About Our House

We purchased our current home in September of 2007. It’s a 1915 2-story Colonial Revival house that sits on about 3.5 acres in the middle of town, overlooking the Mississippi River.

Front of House

House History

The house was built around 1914-1915 by a banker.  He had embezzled money from the bank, which he used for various investments and also to build this house.  He never lived here, though – as part of the settlement to pay back the money he stole, ownership of this house was transferred to Deere and Company.  The company only briefly owned the property before selling it again.

The first family to actually live here owned one of the local manufacturing companies located just down the river from the house. We think a couple generations of that family lived here until sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. From there, the property changed hands two or three times before it was sold to the couple that we bought it from in 1985. At that time, it was in a state of  disrepair, but they put a lot of effort into it over the next 22 years, touching every room in the house and making some pretty major updates before we bought it in 2007.

Past Renovations

We believe that the basic footprint of the house was unchanged from the time it was built (until we did a small addition for our entry way in 2010).

Inside the house, though, there is evidence of a few things that have changed over the years:

  • There used to be a back staircase from the kitchen to the second floor that was closed off.  The space that used to be a landing by the kitchen is now a closet and a small bathroom was added where the staircase used to be on the second floor.
  • Our sun room started out as a screened in porch and a portion of what is now our master bedroom (which is over the sun room) was a sleeping porch used on hot nights before air conditioning.
  • Our third floor was likely intended as servants quarters (although we think no one ever lived there).  Walls have since been removed and it is now one open space that we use as a family room.

One other change has to do with the street access to the house. When it was built, the house faced the Mississippi River, with a sidewalk below the hill and several flights of stairs leading up to the front door. Since then, some lots have been sold off in what used to be the front yard and (although the sidewalk and stairs remain) main access to the house is from what was originally the back yard.  This explains why the “front” of our house is so much less formal than a typical colonial revival – and also why our staircase inside faces the back door instead of the front.

Here’s a photo of the back of the house (which would have been the front when it was built):

Back of House

3 thoughts on “About Our House

  1. Barney says:

    I enjoyed reading your Blog. I happen to have an X720, with snow blower attachment, and I would like to get a link to the site for the rubber or plastic snow plow skids that you are using to avoid marking up the driveway. I have to agree with you that despite the wheel weight, the tractor usually needs snow chains for proper traction. Its always embarrasing to be seen pushing an expensive piece of equipment to get to a spot where it will move again. I have the driveway sealed yearly, so if it gets bad enough, I put the chains on, because I find the sealant hides the chain markings. I just have to avoid any real skidding, to damage the driveway w/chains. I also have stored in my data bank the information regarding the defective fuse. I try almost anything to avoid a service call on my machine, especially after watching them, I see it was something I could have done myself, but didn’t know. Thanks, and if you have a link to that site, I would appreciate it. Expecting snow up he in southeast
    Pennsylvania, and I have the tractor ready to go.
    Thanks,
    Barney

  2. Sarah says:

    Hi Barney,

    We bought the Robalon skid shoes for the snow blower from this website:
    http://www.sepw.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=97

    The ones we ordered were part number A150BS, but there are several varieties available depending on the snowblower you have.

    Hope this helps!
    -Sarah

  3. thatssocute says:

    The Waltons!!

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