The Farm

[Excavator]

I cut grass all day...took this pic between using the mower and weedwhacker.

It's a Sears Craftsman house, built in 1936. Grandpa bought the plans and all the woodworking machines from Sears, cut the timber off the land, sawed and planed every board.

I find something every time I use my MD, and I've only scratched the surface. Need an MD that's better and goes deeper.

 

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[madmacabre]

Beautiful home in the south , Wish I could take a road trip down there one day.

 

[Bridge End Farm]

beautiful place!!

Your grandpa built a wonderful house

 

[TeddyB1967]

Nice house, looks tiny yet cozy

 

[dakotama95]

What a nice looking house after all these years. I hope you are able to keep it in the family and pass along the history with it.

 

[Excavator]

Thanks everyone! Been quite busy and now too exhausted to make a proper reply to you all. I hope to finish the current large project and enjoy the place MD'ing this summer. (you should see all the old sites I have lined up!)

Grandad did build it in stages, but it is actually quite rambling in size, the trees make it harder to capture now. 4 bedrooms, 9 beds, 11 if you count the couch bed and another couch. Living room, dining room, sunroom, kitchen, and utility. Three porches and one small balcony.

Here's a pic of the west side, note the new electric service (another week's Gulag). The WV sunflower will be history as soon as I can yank it out, bashed my knee as I went by on the tractor. (had to ride in circles because it was my brake knee) The garden went in late this year, we'll see.

Having trouble pinning down the name of the plans he bought, as some builders name their various plans, Sears did too. It's even got lightning rods and a weather vane.

 

[rmptr]

Looks to be a great place, Excavator!

Far greener than here!

Best,
rmptr

 

[CarolinaDigs]

A treasure of a home

 

[Mental Granny]

Beautiful home it was built to last!

 

[Cynangyl]

Incredible home! I would love to have one just like it. The history of your grandfather building it makes it all the more special! Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[Excavator]

I'm happy you all liked the pics. It's been a lot of hard work. Got it done just in time for Memorial Day, an Uncle (WWII Vet) with terminal cancer, made the trip home for possibly the last time. He was stunned at the work we got done, and I think happy too.

There are a lot of magical places around there (for me). I like hiking around the sandstone cliffs and outcroppings.

Had the MD every time, but no time and energy together to use it.

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

What a great treasure. Family homes, with all those memories, priceless. So what have you found there? Can't wait to hear!

 

[Excavator]

When I get to the good stuff, I'll make a post. I did post in whatsit about the two foil halves of a 1930s "Fun-Pack"...condom wrapper. Found a '45 nickel, a Canadian Centennial penny (1867-1967 in bronze), axe head, harness ring, Mountaineer pop bottle, the crank off Grandad's tape measure...and two old gas lines :P. Those were just quick scans, maybe a half hour total.

The whole place has been a time capsule for me, I find things I had 40 years ago, but alas, some mementos of my Grandparents have been looted. Still have the place though. The old Beckwith player piano is gone, but I found the player mechanism in the attic, along with some player rolls for it. Dunno what I'm going to do with that.

 

[wesfrye53]

It's amazing how folks depended on catalogues back in 19 and ought....

There are two Sears Catalogue homes about a block from me; pretty sure they came as kits as they are very similar.

Bet your Grandpa was really proud of his accomplishment!

 

[Excavator]

Grandad took great pride in his home, always made sure thing were done right, and passed that to us all.

I found a website with a list and pics of Craftsman homes, but I can't find this one, or what the name is.

Bet there's an old Sears catalog in the outhouse, found one in the bookcase. The barn had every woodworking machine Sears ever sold.

Gotta go, hope to finish a plumbing gulag tomorrow.

Wasn't it Bob Seger that sang..."All I need are a couple days off!"

 

[Excavator]

A bit of rain, 3" in 24hrs, on Wednesday, electric was back on Thurs. night. Still plumbing. Drove as fast as could thinking I would drive out of the storm, 30-45 mph, it stayed right with me for 40 miles. We didn't get much work done.

This is high water, but I've seen it across the road and up on the other bank, more than once.

 

[Mental Granny]

How close was this to your granddads?

 

[Excavator]

I was standing beside the mailbox when I took the last two pics. But the house is on higher ground, above the road. There are two runs on the east and west too:

 

[Mental Granny]

Ok then -- to close for compfort!

 

[Blythe_Spirit_50]

We have several Sears houses here in our town. Such a neat concept, ordering a house from a catalog. I lived in West Virginia for 4 years, such a beautiful place.