The end of the porch that jutted out to form an "L" shape has been eliminated. When we made the decision, it was for a number of reasons. First, if you look back to the Sanborn map showing this house in the 1860's, that was the original foot print of porch. This section didn't exist (and we think the 1969 date on the newspaper backs this up). Also, it costs less to rebuild less. The section shown here had a door at the end of the porch. It went nowhere -- it was boarded up on the other side. There was a window too but all it served to do was offer a view of the junk we had stored on the shelves. It was OK to have the storage, but it was cold out there so the area was basically ignored in the winter. The interior side of this area shared a wall with our coat closet and some of it was lost. The glass in the window will be donor glass to repair broken panes elsewhere in the house.
This window has been eliminated too. This first section of the porch (which covers the basement trap door) was open at one point. Now it is enclosed without a window. This was done for two reasons. First, the ledges only ever stored junk so there was nothing nice to see through them. Secondly, the porch was cold. The entire area is now insulated and we expect this will make the house warmer in the winter. No draft will be getting in from the side door. The glass from this window will also end up in other panes. Gary, the previous owner, used to pick up scrap windows and glass on trash day and that helped restore a lot of the old glass in the house.
We did lose 18 inches in the hall closet. But that too has been insulated, which will make for a warmer parlor. This house has an abundance of closets. Losing three feet of storage between the two areas won't hurt much -- and the added insulation should be a help.
Pictures will be posted of the interior once it's entirely finished -- painting and shelving still remains to be done. But this peek offers a view of what was eliminated. And it won't be missed.
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