A Happy House!

The Dayton House would like to thank everyone who visited for the open house yesterday.  While it was a bear to get ready for, it was a lot of fun.  This house likes to be shown.

For those who couldn't make it, here is a good idea of what you would have seen:

Living Room and Parlour

Upstairs Bathroom

Downstairs  Bathroom

Downstairs  Bathroom

Front Hall. entryway to upper (left) and lower (right)

Upper Hallway

Front Bedroom

Middle Bedroom

Third Room

There is no picture of the upstairs kitchen/spare room or of the attic.  There was just so much to do!  We were raking leaves and organizing cupboards and actually ended up starting about 20 minutes early  because of vistors waiting outside.  We met some great people.  Second showings are now being set up and we are looking forward to return visitors.

The Dayton House seems to have a strange appeal in general.  We have had a number of people come up to us and tell us that they admire the house -- and have also had a few that say they "feel" things and that the house puts off good/comforting vibes.  That's probably because Dr. Dayton believed in treating anyone in need -- regardless of whether they could pay or not.  It may also be because many Buffalonians were born in this house (upstairs in the middle/brown bedroom that was the birthing room).  People often ask us if the house is "haunted" on account of its age.  We tell them that we have never felt anything of the sort -- but that it is a house where there is a lot of good will.  We certainly hope that everyone who came by yesterday felt that way. 

And for one final note... The middle parlor downstairs has a wall of stunning photography.  The pictures are the work of a local creative force by the name of Greg Meadows.  He has a blog which is listed to the right, named "As I See It."   Greg takes wonderful pictures that are Buffalo-centric and anyone with an eye for fine photography should check his work out!



Open House!

We are ready for the open house tomorrow.... well, we will be.  There's a lot of cleaning still to do.  This is a picture of the big kitchen and a space that gets a lot of use in this old house.  This old house was made for cooking, eating, big meals and home-made food.  It's not shown on the MPLs until now because it was the Ops Center for the recent flurry of home improvement.  The table has been full of light fixtures, electrical outlets, saws, paintbrushes -- you name it, it's been on the table over the past couple of months!

We are looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow.  The listing has prompted calls from prospective buyers, agents and we've had some great conversations with folks coming by to look at the house.   No one's been inside (except if you count the carpet installer and various tradespeople) so we are eager now to open the doors to all.

The open house is from 1-3PM and we promise to have coffee and cider on hand.  The weather is supposed to be great so we hope whomever stops by will spend a few moments enjoying the day -- and the wonderful view of St. Francis.  Buffalo is beautiful in the fall and we feel we are opening the house at the best possible time of the year.

We hope to see you!

Radiators

This house runs two boilers.  One for each floor, each on separate meters.  This is because the house is zoned as a double.  This also serves the purpose of letting us sort of "zone" our heating.  We can keep the upstairs at a lower temperature because of the heat rising from the first floor. 

The heat in the house is also rather steady because it is provided via radiators.  These are hot water, not steam.  This makes them a little easier to deal with.  While we have not had to have any service calls for the radiators, we have had to deal with a few furnace issues over the year.  In fact both boilers (Dunkirks) have been replaced in the past ten years.  It costs less to buy and have hot water boilers installed than it does with steam.  There are many more technicians who know how to work with water boilers than there are those compent with steam.

This is the detail of one radiator.  We have about six or seven like this.  The one in the formal dining room downstairs is twice as long as the others like it in the house.  There are also smaller radiators in less prominent rooms.  We try to keep them painted with a metallic finish because that is supposed to increase their effectiveness.  A periodic coat of rustoleum and regular bleeding is about all it takes to keep these in good shape.

They're functional and also beautiful. 

More on the Floor

We have more flooring to tackle.  Tomorrow an installer will be here to put new wall to wall down in the upstairs hallways and the third bedroom.  This is the front hallway as it looks today.  The walls, trim and ceiling have been painted and the old carpet ripped up.  We've put in a new light fixture but it isn't visible here.  The color is admittedly not "real estate agent beige" designed to appeal the masses, but we found this blue very striking and have used it in other areas in the house to great advantage.

We are not exposing the original pine flooring.  Gary had put a sub-flooring down over it because he did not think it was salvageable.  The layer is nailed and glued and I don't think we could have feasibly pulled it up.  This shot of the two stairs that connect the c. 1840 original section of the house to the c. 1875 addition show vestiges of the old pine plank. I figured I'd document the image in case future owners are curious.  This is what is under the rug!

This is what we consider the third bedroom and it's getting the same carpet as the hallways.  The carpet that was put down by Gary was glued so soundly that we could not get it up, so it's going to stay as a base layer.  For anyone who is curious, this layer was covered when we first bought the house 15 years ago.  One of the first things we did, was paint that room and put in new carpet.  The room itself and the carpet were in fine condition -- we just wanted a different color scheme.  If the carpet seems marked up or dirty in this picture, it's because it's been through a few painting projects.

The carpet tomorrow has been purchased through G&L Flooring, which is on Grant St.  We have purchased all carpeting in the house through them as we really like dealing with Paul Murphy.  I'll put up pictures once the carpeting is done and expect it to look great.

Formal Dining Room

The floor in the dining room is done.  There were also other finishing touches that needed to be made.  The room is  big and we have held some big dinners in it.  This is a great room for entertaining and we are proud to finally be able to show it.  Many great meals are sure to be served here!

A couple of sets of ugly pipes ran through the room.  They were for the radiators upstairs.  Nothing would make them look attractive and since we never have problems with them, we decided to encase them.  These are finished at the ceiling and floor and now they fade right into the wall.  Hiding the pipes gives the room a much more "finished" appearance.

Insulation

Since the carpet downstairs is up, it is time to insulate.  This is being put up under the floor joists in the cellar and should help save on heating bills this winter.  The planks in the living room and parlour are pretty tight as it is and no air is getting up from below, but insulation can't hurt!

This product will hold up well to the sometimes damp conditions common to cellars.  Also, since the furnaces are also directly under that section of the house, it's not quite as frigid as one might think.  Either way, you can't go wrong with insulation in an old house!  This is a wonderful way to insulate an old house because you don't have to tear anything up or close it in.

The open house is on Saturday, November 5th and a lot will be done by then!  This obviously isn't something that is necessary for us as owners who will be moving out, but we wanted to see it done because we  believe in energy conservation and that old homes can be as energy efficient as new ones.

Hit the Floor!

This is the large dining room which is the third room on the first floor.  This carpet was in really bad shape and had to go.

This is enough laminate to cover 300 sqft of floor, which is the approximate size of the room.  There will be a few panels left over.

This is a big job.  The old carpet was torn out and there was a lot of glue on the floor beneath it.  i

As of right now, we are about 2/3 of the way through.  It really brightens up the room!

This was the floor underneath. It seemed to be a very nicely configured parquet.  Not sure why it was covered.  But there was a serious layer of glue on it and it was never going to be salvageable.  We had no choice but to put down a new floor.  Laminate seemed to be the most durable and affordable option.

We hope this room will be done this week!