118 Henry Street

Several aspects of the old house at 118 Henry Street attracted our attention when we were looking to purchase almost a decade ago. The beautiful back yard was an obvious plus. The unusual New England, Cap Cod style reverse dormers another. But, for us, the most endearing characteristic of this old house was that it was basically still an “old house”. Though some renovations had been done, most of the house, by far, remained original to 1921.

Ninety plus percent of the wood trim was original, many rooms still had the original brass light fixtures, the upstairs bathroom had all original fixtures, the floors (though covered with carpet) were all 100 year old pine, there was even the original thermostat from the steam heating system.

Older brother on the left

Although some days it seems like that most of the renovation done by the P.O.’s (Previous Owners) were attempts to cover up water damage from poor roof maintenance, they did drop a significant dime on building the addition and remodeling the kitchen.

The original kitchen was very modern for 1921. It was spacious, had city water, outlets for electric refrigeration and built-in cabinets. The original floor was pine, but as the years rolled on, it was covered with the same variety of materials as the breakfast nook (aka “kitchen annex”). We’ve found no way of knowing what they used for cooking fuel, although natural gas was likely available.

The back wall of the kitchen was also the back wall of the house. More about this in a bit.

Construction of the addition required cutting an entrance thru the back of the house into the new space. We don’t have any pictures from when we first purchased the house, but here is one from 2004 showing the, mostly untouched, kitchen and the entrance to the addition.

The only 1921 in this picture is the shelf, middle right

Besides the flat roof (arghh), the addition is relatively well constructed. The interior decoration, umm…not so much, with it’s 1970’s fashion sensibilities. Here’s another picture from Spring, 2004, deconstruction beginning but before the snow dams of Winter 2004-05:

Apparently the roof had been leaking behind the built-in for years

We will close Part 1 with an “aww..”; DeShawn, April, 2004 (note the brown carpet):

The kid just got his 3rd MVP in a row for summer swim team

We’ve started the final finishing of the sideboard today after deciding to use a clear satin, rub-on polyurethane. The second, prior to sanding, previously unknown hardwood appears to be white oak. The contrast between the cherry veneer and the unstained oak is interesting and the clear finish accentuates the differences.

In situ, in progress

On the back is the ultimate provenance:

American made

Should be done in a couple of days, the rub-on poly is very easy to apply and has a great look on the old wood.

Finally, what we’re reading for the next phase of the current project:

Taunton Press…always a good read

We’ve started the actual work to move DeShawn upstairs, beginning with getting the sideboard out of the addition and into the breakfast nook, aka kitchen annex.

The sideboard dates from around World War II but because it’s factory made, not really a valuable antique. It’s made of cherry, cherry veneer, and some other, unknown hardwood. Carole had it in her old house and it came to 118 Henry Street with her.

Still life with cat and furniture repair

The rickety parts have been glued and nailed, some replacement hardware purchased, and the old varnish largely gone. We haven’t yet decided what to do for final finishing…