Committee member for historic house

[iris lilies]

DEF84204-771C-4521-9123-00CAB4A33F23.jpgYesterday I was appointed to a Historical .society’s committee to purchase and restore a house I lived in as a child. This house is in Iowa and I’ve showed a picture of it here before. But I will post another one.


I think this effort will turn out to be a shit show


My cousin talked to me about being on the committee and said someone else, a friend of my mother, wanted both me and my brother to be on the committee. My cousin who is on the board of the town’s historical society summarized truthfully where the group is politically, financially, and organizationally.


I repeat, sounds like it will be a shit show.


But I have no emotional investment in this house being purchased by this Historical group. My emotional goal is that the house be cared for by someone who can afford it, and do the necessary repairs that 40 years of neglect have brought upon it.


D H and I can bring to the table a certain amount of knowledgeable eyeballing as to the condition of the house. No one else in that town has any knowledge of Victoriana because there’s no Victorian architecture there. There’s no interesting architecture at all. It is an architectural wasteland.


But then, even if the historical society can somehow cough up the money to purchase this house, they will restore it to —what? Because I don’t know what it supposed to look like inside. See, that’s where my area of expertise leaves. me. I know what 1875 houses in East Coast cities look like. I do not know what 1875 houses on the prairie are supposed to look like, and this one has had several additions and deletions to confuse. It is not an architectural whole. It is way different from the houses in St. Louis.

shitshow.

My dream for this house this is that a couple in their 50s who have money and who love old houses would buy it and make it whole. I truly think any historical society ownership project will simply limp along, But I will keep my lip zipped about that although I have shared my skepticism with my cousin.

[iris lilies]

Oh well the more I think about this more I am annoyed with the small town where I grew up. The only reason this house is anything special is because it is there in a sea of unspecialNess. If it was in any number of Midwestern towns and cities it would not be all that special.

[frugal-one]

Do you want to do this? Can you decline? You don't live in Iowa.... sounds like a headache (IMO) unless it is something you are passionate about.

[catherine]

Why is the historical society interested in your house? No offense intended--it's just that if the area isn't known for historical architecture, what is their mission in terms of preserving your house?

[iris lilies]

Why is the historical society interested in your house? No offense intended--it's just that if the area isn't known for historical architecture, what is their mission in terms of preserving your house?

It’s the only thing of interest in the entire town?

Ha ha, That’s a little harsh but I couldn’t wait to get out of there. This house was built by one of the town’s founders and they would like to preserve it and use it as a historical center for the community. There are ideas of having part of it be a house museum, part an art gallery for local artists, a program venue, a party/wedding rented place. Their ideas of renting out parts of it for weddings might work because it has a big yard that COULD be nicely landscaped.

Apparently they are running out of room for their collections at the current location which is part of why this thing is a shitshow because the collection is entirely unorganized. Just getting more room to pile more unorganized, uncataloged stuff is not helpful to anyone it’s just hoarding.
I do have an ulterior motive and that is to get in the house to see how it’s fared over these last 50-ish years. With this committee assignment I have a chance to do that.

[ToomuchStuff]

What part of Iowa?

[iris lilies]

What part of Iowa?

Altoona, Iowa.

[Tradd]

Well, IL, will definitely be interesting to hear what happens and what sort of condition the house is in.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay----I'm wondering if you've checked to see if it's stigmamatized? Have you hired a Paranormal Group to assess the property for paranormal activity? It does look very spooky. But, yeah---most big old Victorians do look spooky. That one reminds me of the(Lizzy) Borden House out east. Yup. It might be best to put the place in the hands of a well-funded, experienced catt rescuer. There are some catts that can't successfully be placed in a furever home, due to too much cattitude or chronic ailments, but I know they'd love sitting on all those window sills. So consider that a possible avenue to go down. Yup. Hope that helps you some.2022-07-22 (8).jpg

[littlebittybobby]

Okay----here's a photo of an old, old hospital in NYC, built in 1884 and used as Memorial Hospital until oh, about 1930. It has since been converted into residential housing units. But yeah---that thing looks scary, doesn't it? Yikes, them Noo-yawkahs have nerves o' steel, ta live in a place like that! Usually, in the midwest(flyover country) places like that get torn down. Yup.2022-08-24 (12).jpg