Wow Sandra that is great! Hey you may end up on "If Walls Could Talk" or something like that telling about the wonderful tidbits you found out about your house. Do you think he'll have pics? Now that would be a double whammy stroke of good luck!!

Wow Sandra that is great! Hey you may end up on "If Walls Could Talk" or something like that telling about the wonderful tidbits you found out about your house. Do you think he'll have pics? Now that would be a double whammy stroke of good luck!!

Thanks Tanya. It was a quite the plesant surprise. Surprise? Who am I kidding?! I was quite overwhelmed. One would have thought some famous celebrity was calling the house. ::
I hope he might have some pics and stories. I recently sent him a package of all the information and newspaper clippings that I've been collecting about his grandfather. I haven't heard from him yet, but I hope to hear from him soon. I shall keep you posted. If I could get some really good tidbits on the family, perhaps I might consider "If Wall Could Talk". We shall keep our fingers crossed.
Sandra

It always boggles my mind when they talk about previous owner's relatives or old neighbors just showing up at the door with what-not. Especially when they return things, I'm a suspicious type and immediately think "that ol' biddy just wanted to see what you're doing there. Whatta snoop!" then again it works out for the new people in the end because now they can grill them. LOL

Hi! I am researching my home as well, doing what others do. I have been digging in the attic for floorplans, but unfortunately (well, fortunately) it has a ton of blown in insulation and no floorboards so I am afraid to wander around too much! However, the following has proved fruitful for me so far...

First, I talked to neighbors. It so happens that one neighbor is the daughter of the grandmother who used to live in her house. She called her mom and other aunts and they told me what they remembered... a little, but I got a last name and knowledge of former rose hedges. I tried the local library and chamber of commerce, but aside from just a few photos of everything around my home, few photos have been saved . They do have the microfilm for the local paper back to the beginning. More on that later... Then I went to our state historical society and viewed tax rolls (know your plat name, lot and block number before looking). This gave me the original owners' names. Then I looked for them on the Federal Census data available on ancestory.com (the historical library has a subscription for this) and got their occupations and such. From there I went to online birth and death certificates and found out where they were buried... went to the cemetery to fill in the gaps and dates. I also jotted down family nearby. I went back to the local paper and found the obituaries. This gave me names of possible surviving family members. I also read thru each paper in 1928. If you have ever read small town papers in the early days it is pretty much daily gossip. From this I learned who (and when--May 3, 1928) poured my foundation, the name of the construction company, and other tidbits. I wandered around looking for similar homes... I found the EXACT bungalow a few streets down and wrote the owners, in addition to the last living relative of the original owners. Phew! And, believe it or not, I've done this all in the last 7 days. On Friday the owner of the bungalow a few streets down called... we even have the SAME light fixtures (I sent select photos)... kit house? The one last relative called on Saturday and told me it was a Sears home, but he couldn't tell me why he thought that. I don't think it is Sears, but maybe another company. And, his aunt built the home and lived there until 1984. He handled her estate, but she had no photos of the home . That is what I was looking for... I want to restore the kitchen. Anyway, keep searching and writing--someone will get back to you! Good luck! I will let you know if I know of more resources. Oh, also go to www.antiquehome.org for many plan books that have been scanned from Radford, Hodgkins, Standard, Sears, Liberty, Sterling, Aladdin, etc.... I am determined to find my home!!!!

Great Link! I hadn't seen them before. Does anyone have any info on who they are? I read their "About Us" and it didn't give any specifics. Our house plan is in there. It's from the 1926 American Homes Catalog. The house plan is called Monte Cristo

Here is my webpage comparing the plan book house to what was built, along with the first owner's comments on what she wanted changed: Comparison of Monte Cristo and Foxcroft

First of all, Let me introduce myself. My name is Lauren and I own the site AntiqueHome that you have referred to in this thread. Thank you for visiting the site.
I started the collection when I moved into my own 1914 Bungalow in Portland, OR. The search for the plans for my house are still on. We have a huge collection amassed, about half of it is on line right now.
Like we say on our site, we would like to hear about your home and publish your "now" photo with our "then" plans. We can also do research for you, not all of the plans for every book have been scanned. Please email us and we will try to ID that house.
I would also like to offer copies of the books in digital form to Libraries and Historical Societies.

Thanks
Lauren

Thanks for the intro, as I said before, your site looks great. Do you have a pic of your house? I have several other plan books that the builder of our home had (Bungalowcraft, Gordon-Van Tine, etc.) I'd be happy to look through them to see if any one matches yours.

Many of the homes in the neighborhood are the exact floorplan as ours. The facade may be different, it may be a little narrower, etc to fit the lot- but the same interior.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/laurenrussell_99/album?.dir=/2610

Apologies, the link in my last post doesn't work.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/laurenrussell_99/albums

I am an interior designer and I often need to help my clients design their house plans. We usually use two sites:

House Plan Central - www.houseplancentral.com
Great site with a large collection of home plans and unique house plans in many different architectural styles, from the nation's top house designers and architects. Be it New home plans, Free House Plans, Small House Plans, Country House Plans, Southern House Plans, or Luxury Home, their huge database of home designs is always of help.

Southern Living House Plans - www.slhouseplans.com

This is another great site. It has a great house plan designing tool as well. It has all types of house plans, though as you can make out by the name, it is most famous for southern style plans.

Hope these are helpful! Let me know if you have anything particular in mind, for the interiors of your house...Cheers!