Average Jane Tracks Down A Mystery

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When we bought our house in 1995 and up until recently, it never occurred to me or my husband to closely question the build date of 1950 that had been printed on all of our mortgage paperwork. However, serious doubt has crept in of late.

It started when a band came over to record a few months ago. Several of the band members were contractors and they casually mentioned something about our house having been built in the 1930s based on the limestone block foundation.

When I took the home repair course a couple of weeks ago, I got more ammunition for the argument that our house was built before 1950 based on the original fuse box.

The more we thought about it, the more the 1950 story didn't add up. I dug out the inspection paperwork from our purchase and discovered that even the inspector judged the house to have been built in the 1940s.

There are lots of little details in the unrenovated parts of the house that hint at a pre-1950s origin, including glass doorknobs,

picture molding (and lath-and-plaster walls and ceiling, for that matter),

the original hearth tile,

and possibly even the hinges on the basement cabinets.

Our doubt intensified when we looked at the real estate listing for the house next door to us that's currently for sale. It clearly states that our neighbor's house was built in 1939. When I told my husband, he recalled that our elderly neighbor across the street had once told him that our house was built before that house. So the 1930s estimate of the contractors may have been right on the money.

It seems pretty clear that we were misled about the age of our house when we bought it, either purposely or due to poor record-keeping. We know that our subdivision was established around 1950, so it's possible that some dates got mixed up on a form at some point and never corrected.

One of these days, I might go down to City Hall and do some additional research just for my own amusement. Until then, I'll just have to look for more clues right in front of me.

Comments

6 responses to “Average Jane Tracks Down A Mystery”

September 9, 2009

meesha.v

This is cool. Johnson County real estate records are online but I don’t know if you’ll find what you need without checking out archives. Also JoCo history photo archives can be searched by street or just ask Dave @thedlc

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September 9, 2009

zen zone chick

You go, Nancy Drew!

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September 10, 2009

highlyirritable

Glass doorknobs!? Lucky bugger. I had to pay 120.00 per door set to retrofit my 1950 house to look 1930’s.
Love he hearth tile as well. Early century homes have SO much character.

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September 15, 2009

Greg

The Square D panel in the basement is definitely newer than the house. Did you guys have the old round fuses for your panel or the new flip switch type? The old round ones are more indicative. I’ve often found that people wrote dates on the insides of window frames or door frames when they were put in. Of course, if they are painted over, no chance of finding it. Another trick? Do you have old toilets? Sometimes if you lift the toilet tank cover, you’ll see it there. Whenever you rip apart a room or wall or floor, look for clues. Some builders or carpenters write the dates that things were built or remodeled on the wood. Also, inside cabinets or look around your basement. If you have exposed wood, you might find something. Have any old knob/tubing exposed anywhere from the old wiring? If so, look on the actual ceramic knobs. Dates are sometimes on there. We had them in our old home (even though no wiring was actually on them, but the knobs were still attached) and there were some dates stamped into the bottom-side of the knobs.
Another good resource is Architectural Salvage. Depending upon who you talk to, the place has some pretty knowledgeable people who know quite a bit about the building efforts and time periods of KC. Not to mention, you can find some pretty sweet retro-replacement items there.
Very fun project. You have to love fixing an old house – nothing is standard size and you’ll never find replacement wood nearly as strong as the old stuff.

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September 19, 2009

Christine

I love the character in older homes. We renovated our cottage which was originally built in the 60’s….not old enough for me! Love the glass knobs and I would kill for a pocket door….but anyway, happy sleuthing and here’s wishing you very few bandaids in your home improvement escapades!

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September 20, 2009

Gary foster

Your house is probably much older than you think. Our house in Mission was built around 1916-17. It has glass door knobs too. When we removed two windows for remodel projects, the shim board was a mill marked stick part of the window crateing. (window by PMD, still in business) date on shim boards 1916. Another clue is the toilet tank lid. They can have a date on them. As a 4th generation builder/carpenter I am going to guess your house was built in the twenties. You can get an abstract from the courthouse that can provide clues.

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