I’m new here and I’m no expert, but it’s clear that Mr Beck was REALLY REALLY sorry for his indiscretions and spared absolutely no expense on this apology.
Just wow! Found your channel tonight and now I eagerly await your next production. What a grand home you are privileged to own and restore. Love your choice of music too! What a labor of love you have embarked upon. Enjoy the journey.
My favorite old house features are back stairs, alcoves, and any little secret that a visitor would never suspect, like "hidden" rooms. Contemporary houses are no fun; they're just boxes to put yourself in when not working, and nothing's more boring that an "open floor plan."
I realize these old homes need a lot of work, probably too much for me who can barely swing a hammer, but I just love their charm and history and kudos to you for being someone who can restore these beautiful old homes.
I grew up in Fairfield and walked by this house often. It was my dream house and the inspiration for me to buy the house I live in in Centralia IL which looks very much like it! So fun to get to see the inside and happy you are restoring this beauty
I viewed this video earlier today and later on I saw a movie from 1945 called Scarlett Street starting Edward G. Robinson. In one scene, he was cleaning the kitchen table and you could see an ornate square toaster on that table and the cord was connected to the above light fixture, which he promptly disconnected. I enjoy watching these old movies and was surprised that I was able to see how an outlet on a fixture was used.
My 1913 model had steam heat too. The radiators were removed at some point. The shadow of the boiler remains on the basement floor as well as bits of the corresponding system components.
15:34 So wonderfully amazing that you 1) found this beautiful home and 2) inherited all the original items. A well cared for home. And now YOU are restoring its original beauty! ❤❤ (Makes me a little teary.)
You are so LUCKY to have found this amazing home with so many wonderful original features and it is so lucky to have you for its stewards. I’m so looking forward to seeing your next video.
What a gem, I'm hooked! I subscribed almost immediately. You're so lucky that nearly every original feature survived intact. Having to undo tasteless "modernizations" on a historic beauty like yours costs WAY more than maintaining/repairing/restoring what you have. I love the original stained glass windows and light fixtures too! Your beautifully embellished radiators provide dustless heat, a real plus. I remember having far less winter static electricity with radiator heat vs. modern forced air or electric baseboard heat. Did you find this to be true? Also, how old is your boiler, and what utility fuels it? You mentioned that your winter bills were cheaper than your old, smaller house. Iowa winters are brutal, and your ceilings are high, so I'm curious. Thanks for sharing your projects with us!
I am wondering if the safe was disassembled and brought down in pieces. Also I am a new sub and I loved the video! I laughed out loud several times thank you for the great content!
A beautiful, beautiful house and so pleased it has both of you to look after it, But ..What did Mr Beck have, that needed such a big powerful safe ? Thank you for sharing with us.
Thats another mystery. We know both Beck (Hotelier) and 2nd house owner (1913-1962) both lent money to locals. The original house before this belonged to the Judge in Fairfield and was torn down in 1892 by Mr. Beck and the dates on the safe are circa 1870
You can still have a central vacuum installed today! It is actually a very smart solution. Today, luckily, it turns on when you plug the hose in. It is great for people with allergies, because it actually removes all the dust from the rooms.
Beautiful home one suggestion is try and find some old house journals they were written by old house owners. The black and whites were the best. They were so useful when we were restoring our home
FANTASTIC house and great videos!! A few observations: It appears you have hot-water radiators, not steam radiators...the hot-water system that you apparently have, 12:03, has both an inlet and outlet pipe which would likely indicate a hot-water supply and return system, whereas a steam system usually has one supply pipe and an air valve to let the air exit as the radiator fills with steam; these often whistle/sputter as this occurs. Also, a hot-water system should have a small valve to manually bleed the air out with a key, to allow for full water capacity. I have lived with both types and this is my observation. Regarding the chandeliers, note at 15:16 one of the gas jets has been replaced with a Welsbach gas light, which would have had a mantle and glass chimney that would supply an incandescent light much brighter than the usual jet- and possibly more lumens than early light bulbs. Similar mantles are used on Coleman gas lanterns and Aladdin kerosene lamps today. One convention of portable oil lamps- of having a lamp in the center of a table- was a little tougher to emulate without an electric cord snaking over to the table from a wall outlet. The chandelier with the socket- 16:17- was a brilliant way to accomplish this without losing a light bulb. While the modern two pronged plug wasn't patented until 1921 and early electric appliances did have an Edison screw-in plug, same screw as the modern light bulb, it doesn't seem to me that one of the grander rooms of the house would have had an appliance used there, especially with the socket inconveniently out of reach. What was called a "drop-light" could have also been accomplished with a gasolier using a shepherd's crook attachment fitting over a gas jet and a rubber hose dropping to a portable gas light on the center table. Note in the illustration that follows- likely from the 50s ?- the couple is clearly displaced and under duress from the kitchen being painted. Behind her left elbow are the globe and light bulb removed from the dining room fixture to allow a "Y" tap to be screwed in to temporarily power the hot plate and coffee percolator, while the electric receptacle is tantalizingly in plain sight behind the painter- but not available! WELL...this got wordier than I though! I have collected and studied antique lighting devices since I was lad and sincerely admire your restoration efforts and all those lovely original fixtures. Ceiling fans were the first things I removed after buying my pre-war home. Subscribed and looking forward to more updates! 😃
Like many others in your audience, I find the background music distracting. It overtakes your narrative. I don't want to miss a word, so I've replayed partial episodes. Sadly, I won't always have time for that. Perhaps use the current music for your intro and exit only? If you feel music is a vital component of your content, could you please choose a softer, quieter tune of the era for the body of your videos? I submit this feedback respectfully. I admire the work that you put into making each episode fun and interesting.
I've been thinking the same thing, if you really like the music then use it for the beginning and then switch to softer music or nothing. Just feel its too much of same thing. But you are doing a good job otherwise. 😊
What a lovely old Victorian house, and wonderful that you are the new owners! Great job with the video, music is great and goes well with the narrative. New subscriber!❤
Great house and great videos . Keep taking us along for the ride, it will be a long one with ups and downs but always another project (ding) to do ,Love it.
14:50 -- So, theorhetically, the 'Gasolier' light would have had BOTH gas and electricity running through the same fixture. If that's true then are we to believe that the amount of light output would be double what we are seeing in the video? The reason I'm asking is because even through the video what you're showing us right now with just the electric lights only on it's still putting out a fair amount of bright light so it's hard from me to imagine that anybody would have ever needed more light than that.
@manuellubian5709 historically speaking I don't know how they were used for general lighting. I'd assume the gas was what most people were use to at the time and would've been a lot less light but electric would be used when you really wanted to impress and illuminate. But I'm no expert
I would never give a negative comment, so I hope you consider this constructive criticism. I love listening to the history of the house. Your home is beautiful. But the background music was terribly annoying and made listening hard. I can't wait for more on your beautiful house! Just less music please.
