history: I've visited the gravesites of my grandfather, great and greatgreatgrandfathers...my dad even took me to see the house my greatgrandfather built in the 1870--no longer family owned, but he had been in it as a kid. I have family photos going back nearly 140 years, and am attempting to find the origin of my family...so far I've traced my g-greatgrandfather's birthplace to Sankt Georg, Thuringia back in 1813--he's the one who came over in 1841, and whose gravesite I have a picture of in Morrow County Ohio. His farm was written up in the county history as one of the best around, and eventually grew to over 150 acres. Someday, I am hoping my ashes will be placed near his gravesite as I am the last direct descendant of his line.

Some of the elements of the rooms are very appealing to me.
I like the house very much.
The picture that kind of gets me is the row of hats and caps hanging with the coats, just waiting to be put on again.
Thanks for posting this.

Interesting to note that the wallpaper only went up to the picture rail then the wall was painted white as if it were part of the ceiling. Also there were two separate faucets in the tub - one for hot?

Very nice to have a peek in that house, thanks !!

Incredibly interesting! Thanks for sharing.

thanks for sharing.

"Interesting to note that the wallpaper only went up to the picture rail then the wall was painted white as if it were part of the ceiling. Also there were two separate faucets in the tub - one for hot?"

Not at all unusual in the UK, even now. My mother's house (she's 83, been in in the same terraced house for nearly 60 years now) is still decorated the same way, with wallpaper up to the picture rail and paint (over top of the same textured paper as on the ceiling) above it. That includes the dining room, which was redecorated a couple of years ago. The house also has separate hot and cold taps in the bathroom, though there's a mixer tap in the kitchen.

I once in an old house that had separate hot and cold taps in the bathroom sink. I remember my Dad showing me how to mix when washing my hands. Always start with cold so you don't get burned with the hot!

Rosefolly

It is common in houses with picture rails to have the paper stop below it. According to period decorating books, the options above the rail were two: A different paper to serve as a frieze, or Paint to match the ceiling-OR-wall, depending on the height of the room. If the ceiling was low, then you painted to match the wall, and vice-versa to give the illusion of either more or less height to the room.

In some cases there was also a cornice molding in addition to the picture rail!

This house looks so traditional and am also very fan of such house. I like the decoration very much and I happy to read this story. Thanks a lot for sharing this as I was already searching some ideas for my home decoration. Through your post I have got some ideas.

This post was edited by Carol_65 on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 8:49