We’ve been in-contract on the house for about 72 hours now and I’ve spent about every minute of that time studying every square inch of every single photo I can get my hands on magnified by, like, the Hubble telescope. Obsessed? Yup. Here’s what I’ve got so far, some facts and some speculation.
The house on Avenue B is at least 115 years old. THOAB is depicted on the Sanford Map Company’s fire insurance map dated February 1903. There we are in the very bottom right corner. I suspect the other little building is our outhouse. For good or bad, that no longer exists. Our realtor, Jessica, said the sellers’ realtor has a file of documents on the house with some documents so old and frail Jessica said she was afraid to touch them. I’m hoping we get that file when we close on the house. I suspect we will, because small towns are like that. People are still nice for no other reason than….well, that’s just what you do, you be nice to folks.
From what I can tell studying the interior photos, the house maintains 90% or more of its original everything. What a win! Floors, windows, doors, doorknobs, walls, ceilings, it’s all there.
The house changed shape between 1907 and 1923. The 1907 Sanford map shows no change to the house from the 1903 map, but the 1923 map shows changes. I offer you Exhibits A & B. The house sits on the SW corner of Avenue B and Elm Street.
Continuing clockwise around the house…
The House on Avenue B 