h a l f b a k e r yA riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a rich, flaky crust
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House History is a site where users can go to record and investigate the history of the house they live in. Find out who planted that lovely tree out the front in the 1950s. Or who pulled down the original chimney. Or the fact that a set of triplets used to play in the backyard. Anecdotes and old
photos can be used to record the living memory of your house. Or just chat with someone who lives in the house you used to call home.
boots
http://www.oldhouse...au/docs/ritual.html
[normzone, Jul 09 2009]
more
http://search.conce...ionid=2v6ni98lvdl1n
concealed in the attic space of a house in East St.Helen Street, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in a wall cavity filled with hops [normzone, Jul 10 2009]
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Annotation:
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".... was the home of the notorious paedophile, rapist and serial poisoner, who dismembered his victims in the en-suite bathroom adjoining the master bedroom, decorated the walls of the living room with their cured skin, and used to enjoy a breakfast of grilled human prepared on the patio barbequeue ...... parts of dozens of bodies were removed from under the floorboards throughout the house ...." |
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Or, worse, "Previously owned by a lawyer". |
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You can't get details on who planted the tree, but you can find out who previously owned the house from the tax records. |
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+ this is excellent! My house was built in 1917 and a Reverend lived there in the 40's. I have found information by things left in the attic, people who work at the town offices and knew someone who knew someone, etc. I have accumulated many stories and visions, but would love to know more. (people have sent me old photos, also.) |
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Good one. I happen to know who owned and who
lived in my house from 1879 onwards, despite it
having been divided into two, and the road name
changing. Unfortunately I don't know prior to that
because I don't have the original deeds, and Kelly's
Directory wasn't published. (I know the house was
built sometime around 1860.) Plans for the (very
many) alterations will probably be lodged with the
relevant local authority (or its
successor).
<aside>As it happens, [jutta]
recently forwarded e-mail related to a previous
mention of my house deeds.</aside> |
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On stripping wallpaper of my first house I had the archaeological thrill of going down through a couple of layers of 1980s student woodchip, then 1970s swirly purples and pinks, then on down through several more layers right back to some original (William Morris??) from mid/late 19th century. |
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Would have LOVED to have some documentation to cross-ref. |
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Did you l;ook under the William M orris stuff ? The documentation might have been there...... |
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On our last trip to the UK we visited Castle Howard in Yorkshire, at the entrance the attendant dutifully informed us the directions to the William Morris exhibition. We stood there dumbstruck for a moment before he said "You don't know who William Morris is, do you?" Needless to say, we do now! |
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All I know about my house is that some old blind dude died in it in 2006, and that the previous owner was a gay man with two cats and who now lives with his mother. |
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This site would allow for an infinitely more interesting history. |
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Anyone think I should build the site? |
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The danger is that people will search this site before buying a house and so you will not put anything on it which might affect the value of your house - e.g. "2009: I converted the roof space into an extra bedroom all by myself! Without planning permission! I did all the electrics and plumbing using a book I got out of the library."
Also, how will you authenticate people - so that you can only add details to a house you actually own? |
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I like the idea.
Like [xandram] my wife and I have found out our houses basic history from neighbours and people who used to live here. Turns out that two former mayors of Kelowna owned it and when I gutted the carport we found an old cardboard tube with a musical degree from Juilliard in Toronto wrapped around a conductors wand.
We found the woman on line and she couldn't believe she was getting back something lost over twenty years ago.
Made us right warm and fuzzy it did. |
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Authentication of facts will be a problem though. |
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I always try to leave a little history in places where it will eventuallly be found. Utility bills, newspaper, boots (link), etc. |
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It's a d(r)ying craft. Should you need it, BorgCo offers a reasonably-priced while-U-wait Feline Dessication service - we even offer home visits - or you can rent the equipment by the hour or the day and do the job yourself. |
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Alternatively you may wish to purchase our handy guide, "Dry out cats for fun and profit" which, if you order online, comes with six month's free subscriotion to Dreid Cat Monthly. This month the'res a review of vacuum pumps, a special article on "The crumbling problem - to varnish or not to varnish ?" and a pull-out-and-keep wallchart of temperature and vapour pressure curves. Our favourite section is still Reader's Cats, though. |
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...and you know those tiny packets of silica gel that new synths come with? If you collect enough of them, you can dry your cat. |
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Yes, but it takes ages .... the stainless-steel-vacuum- chamber-and-two-stage- rotary-pump is so much faster. |
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A related, pragmatic, do-it-yourself version of this turns up
near the end of a book by Stewart Brand, "How Buildings
Learn: What Happens After They're Built." |
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He suggests photographing all phases of home
construction and renovation in detail, inside every wall
and panel, then keeping the photos around in a book. |
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Later, if you (or a potential home buyer, repair contractor,
etc.) want to know where a pipe is, or how a wire runs, or
whether a space is insulated, you can refer to the book. |
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Hide the book in a wall cavity maybe? |
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And make another book showing how to find the one in the wall cavity ? |
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[+] It's a shame that my local munincipality does not keep building plans for longer than 2 to 3 years. I lived in a neighborhood that was built in the 60's and I was interested in seeing copies of the blueprints, diagrams, building permits, etc. But one thing that I was able to do is go to my public library where they have over 100 years of the local newspapers on microfilm and I searched through articles and advertisements circa 1959 and was pleased to discover the "New Homes" ad for my neighborhood. |
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will be baking this..stay tuned |
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//You don't know who William Morris is, do you?" //
He was the old bloke who did the funny voices on Animal Magic.
(Or was he the one with the comb-over on Zoo Time?) |
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//directions to the William Morris exhibition// I love transport museums! |
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This would be brilliant! I want to find out how he got that
limp. |
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/how he got that limp/
Maybe he is just relaxed? He could probably firm up if the occasion called for it. |
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