grazhina Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 When I was seven we lived in a gorgeous Victorian house for a year or so. I loved that old house even then and always regreted that I never had a picture of it. Recently someone on an old house forum found a street view of it on Google maps. Previously I had a hard time getting the street scene to work and I forgot all about it. I thought, that since so many dollhouse enthusiasts are into Victorian, some of you might enjoy a peek at my old house. The pictures are a bit distorted because of the camera they use. I even got to "take a walk down the street". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastalinda Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Wow, that is beautiful. No wonder you loved it so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallowell Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Wow, gorgeous. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Bummer you only lived there for a year and as a child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 It's wonderful. But is it empty? One of the tower windows seems to be missing. How sad if no one is living in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 There's a sketch of it on a website that sells hand made ornaments, and while doing a little googling, I found a name for someone who either lives or lived at the address, and their email is the same as the website. I sent them a short message. It would be nice if they responded and maybe could send me a few more pictures. I'd love that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It looks like more than one window is missing in the tower. What a magical house to be a child in! No wonder you grew up to design & build homes for gnomes and squirrels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilight1000 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 What an incredible house! Did you have your own room? Did you play hide and seek in that huge house? What a wonderful place to live! I hope you hear back from the owner/resident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It would be fun to live in a house like that-but think of the utility bills! I don't think they had blown-in insulation back then! :thumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 here's a link to another view http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=%2...245283018867923 Gee, it came out long, someimes those long ones don't work very well, do they? Anyway, what looks like broken windows is actually just the dark reflection from trees. My room was the center front 2nd floor bedroom, where the bay window is. My parents' room was next to it, below the big square tower. The house had a wrap around porch, and a porch swing, on which we kids would sometimes swing stanging up pretending we were on a ship. I recall us swinging really hard wondering if we could make ourselves seasick. There was also a smallish glass enclosed back porch. I recall the house has having a pretty big kitchen and a small back parlor that connected to a drawing room with a corner fireplace. I'm pretty sure it had a stone surround. The front parlor had sliding pocket doors, and the windows had interior folding, louvered blinds. I was in second grade, so I must have been 7, making the year 1958/9, so my memory is likely fuzzy on some things. The front hall had a big wooden staircase and there was an old fashioned coat rack, I'm fairly sure there was a vestibule with a built in bench, but we rarely ever used the front door. The dining room was next, my parent's bedroom was above it. It had a side door to enter the porch. Around the corner was a strange room. Someone had added a toilet and I think a shower in a small alcove. I think it may have beem originally some sort of pantry. The litchen came next, and from there you could go back into the back parlor. The house had back stairs, but they led into a second, private kitchen that my sister's godmother and her husband used. They were living in the house then too. It was a pretty good sized house and there the 4 of us, the 2 of them, and later their baby, and the lady who owned the house, who was the godmother's aunt. The owner went by the name of Mrs. Greene. She was in hiding from the Soviet government because her husband's brother was a former president of Lithuania. BTW, the guy who introduced the Lithuanians to that great American game of basketball was once a guest in the house back in the early 1930's. Upstairs at the top of the stairs was the bathroom, wherein my little sister had locked herself in at least once, then my parents' room, my room (which I shared with sis), Mrs. Greene's room (which had a round alcove), and a suite of rooms that sis's godmother lived in. If I recall correctly, she had two rooms that connected with an archway, so she had a bedroom open to her sitting room. There was also a tiny room (that was later a nursery) and also a private bath. I almost never went up to the third floor. We kids were told not to play up there, but I do remember there was a small bedroom at the top of the stairs. I think it had beadboard wainscot and a sloped ceiling. The view from the towers was great, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I cannot get any of the houses that I lived in on google maps. The only thing that lil dude will go to is the highway! Grrr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I can find my new house but the picture is so dark that you can't tell anything about it. Oh well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 I went a little nuts the night I found those pictures. I went looking for other old homes. I found one ok, but it was all remodeled and had a bunch of bushy shortish trees in front so all I could see was the front porch and upstairs windows. I couldn't get a street view of either of the two others I looked for that night, but with one the aerial view was so good that I was able to pin down the exact house, which is pretty good since we left there in 1957. I recognized it by the way the alley driveway was set up. The only street view I could get, though, was from the corner, looking down the street towards my house. A while ago I read that quite a few years later Will Smith grew up on that same street, only a couple blocks down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avidcrazyquilter Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 GORGEOUS HOUSE! I've always dreamed of having a bed and breakfast in a house like that. My house could be used as one with 4 guest rooms but we are fixing to let my youngest DD take it over so doesn't look like that is ever going to happen. Nice dream though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilight1000 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I just love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookmarm Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Beautiful!!! I could live there very happily! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Grazhina, what a beautiful house! It would have been heaven to be a child in a house like that. It's no wonder that you have such a great appreciation for victorian houses and historical accuracy. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Oh my!! What a beautiful house! My friend used to love an old house in the neighborhood where she grew up. Later in life she heard it was for sale. She immediately bought and moved into it. Is there any chance that you might obtain it some day? It's so charming and delightful! :groucho: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 I've exchanged a few emails with the present owner of the house and she sent me a picture I can share. When she and her husband bought it about 15 years ago it was in terrible shape, the side porch had pretty much fallen down. They've been restoring the house ever since and have the attic left to go. She's originally from Pittsburgh, coming to Philly just a few years after I left there to move to the Pittsburgh area. She also had a dollhouse and used to like to make minis for it when she was a girl. Now she's thinking getting back into minis sounds like fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Oh, that is gorgeous! I wanna live there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmesue Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I want a dh that looks just like that! WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniwendy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 What a beautiful house!! Isn't it wonderful that people are restoring it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 It always gives me a thrill to see someone save an old house or find a use for a store in an historic shopping district. I love the old architecture and am a strong believer in using what we have instead of building a bunch of new buildings while there are perfectly good, better built, old ones around! I think the US must be the only country in the world that uses buildings like paper plates! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilight1000 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 What fun to correspond with the current owner, and get a beautiful recent picture, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butlerestates Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Oh how beautiful and how nice of you to share it with us! I would share a picture of my childhood home but it is BORING! Its a "ranch style" which is a nice way of saying it's shaped like a box Oh and my parents still live there. They bought it when my mom was 3 months pregnant with me so despite the fact that it is nothing fancy it has always been home and I cant imagine them not having it. I have very fond memories of my childhood and even the neighborhood I live in now which is about a mile or 2 away is included. Our neighborhood has "victorian style" houses that they started building when I was around 11 or so and I LOVED them amd always wanted one and yippee here I am now! Oh and once my best friend and I got in trouble because a girl from school who told us she lived in a life size "dollhouse" said we needed to come see it so we rode our bikes and did not tell where we went. That house is down the street from me now. And to make it even better my father built many of the houses in the neighborhood. I wish he would have built the one I live in now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.