Enough about the lack of posts, onto the good stuff!
Our house was built in 1901 in the small, but growing, town of Bedford, Indiana. At the time Bedford was known for one thing, Limestone. Out of her quarries came limestone that would be used to build some of the most iconic structures that this country has to offer. The Empire State Building and the Pentagon are just a couple of examples.
The limestone industry brought many new faces to Bedford. Some from other cities and towns in Indiana and some from abroad. Carl Furst was one of them. Born in Germany and a mason by trade he made the move to the U.S.A. and initially settled in Chicago but in 1898 was drawn south to Bedford by the allure of the Limestone business. Once here, he and his cousin, Henry, established the Furst, Kerber & Co. and the rest is history!
3 years later the "Broken House" was born! from what I have been able to put together from newspaper clippings and personal recollections and lore, the house was built using a labor force of men from the Furst-Kerber quarry and cost in the neighborhood of $10,000 to build. That was a LOT of money back in those days! With inflation, it comes out to be roughly $300,000 in today's market. Bear in mind that the total dollar amount spent then doesn't accurately reflect the cost of the limestone used. After talking with a few people that are heavily involved in the current limestone industry here in Bedford, they estimate the limestone used in the building of the house to cost approximately $400,000! That's only for the stone itself!
The limestone used on this house is classified as "Buff" in color which in itself isn't too unusual but the surface finish is as far as a residential property goes. It's known as a "Machine Tooled" finish and can be classified by how many horizontal grooves are cut into the face of the stone per inch henceforth 4-cut, 6-cut & 8-cut.
Our house was bulit on a foundation of huge stacked blocks of limestone and was framed using native pine lumber. All of the exterior walls and some interior walls are true 2"x6" and the rest of the framing is 2"x4". One curious thing about the lumber, our home inspector remarked that most native lumber used to build houses in this area was "rough hewn" and that the wood in this house was more finely finished. He figured that the person who built the house wasn't short on money or resources! We were told that when the house was built the local economy was experiencing a micro- recession and that Mr. Furst used his own quarrymen and laborers to build the house which enabled them to remain employed during the poor times.
The house was piped using 4" cast iron for the waste lines and galvanized pipe for the supply. Clay tile was used from the house to the sewer connection on the street. At this point we aren't to sure what type of boiler was used to heat the water for the radiator system used to heat all three floors. Could have been oil fired or coal fired, not too sure! Water was also available from a well outside the back door which is no longer present but was well documented in some old pictures of the house that we have. There is also a cistern tank right outside the back door that is topped with a limestone pump housing with a handcrank that is still operational, a little rusty but still operational. Over the years the house accumulated a large variety of pipe not original to the house and made from almost every kind of pipe available. Clay Tile, Cast Iron, Copper, Galvanized Steel, ABS and PVC with the only two types not represented being CPVC and PEX!
The radiators in the house still work like a champ! There is a mix of 1950's Crane Baseboard radiators and original Victorian-style ornate sectional radiators which are used to heat all three levels plus the basement. At some point an A/C system was installed to provide cool air only to the 1st floor even though all of the bedrooms except for one are located on the 2nd floor.
The woodwork in this house is still in amazingly good shape for it's age. The floors were kept under carpet for quite some time which aided in it's preservation. There are some dark spots no doubt from animal accidents and people spilling things as well as a few loose boards. The floors are made out of 5/8" thick by 1 3/4" wide oak with maple and walnut inlaid borders. The staircase as well as all of the doors, windows, casings and jambs are all golden oak with a liberal coating of amber shellac. Once again, at some point, various rooms in the house were painted and the oak trim was painted with it. The only good thing is that the previous owners were consistent with how they painted, the insides of the rooms only. So, all of the trim in the Foyer and the main upstairs hallway is all original.
That's all the time I have right now. The next post will include plans for our restoration/remodel and the work that has been done to date. It may take a few (understatement) posts to catch up, but it will get done!
