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Anyone live in a hundred year old house?

post #1 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:09am
Thread Starter 
So having successfully moved out west I am looking for a place to rent.

There is a 100 year old house that has been made to have four apartments. Its pretty big and has hardwood floors and is in a good location (for me at least. Basically accross the street from a liberal arts college )

Rent covers all utilities too, since the house is, according to the owner, a little drafty.

So the question is, anyone have experience living in a really old house? Is it charming? Or a little too adventureous? I'm going to go back and look at it this week, so any tips as to what to check out would be greately appreciated.
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post #2 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:16am
I think some Europeans will laugh at you for calling 100 years "old". I live in one almost that old right now, it has been remodeled a couple times. It is fine, and I don't think haunted like one or two of my other places I think have been.
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post #3 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:27am
I lived in one for two years that was nearly 100 years old. Its nice, but the heating bills were insane in the winter.
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post #4 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:35am
I used to. Charming, sure. But it can be challenging if you need to work on the place. Walls are never straight, and can contain surprises, like horsehair. A hundred years of often jurry-rigged repairs can take its toll as well. Windows are the worst -- they can be really drafting and heat sinks like you would not believe. But if the utilities are fine and the place is sound (and the repairs are not on your head) old(er) homes have better ambiance and character. Best, Huntsman
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post #5 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:42am
I once lived in one that was 450 years old. At one time, I think, it had been a convent for Spanish nuns.
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post #6 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:44am
I'm on the shady side of the building so my place remains 75 degrees when it is 105 degrees out. In the winter though... wow! I can see my breath indoors. My power bill jumps from $5/month to $40/month.
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post #7 of 59
6/25/07 at 12:48am
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post #8 of 59
6/25/07 at 2:09am
I used to rent an almost 200 year old house. wouldn't want to own it, the owner spent huge amounts of money to keep it going
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post #9 of 59
6/25/07 at 2:13am
I helped my brother and his wife restore an 1860 farmhouse (which had long since become just a run-down house on a suburban block), and of course, one of the first priorities was to insulate it thoroughly. We jacked up sagging beams and reinforced them with steel plates, and made everything as plumb, level and square as possible. We did all the woodworking, including designing and building the kitchen (in cherry with bird's-eye maple panels).

Once it was all finished, we became acquainted with the ghost. We always assumed it was the previous owner, a woman who had been a fashion designer of some note back in the '40s. I witnessed the ghost's antics on a number of occasions. We would hear a trememdous crash and the breaking of glass, as if one of the kitchen cabinets had been torn from the wall and every glass and plate in it shattered. We would run to the kitchen in alarm, but nothing was ever the least bit out of order. I'm sure the ghost got a good chuckle from her little escapade, as the breaking glass phenomenon was a fairly regular occurrence. We never saw her, but she sure made a lot of noise.
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post #10 of 59
6/25/07 at 2:19am
Is a hundred year old house that old?

I don't really feel that it is.
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post #11 of 59
6/25/07 at 2:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LabelKing View Post
Is a hundred year old house that old?

I don't really feel that it is.

In New England it is not old.
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post #12 of 59
6/25/07 at 3:04am
My girlfriend lives in a 100-plus-year-old house that's been converted into three apartments.

It's been fine, except once we came back from a couple weeks away, and she couldn't get the back door to close again after opening it. Things had shifted a bit (may have been an earthquake while we were gone, though) and the latching mechanism no longer lined up correctly.
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post #13 of 59
6/25/07 at 4:36am
I would like living in a 100+ year old house simply because I love creeky floors and cold nights. All the more reason to wear a nice thick robe or dressing gown around the house all day.
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post #14 of 59
6/25/07 at 7:36am
From an aesthetic point of view I prefer the older buildings. For a couple of years in Scotland, I stayed in on one floor of a converted Victorian house - tall ceilings, great big windows and fireplaces. Now I'm in an apartment that is considered 'old' because it's over twenty years old.
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post #15 of 59
6/25/07 at 7:51am
Older buildings were constructed to a much higher degree of quality than even today's muti-million dollar mansions of which are doubly inferior in in their construction and design.
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