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Duracuir1
··Never Used A KodakMy wife and I have been fortunate to have her very handy and willing father - who is 85 and going strong - when we bought properties over the years. The handy part has been good, we buy cheap and renovate.
This story is about a large 140 plus year old duplex that we bought in 2016. It had been vacant for more than 15 years and despite a beautiful Victorian silhouette, it was falling apart.
We located the owner, a man in New York who was the NOK when the last surviving family member died circa 2000. The house had been in the family since new.
We visited the house. The interior was grand, and the house was furnished. Antiques everywhere. It would take a lot of effort for the owner to clean it out. We bought it with all contents.
I was excited about a “grandfather clock” in the great room.
We took possession of the house about a week before Christmas, and about three weeks after I had been diagnosed with cancer.
I was a patrol sergeant at the time and during a few quiet opportunities I brought my work partner to the old house. Going there felt like being on American Pickers. The added benefit was that I owned the house. The one challenge, however, was preventing my father in law from hiring someone to clean out the place so he could eagerly begin to work. I was on a stretch of six night shifts so supervising the old fellow was impossible.
One night, I checked out the old house and noticed drywall sheets leaning up against the clock. I was not pleased.
I called my neighbour (jeweller) and good friend. “I need you to help me remove that old clock before my father in law uses it as a saw horse” I said. “Yeah it’s real busy (Christmas time) and we’ll do it after Christmas” he said. My reply was “No! Now! Please!”
He is an amazing man. He picked up the clock, brought it to our home and got it working perfectly on the spot. He properly serviced it soon after.
The clock has a beautiful sounding Westminster chime with hourly strikes. The heartbeat of our old house. It has a Junghans movement. It is an 8 day clock and I enjoy keeping it on time. I pull the chains every Sunday night.
During one of my visits a neighbour walked over. I was in a police car - a marked Chevy Tahoe and he was concerned. I told this neighbour that I was the new owner. He immediately pointed to the largest house in town - right next door, and said that the owner of that house had entered our new property in the past and taken the grand piano, hall tree and other items. “Well. As long as nobody enters from now on I am ok with that” I said. “Well, just so you know, I took all of the fishing tackle and some tools” he confessed…
My tour of duty ended and I had two weeks off. I inventoried enough items to fill 72 large plastic totes. It was fun to learn about the history of the house. I found a military medal on the ground (12 year service medal with the owner’s name). He had died in the late 1930s at a very young age. I still have the medal.
It was clear during my cleanup that the house had been rummaged through. I found a small pouch with a half sovereign from 1893. It also contained several gold and diamond rings. My jeweller estimated that the diamonds were from the Victorian age based on their cut. The hiding place was fantastic and eluded some pillaging neighbours for years.
I did not find a single watch, however. These fell prey to the neighbours, or maybe the NOK managed to save them.
The garage contained even older furniture, stuff that would have qualified as antiques even a hundred years ago.
I mentioned my cancer diagnosis, and treatment / surgery prevented me from saving the oldest pieces. I simply ran out of time and my father in law gave most of it away. I did save a few items, including a much older clock. The case and the empty “head?” towered above everything else in the garage. The rough finish and old bubbly glass giving away its age.
I also found a dial and movement, weights and pendulum in the basement of the old house. I dropped the pieces, excluding the case, to my jeweller and to my great pleasure, he repaired the old clock.
The most heartwarming part of this story is that my neighbour, helped by my wife, delivered the old clock only a day or two after I left the hospital, at my weakest and most vulnerable state.
The clock stands proudly in our fireplace room. The pendulum is bent just right to provide accurate timekeeping. I wind this 30 hour clock each morning.
I have deactivated the strike on this old one. My wife describes its sound as a Boxing bell.
If the house catches fire, it’s one of the items I hope to save.
This story is about a large 140 plus year old duplex that we bought in 2016. It had been vacant for more than 15 years and despite a beautiful Victorian silhouette, it was falling apart.
We located the owner, a man in New York who was the NOK when the last surviving family member died circa 2000. The house had been in the family since new.
We visited the house. The interior was grand, and the house was furnished. Antiques everywhere. It would take a lot of effort for the owner to clean it out. We bought it with all contents.
I was excited about a “grandfather clock” in the great room.
We took possession of the house about a week before Christmas, and about three weeks after I had been diagnosed with cancer.I was a patrol sergeant at the time and during a few quiet opportunities I brought my work partner to the old house. Going there felt like being on American Pickers. The added benefit was that I owned the house. The one challenge, however, was preventing my father in law from hiring someone to clean out the place so he could eagerly begin to work. I was on a stretch of six night shifts so supervising the old fellow was impossible.
One night, I checked out the old house and noticed drywall sheets leaning up against the clock. I was not pleased.
I called my neighbour (jeweller) and good friend. “I need you to help me remove that old clock before my father in law uses it as a saw horse” I said. “Yeah it’s real busy (Christmas time) and we’ll do it after Christmas” he said. My reply was “No! Now! Please!”
He is an amazing man. He picked up the clock, brought it to our home and got it working perfectly on the spot. He properly serviced it soon after.
The clock has a beautiful sounding Westminster chime with hourly strikes. The heartbeat of our old house. It has a Junghans movement. It is an 8 day clock and I enjoy keeping it on time. I pull the chains every Sunday night.
During one of my visits a neighbour walked over. I was in a police car - a marked Chevy Tahoe and he was concerned. I told this neighbour that I was the new owner. He immediately pointed to the largest house in town - right next door, and said that the owner of that house had entered our new property in the past and taken the grand piano, hall tree and other items. “Well. As long as nobody enters from now on I am ok with that” I said. “Well, just so you know, I took all of the fishing tackle and some tools” he confessed…
My tour of duty ended and I had two weeks off. I inventoried enough items to fill 72 large plastic totes. It was fun to learn about the history of the house. I found a military medal on the ground (12 year service medal with the owner’s name). He had died in the late 1930s at a very young age. I still have the medal.
It was clear during my cleanup that the house had been rummaged through. I found a small pouch with a half sovereign from 1893. It also contained several gold and diamond rings. My jeweller estimated that the diamonds were from the Victorian age based on their cut. The hiding place was fantastic and eluded some pillaging neighbours for years.
I did not find a single watch, however. These fell prey to the neighbours, or maybe the NOK managed to save them.
The garage contained even older furniture, stuff that would have qualified as antiques even a hundred years ago.
I mentioned my cancer diagnosis, and treatment / surgery prevented me from saving the oldest pieces. I simply ran out of time and my father in law gave most of it away. I did save a few items, including a much older clock. The case and the empty “head?” towered above everything else in the garage. The rough finish and old bubbly glass giving away its age.
I also found a dial and movement, weights and pendulum in the basement of the old house. I dropped the pieces, excluding the case, to my jeweller and to my great pleasure, he repaired the old clock.
The most heartwarming part of this story is that my neighbour, helped by my wife, delivered the old clock only a day or two after I left the hospital, at my weakest and most vulnerable state.
The clock stands proudly in our fireplace room. The pendulum is bent just right to provide accurate timekeeping. I wind this 30 hour clock each morning.
I have deactivated the strike on this old one. My wife describes its sound as a Boxing bell.
If the house catches fire, it’s one of the items I hope to save.
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