Thanks to all for the comments and advice.

Update: decided to ditch the antique stove, it likely won't work given
space limitations and the weight (pier and beam foundation).

Compromise on fitted vs unfitted kitchen. Fitted cabinets on bottom,
open shelving on top. Lose DH's table and put in a movable butcher
block sort of island with cabinets and stools. Also a hutch or
something similar along one wall by the pantry, and a cabinet in the
dining room for dishes. Maybe even a pot rack but not sure...I'm still
worried about the dust. The open shelves would be for our Le Crueset
and other stuff with lids.

As for the house - this is what we're working with:
Not quite sure what style this is. Built c.1890-1905 in San Antonio.
http://tinyurl.com/5bh9v

looking from the dining room to the entry hall http://tinyurl.com/4od8o

the original dining room was between the kitchen and living room,but
we'll use that as a study and guest room:
http://tinyurl.com/5kl6l

The kitchen - pantry on left, butler's pantry on right with built in
cabinets and shelves (the junk was the previous owner's, not ours!):
http://tinyurl.com/6fkdj

Cabinets and stove are out, space will likely be used for the fridge +
small butcher block table.
http://tinyurl.com/467h7

After some cleaning - the cabinets are now gone. Our major problem -
the window is lost space. Moving it up would just be more money than we
can invest right now.
http://tinyurl.com/5fq5m

On 10 Jan 2005 16:08:52 -0800, "cjra" >
wrote:

> As for the house - this is what we're working with:
> Not quite sure what style this is. Built c.1890-1905 in San Antonio.
> http://tinyurl.com/5bh9v

What a pretty veranda!

Have you tried inquiring at
http://www.nationaltrust.org/index.html ?


sf

I LOVE older houses.

> After some cleaning - the cabinets are now gone. Our major problem -
> the window is lost space. Moving it up would just be more money than we
> can invest right now.
> http://tinyurl.com/5fq5m

Why not just put a nice "bakers rack" in front of it. One that would
let the light shine through. Who cares of you won't be able to open the
window. That's what I would do.

I LOVE older houses.

> After some cleaning - the cabinets are now gone. Our major problem -
> the window is lost space. Moving it up would just be more money than we
> can invest right now.
> http://tinyurl.com/5fq5m

Why not just put a nice "bakers rack" in front of it. One that would
let the light shine through. Who cares of you won't be able to open the
window. That's what I would do.

Well, we WOULD plan to use the window. We're installing central air for
re-sale, but aren't likely to ever use it (we don't now). We prefer
having the windows open. The downside to that is dust gets everywhere -
which is why I was against open shelving.

sf - thanks, hopefully it'll be prettier once we fix it. I haven't
tried the National Trust, yet, will do. It's actually listed in the
county as an "Invididual Historic Landmark", but so far I can't find
out why.

cjra wrote:
> Thanks to all for the comments and advice.
>
> Update: decided to ditch the antique stove, it likely won't work given
> space limitations and the weight (pier and beam foundation).
>
They can be very, very pricey but you can find new antique-style stoves that
fit the period of the house. Available in gas or electric. But maybe not
in your budget.

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/cgi-bin/f...wRemoveFrame=1

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/cgi-bin/f...wRemoveFrame=1

> As for the house - this is what we're working with:
> Not quite sure what style this is. Built c.1890-1905 in San Antonio.
> http://tinyurl.com/5bh9v
>
What a great wrap-around porch!

> looking from the dining room to the entry hall
> http://tinyurl.com/4od8o
>
> the original dining room was between the kitchen and living room,but
> we'll use that as a study and guest room:
> http://tinyurl.com/5kl6l
>
> The kitchen - pantry on left, butler's pantry on right with built in
> cabinets and shelves (the junk was the previous owner's, not ours!):
> http://tinyurl.com/6fkdj
>
> Cabinets and stove are out, space will likely be used for the fridge +
> small butcher block table.
> http://tinyurl.com/467h7
>
> After some cleaning - the cabinets are now gone. Our major problem -
> the window is lost space. Moving it up would just be more money than
> we can invest right now.
> http://tinyurl.com/5fq5m

I can certainly see why this 'fixer-upper' has such appeal!

Jill

>They can be very, very pricey but you can find new antique-style
stoves that
>fit the period of the house. Available in gas or electric. But maybe
not
>in your budget.


uh huh. A little out of our budget. We don't want to spend the entire
kitchen budget on a stove ;-)

The antique stove I found is in working condition but needs to be fixed
up so it looks nice and is much much cheaper. I just don't think it'll
work....I'm taking DH to see it today though. And we can measure it and
check the weight.

Everyone loves the porch. we do too!

On Tue 11 Jan 2005 08:40:04a, cjra tittered and giggled, and giggled and
tittered, and finally blurted out...

>>They can be very, very pricey but you can find new antique-style stoves
>>that fit the period of the house. Available in gas or electric. But
>>maybe not in your budget.
>
>
> uh huh. A little out of our budget. We don't want to spend the entire
> kitchen budget on a stove ;-)
>
> The antique stove I found is in working condition but needs to be fixed
> up so it looks nice and is much much cheaper. I just don't think it'll
> work....I'm taking DH to see it today though. And we can measure it and
> check the weight.

If you have a professional restoration done, that can cost $$$ too.

Wayne

Our plan was to do it ourselves. We're the Kings of DIY ;-)

On Tue 11 Jan 2005 09:10:21a, cjra tittered and giggled, and giggled and
tittered, and finally blurted out...

> Our plan was to do it ourselves. We're the Kings of DIY ;-)

That'll save you a bundle!

The kitchen was particularly gross - they did take the appliances, but
little else. Actually, there was probably some stuff of value (dishes
and whatnot) but we were so disgusted we wanted to get rid of it all
asap, so we put it on the street with a FREE sign and it disappeared.
Actually, a ton of junk has been 'recycled' in that way. We did save a
few things - an antique chair, the glass chandeliers, among other
things. The kitchen had so many ramen noodle packages eaten through by
rats it wasn't funny. We have to post pics of the piles of mouse
sh*t.... It was sad really. The house had been in her family for 3
generations, and she just didn't give a damn. I love old houses and the
history of the occupants, but we kind of want to exorcise the place of
the last occupant.

Yes, transom windows and they all work well, tho a few need some
oiling. The doors all need stripping and cleaning up, but are in very
good shape (good thing as replacing them would be about $1000 per
door...). Fortunately, the foundation was leveled about 8 years ago so
the door frames are all good too.

The porch is still my favourite part though . I can't wait til we do
it, but it'll wait for last - as the historical society will give us a
grant to fix it, but not for awhile.

jmcquown wrote:
> cjra wrote:
> > The kitchen was particularly gross - they did take the appliances,
but
> > little else. Actually, there was probably some stuff of value
(dishes
> > and whatnot) but we were so disgusted we wanted to get rid of it
all
> > asap, so we put it on the street with a FREE sign and it
disappeared.
> > Actually, a ton of junk has been 'recycled' in that way. We did
save a
> > few things - an antique chair, the glass chandeliers, among other
> > things. The kitchen had so many ramen noodle packages eaten through
by
> > rats it wasn't funny. We have to post pics of the piles of mouse
> > sh*t....
>
> Uh, please don't! I eat the occasional package of ramen but would
rather
> not see it accompanied by rat droppings and mouse sh*t

hehe - we've told everyone they need to smell the carpet (which is now
lying in a pile behind the house) to fully appreciate what we've dealt
with. There were 3 dogs who used the great INDOORS to do their
business.... rat and mouse poop is easy ;-)

> Light a couple of candles, some incense and repeat after me, "I
hereby
> exorcise thee in the name of someone who cares." (just kidding)

lol! WE got the incense thing down - DH has some really strong and
cheap incense people have given to him (he's an incense freak, has to
be highest quality Asian stuff) and we light that every time we work to
overcome the smell. We'll have to add the candles now.

>
> > Yes, transom windows and they all work well, tho a few need some
> > oiling. The doors all need stripping and cleaning up, but are in
very
> > good shape (good thing as replacing them would be about $1000 per
> > door...).
>
> That's great! All that can be done by you and DH at minimal cost.

And a lot of muscle work.....

> > The porch is still my favourite part though . I can't wait til we
do
> > it, but it'll wait for last - as the historical society will give
us a
> > grant to fix it, but not for awhile.
>
> Oh, that's great news! It's a gorgeous porch. I can picture it in a
couple
> of years... couple of wicker (waterproofed) chairs, a table between
them...
> sipping chilled wine on a warm evening. Maybe a hanging swing at the
far
> end if the roof could support it.

Oh yes, the chilled wine part for sure! And we have plenty of warm
evenings in Texas.

>
> I see a chimney; what room is the fireplace in? Would love to see a
shot of
> that.
>
http://tinyurl.com/53qjk
That's the living room, the open doorway (with functional pocket doors)
leads into what should be the dining room but will be our den. We've
removed the gas grill and tiles, and will make it into a wood-burning
fireplace. The columns match the columns on the porch.

There is another chimney, in the closet of the main bedroom (the other
side would be the front bedroom). In theory it'd be associated with the
furnace, as it isn't wide at the base but goes all the way down the
same way it goes up. However, there is no furnace. It's possible
there's something there, but it's behind the one wall in good shape, so
we've hesitated to tear it down. We need to find a similar house in the
neighborhood to see what they have.

jmcquown wrote:
> cjra wrote:
> > Our plan was to do it ourselves. We're the Kings of DIY ;-)
>
> Just be careful... make sure you know what you're doing because you
don't
> want to set that great fixer-upper on fire!
>

Wellll, I just took DH to see it and he convinced me it's not practical
. He is right. He said I could buy it and fix it up and sell it, but
it's not like we have the time for such projects now...

> I'm still pondering the loss of space with the window in the kitchen,
which
> I would definitely keep and also want to open. Lemme think on it
Might
> need updated photos as things progress to get definitive ideas.


Getting help online has been great. People come up with some great
ideas. If we had the $, we'd just re-work the whole window, but that
would really push our budget over the edge, and there are other things
more important (like installing central air and heat). Will post as we
progess....hopefully faster rather than slower!