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History
Ownership
The
house was built in 1890 as a summer home for a wealthy import - export
family from New York named the Hasselgreen's. I have not yet
determined how long they owned the house for. Fanwood and the
surrounding towns were considered excellent vacation areas for the elite
during this period, because of the recently established railroad. I
don't believe that the Hasselgreen's used this house as their full-time
residence as it was only heated by fireplaces. A hot water heating
system was added later. The house was purchased in 1920 by the
Hope family. Mrs. Hope, who was apparently an opera singer in New
York lived here until she died in 1970. The property was sub-divided
into multiple lots that same year. The original property consisted
of multiple acres with a pond, a barn, and a Carriage house. The
carriage house was moved and is now a residence on Watson road.
The house was purchased in 1971 by the Garrison family who raised their
eight children here. The house remained in the Garrison family
until Yvonne and I purchased it in late winter 2001. We plan to do
a more thorough title search soon to fill in the missing gaps. Stay
tuned.
Original
Construction Costs
The
following costs were taken from a Victorian House plan book called
"The Building of a Modern House" by Russell Sturgis published
in 1888. The costs are based on an almost identical house to this
one. I made changes to quantities of things like windows and doors
to increase it's accuracy.
·
Excavation – 200 yards @ .25
per yard = $50.00
·
Masonry – 20,000 brick, foundation and chimneys (complete) @
$15.00 per 1000 = $300.00
·
Plaster - 1250 yards plastering @ .30 per yard = $375.00
·
2700 squares slate @ .09 each = $243.00
·
Lumber
o
6000 ft of
timber @ $20.00 per 1000 ft = $120.00
o
120 Joists
@ .16 each = $19.20
o
300 wall
strips @ .11 each = $33.00
o
5400 feet
sheathing @ .03 per foot = $162.00
o
450
Clapboards @ .16 each = $72.00
o
31 bunches
of Shingles @ $1.50 per bunch = $46.50
o
950 feet
outside flooring @ .05 per foot = $47.50
o
3350 feet
Inside Flooring @ .04 per foot = $134.00
o
8 Cellar
Windows @ $3.00 each = $24.00
o
57 Windows
@ $8.00 each = $456.00
o
42 Doors @
$7.00 each = $294.00
o
3
Staircases @ $13.00 each = $39.00
o
1 Basement
Stairs = $4.00
o
1 Wrap
Around Porch (finished) = $72.00
·
7 kegs of nails @ $4.00 each = $28.00
·
Stain & Varnish = $25.00
·
4 Marble Fireplace Mantles @ $30.00 = $120.00
·
Copper Gutters and Leaders = $28.00
·
Carting of Materials = $25.00
·
Painting (labor & materials) = $240.00
·
Carpenter’s Labor = $315.00
·
Gas piping and lighting fixtures (installed) = $85.00
Total
(labor included) = $3,357.20
People in the
Victorian Age really got into their work
An
interesting, little-known fact about the construction of plaster walls
in this era is the fact that they used to mix human hair into the
plaster to give it strength. Barber's would collect the hair
clippings from the floor of their shops and sell it to the plaster
workers as sort of a side business. During the removal of some of
the old plaster in the house, some very distinct hair samples were
uncovered. In one afternoon I collected samples of blondes,
brunettes, brown, and auburn hair.
Even the Great-Grand-children of these people are most likely past away yet
a piece of them still gives strength to these old walls. When
these people went to the barber in the 1880's, I imagine that they had no idea
that their hair would be seen again over a century later. Pretty
cool eh?
If
you have any questions please e-mail us at: CSchaible@home.com
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