How to learn more about your old home

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a preservationist. While the dictionary.com definition might not be particularly interesting, it translates in real life as working to make an old home shine again while staying true to its time and originality - and working against those that would prefer to see it in a landfill or gutted and refitted with "new everything."

One of the things I've struggled with here at the House on the Isthmus is how to determine my house's history through the years.

While I still haven't found original plans, we made one huge leap forward this week.

As usual, the back story:

Many of our readers are aware that there have been worked and reworked plans throughout this home. Some were changed because of budget, some because of surprises, some because new information came to light about the house that made me think we should leave or remove pieces.

In cases where there was new information, it was usually that I found something hidden like a piece of baseboard behind a cabinet, a pristine wood floor underneath a plastic one or siding behind brick veneer.

It seemed that it would be so much easier if only I could know for sure at least some of what was changed and when.

It's worth noting that we've only needed to pull one permit so far on this project. That's definitely going to change as we get closer to the finish line, but it's been nice while it's lasted. While drawing up plans for the latest permit submission, it occurred to me that permits (along with seemingly everything else, like having a Bagster, which I don't recommend) might be kept on file permanently at the City.

Funny enough, I had an inspector in my home that very day to sign off on our sole permit to date and he confirmed my hunch and added that anything from yesteryear (pre-2002) from microfiche was theoretically converted to digital copies!

Last week, I tried to make it to the municipal building's computer - aka the only place to reference these documents - and missed computer shutting off time by about 60 seconds. Fortunately, I also made a friend in the office who offered to send me copies should he have time... and he did!

What we found was incredible. Along with the misfiled building permits for my next door neighbor's house and garage (interestingly filed under a different address that doesn't exist but should), I got every other permit ever filed - 20 pages worth in total.

Some were just funny - like the permit for the TV installation:

Mr. Charles Badenna's permit for TV installation circa 1952

While others gave me important information about what the house likely looked like (or didn't) originally:

A permit issued to Mr. James Crossen in 1958 to install picture windows and brick veneer - thanks a lot!

I also learned that past owners were told to put up handrails on various stairways for many, many years - six mentions in permits and letters/citations! Guess that's just one more thing to make sure gets done properly throughout this restoration!

You can often learn things like this about your home's history, too. Contact your city inspector's office or the local historical society for old photos of homes like yours or maybe even yours!

This gives us a great frame of reference - what might you find?