Monday, January 24, 2011

New landings and some hidden treasures

My amazing husband spent his 4 days off this last week working on the stairway project. He was able to get all of the stair treads, some of the risers, and the landings replaced. We used 3/4 inch oak plywood cut into 4" planks nailed down with antique square head nails for the landings, same as what we will install in the upstairs hallway and front entry. The squeaky, creaky, and splinter ridden boards are no longer. Even though I balked at the idea of replacing them I do love the way everything is coming together.
While removing the old boards we were able to uncover some very special treasures under the staircase. We found some pictures, although they were all curled up, very dark, and dirty, they are now something that I will proudly showcase in the new stairway gallery.
We also found a wedding invitation from 1896 and a baby card.
Here is the best treasure that we uncovered. It shows our house in its glory days. I have tried unsuccessfully to scan the image in and clean it up a bit, but if you look closely you can see a woman and two small children in front of the porch. It also gives us an idea of how the original woodwork looked on the lower porch and the windows that have been closed off. We also know now that the bay window in the dining room was an addition.

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