General Description and History

This 4400 ft2 house was built in 1904 to 1905 in the most prestigious area of Lafayette at the time. It was built as a 5 bedroom, three bath home plus two additional servants rooms for a total of 7 bedrooms. The relatively simple exterior styling was a transition away from the highly ornamented victorian façade’s of the 1880s and 1890’s. The stone porch and carport details were new styles for the time. When built, this house was “high tech” as it was one of the earliest to have indoor plumbing. Some of the original kitchen and bathroom fixtures are still in use today. Three large stone cloths wash sinks and a hand operated well pump are still in the basement as they were 100 years ago. This house was one of the earliest to be built with modern lumber and nails and with standard dimensions and framing techniques.. As were most houses in the era, it was built with gaslights and later upgraded to “modern” knob and tube wiring. Built long before air-conditioning, the smaller servant’s rooms and kitchen are located on the “sun side” of the house. The larger rooms and those intended for entertainment are located to the north or to get a little evening sun. The attic houses an unfinished 1500 square foot “ballroom” with 24 foot cathedral ceiling.

Originally built on a 450 foot deep lot with carriage house in back. Around the time of WW2, the carriage house and the back half of the property was sold. At about the same time, a road was constructed between this house and the adjacent house to allow access to the rear where a half dozen new homes were built. During the 40’s and 50’s several rooms in the house were subdivided to make room for more apartments. By the 1960’s the house had been subdivided into six – single bedroom apartments. The house changed hands several times.  In 2000 we purchased the house and began converting it back to its original interior layout. The wall which split the entrance hall in half and also covered up the open oak staircase has been removed. Unfortunately , much of the original oak staircase had been removed and it is being restored. Two upstairs kitchens have been converted back to bedrooms and the wall installed down the middle of the original large family bathroom has been removed along with the toilet which had been installed in the linen closet. . A large upstairs bedroom which had been subdivided into a small kitchen , bedroom and hallway is now back to its original size and it is currently serving as the only remaining 2^nd floor kitchen.

New double pane/double hung windows were installed in 2000. Repairs to the roof and soffit were completed in 2001 to stop the deterioration being caused by the leaking built in rain gutters . The plumbing and electrical system upgrades are nearly complete. Much work remains on the carport and porches. A fresh coat of exterior paint is being planned for the summer of 2007 and a new roof for the summer of 2009.