I've been living in my home for nine years, and still have had no luck in finding the plans/blueprints for this house. The family who lived here for 50 years claim they don't have them, the people who lived here from 1937 to 1944 are no where to be found, and the original owners and their children have passed away. I've got a pretty good lead on someone who might be the grandson of the original owner, and plan to contact him. Hopefully he'll have some idea or pics of my home back in the day.
Is there a chance that they could be hidden somewhere in the house? I mean, why would anyone want to take the plans with them to another home? Has anyone ever come across their plans or blueprints in this fashion?
Sandra

I'm usually surprised that people do find the blueprints since I'd figure they'd been thrown away after the completion of the home. I know that isnt' much help for you but it is a possibility. That said, have you checked the attic? Seems that on all those "Walls Could Talk" type of shows that is usually where they're found. Probably under the insulation or in a tube under the eaves.

tanya

Hi Tanya,
I've done minor search in the attic since it's terribly cluttered and extremely low on light right now. However, I have plans to continue searching up there in the near future. Only recently did I see an open section in the eaves and stuck my hand in it only to grab a hold of some "Gold Bond" asbestos insulating substance. I thought, "Oh great!" Needless to say, I cut my search quick enough.
It's shows like "If Walls Could Talk" that continue to give me hope in finding some kind of documentation on this home.

Sandra

I would get a high powered flashlight before I stuck my hand into anything. That is one thing that always amazes me about such shows. They (the homeowners) seem to always talk about oh I saw a hole or loose floorboard and just stuck my hand in there. Doesn't anyone ever grab ahold of a mouse nest or a spider web?! Maybe my imagination is just too good, I just know I'll get bodily harm if I tried that.

Actually, I too would probably end up with a handful of spiders or something else. A high powered flashlight is definitely in order.

Sandra

And bug spray. LOL I wonder if there are blueprints at my house. Now you've got me thinking that maybe I should at least give it a try. I pretty much have given up on that sort of thing since the last owner cleaned everything out. grrrrr

Don't give up Tanya, just poke around the house from time to time. Don't make it an absolute mission as I have, or you'll go nutty. You never know what you might find. There is always one stone that's been left unturned.
Why can't previous owners leave well enough alone? I was told by the PO who sold us the house that she recalled seeing what looked like a roll of plans in one of the built in seats. This was while she was going through the house before purchasing. So, after she and her family moved here, she went looking for these "plans" in the built-in, and found nothing. Hmmm...now why would those POs take the plans that should rightfully belong in the house? That said, the rolled up document/s might not have been the plans after all but something else instead, not pertaining to the house. *sigh*
Still, I have hopes. Spiders, asbestos, crumbling ceiling...yet I still have hopes!

Sandra

My neighbors tell me about watching the po dumping the old windows in the dumpster not long before she put it on the market. Told them not ot tell me that stuff anymore because it just depresses me.

Don't some cities keep that sort of thing on record? I keep meaning to go down to my city hall and do some investigating on my house just for curiousity sake. I do know that the original owner built the house next door and his daughter moved into it and that he built other houses in town too. Very interested to see what kind of guy he really was. Modern day flipper for his time perhaps.

You said it. "Some cities" do keep records of these things, but unfortunately, my county has done a lousy job at it. One person at the county clerks office said "We no longer keep records going that far back. If we did, we'd have to build warehouses to keep them all stored. " That truly vexed me to no end. What's to become of our building history if cities and towns all over decide to do away with all building/contracting records and floor plans etc.?
Still, I mustn't give up. There has got to be something out there.

You would think that they'd see the wisdom in keeping that stuff. Is it possible that the records were moved to the library or something? If there ever came up a question about these older properties you'd think they'd like to have that info around.

heck my house was built in 1930 and the one next door was built in 1937 by my origianl owner and when the flippers sold it to the new owner they told her that it was 1936 and mine was built after it. Not sure how that worked since the orig owner's daughter grew up in my house and moved into the place next door after graduation/completion of the house. LOL

The library doesn't have much, except old telephone directories. I've done most of my obituary and social page research in the library, and that has proven fruitful.
I'd like to think that the state might have something in its vaults.
As to the mixup of the year your house was built, I guess that's pretty common. Again, it goes back to bad record keeping..I guess. The city has my house listed as built in 1900. After all my research however, I found it to be the last house built on this block, therefore the newest. It was all farmland in 1900.
Truly it's sad when city/town history is set aside or thrown away for modern development.
Sandra

I actually think that my house was built earlier than 1930 which is listed on the paperwork I have but just haven't gotten around to proving my theory. I think that it was moved to this location possibly in 1930 but was built earlier elsewhere. The lady next door before she moved to the retirement village told us that she had grown up in this house and then moved next door after she graduated. Unless she was a quick study (7yrs?!) there is some years in there unaccounted for.

I actually think that my house was built earlier than 1930 which is listed on the paperwork I have but just haven't gotten around to proving my theory. I think that it was moved to this location possibly in 1930 but was built earlier elsewhere.

Hmmm...I wonder how you can prove your theory. Have you traced your deed all the way back to the beginning? If so, does your deed begin in 1930?

Sandra

I haven't got around to doing any background or tracing the deed yet. Mainly just the heresay from the original owner's daughter before she moved to a retirement village. Also there are a few homes in my neighborhood that were moved there from across town and then set on top of railroad ties. In my poking around the foundation I've detected what looks like railroad ties. I could be (and probably am) way off on that. LOL

My intentions are to do this digging into the past on my vacations but I get sucked into home improvement projects instead. Shouldn't be too hard to track down info on the place since I think I'm the 4th owner. Does sound awfully romantic that it was moved across town if so. There was a huge flood around that time too which I would suspect would lead to the place being moved. The stories and what info I have just don't add up.

Well I guess some of my research has paid off. You see, just last evening I received a phone call from the grandson of the first owners who lived here from 1918 to 1937.
I had found his name on a people search and decided to take a chance and send a letter. I didn't think I'd hear anything. Afterall, who gets this lucky on a first try? There could have been other people with the same name. Well thankfully as it turns out, I hit it with the first shot.
We shall keep in touch and exchange information. I'm so excited about this that I had to share the news with you all!
Sandra