Original Gill Drawings have arrived

The drawings arrived from the UCSB archive which archives Irving Gill's remaining drawings.  I had mentioned to Dean at the post office that we were expecting them, so he called me to let me know they were in.  When I arrived he handed me this mailing tube:

I looked at the small, crumpled tube, felt a bit disappointed, and then noticed the return address.  It was not from the UCSB Art Museum. 

He started laughing.  The day I mentioned to him that we were expecting a package from UCSB and that it would be in a tube, I realized after the fact “boy, you really set yourself up for a practical joke.” 

Dean did not disappoint.  Luckily, the package had actually arrived.  Dean didn’t cause me to find my shoes and hobble into the post office (on a two-hour freshly broken set of toes) just for a cheap little cardboard tube. 

The contents of the tube will keep us busy for a very, very long time.  We have only given them a cursory exam but have learned some fascinating things that I will explain in detail over the next few weeks.  I list my first impressions below, but may develop about 75 other opinions as I look at each of these in more detail.

Remodeling we never imagined:

●      The house had three bathrooms originally.  It now has five. 

●      The kitchen layout has changed rather dramatically.  One wall is now open to the dining room.  Kitchen windows were closed up.  The plans called for the sink to be in the middle of the room.

Confirmation of changes we knew:

●      We knew from Thomas Hines who discovered the house in 1999 that it was supposed to be made of logs.  The elevation drawings are beautiful.

●      We have very few original doors.  We may have one original window in the house, but it is not in the plans.  The little house may have a couple of original transoms.

●      The house had three porches, all of which have been enclosed. 

●      My parents removed the original range hood in the kitchen.

Things I had hoped to find and did:

●      The plan includes furniture – kitchen cabinets, sideboards for the dining room, and wardrobes for the bedrooms.

●      I had hoped that my parents had not removed any original windows.  Indeed, they did not.

Things I had hoped to find and didn’t:

●      The look of the original banister.  Under the log home plan, the plan was based on logs.  The railing would have been a wall of logs, rather than balusters that were likely used.

●      The plan for paneling.  I didn’t think this wish through very thoroughly.  All of the walls in the plan are made of log.  The little house has some wood paneling on the walls which will give us a clue about the original look in the main house.

●      Plans for redwood bath tubs.  I heard that this house had redwood tubs and hoped they were in the plans.  The layout for the bathrooms was indicated, but no tub plans.

Original floor plan details that do not match the plans:

●      It appears that the east and west porches originally had two additional sets of French doors going north and south into the adjoining rooms.  In each of these porch rooms, there is evidence in the shingles of previous openings.  These doors are not in the plan but added a great deal to the airflow in the house.  They appear to have been closed in the 1950s when a major remodel happened. 

●      Closets.  Two rooms have closets that are original based on their flooring, but are not in the plans.  However, the plans have some comments written in about these closets.  In one room the layout matches the comments.  In another room, the layout is changed yet again from those comments.

●      Attic space doors.  The plans call for crawl-space sorts of openings.  The doors to the attic spaces appear to be original.

●      The southern side of the house has a window in the attic space above the 2^nd floor.  It is a very old window and is likely original to the house.  It is not in the plans.

Comments

[Greg]

Great find. I would love to find plans for my house, or even an old photo. Grrr!

[Don McLean]

Great house, very interesting history. There are small wood working shops on the East coast & Canada that can make wood replacement windows should you decide to go that way. You might also do a web search for antique building parts salvage companies to see if you can find replacements that way. Good Luck, Don

[Amanda Rose]

Hi Don. Thanks so much for the information. We are definitely planning to restore the original window plans.