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Old House #2 |
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Location: Near Petitcodiac, NB
Structure type: 2 1/2-storie house
Condition: 4/5
Date Visited: Aug. 8, 2008 |
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This big, beautiful old house is probably in the best condition of any I've listed on this site. One reason is because it has been vacant for less than two years. Also, the 93-year-old man who last lived (and died) here, had at least some repairs made including a new roof. But sadly the building has been left to rot, and vandals have already done some damage including breaking many rear windows.
Thanks to the recent repairs made, the house is still in excellent structural condition - no sagging floors, falling plaster, or other major problems you'd expect to find in an old building. It even has a modern concrete foundation and (presumably) good plumbing and wiring. All that's really needed to make it liveable are a few coats of paint, some wallpaper, replacement of the broken windows, and a major housecleaning. But whoever owns this place doesn't seem to be interested in selling it; I couldn't find any For Sale signs or real estate listings for this house. |
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This field would be great if you had some cows. |
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Side view. One post is broken off the veranda. |
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View of the rear. Note the broken windows back here. |
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The inside of the house is in pretty good shape, but vandals have scattered much of the houses remaining contents on the floors, perhaps looking for something of value. The architecture of the house is quite elaborate for something so isolated; ornate bannister rails, a pantry with double doors opening to the dining room, a back staircase, at least five bedrooms, and large bedroom closets suggest that the houses original owner was quite well-off financially.
Here are some images of the inside: |
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One of my favorite features of an old house - a back staircase. The picture on the left shows the bottom end coming down to the kitchen. The picture at the right shows the top, and you can see that the two staircases are actually parallel. This is very unusual - in most old houses with this feature, the front and back staircases were placed at the opposite ends of the house, not side-by-side. I can just imagine the fun some children must have had, many years ago, running up and down these two staircases....... |
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The main staircase. |
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The dining room. At the right is a small counter with two doors opening from the pantry, at the center is the door to the kitchen, and left is the door to the hallway. |
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The pantry. The old man was obviously not much of a housekeeper. |
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The living room. Note the old pump organ, which still makes some noise but doesn't work very well. |
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Some other things of interest.... |
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An old shed near the house. The shingles on the left are badly scorched, suggesting this shed was nearly lost to a fire. |
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In the field nearby, an old horse-drawn rake. |
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Click here to see the video tour of this house (Youtube) |
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