For the most part, this house is unchanged from when it was built in 1910. The doors, floors, trim and lighting are mostly original. The only places with substantial alterations are the kitchen and main floor powder room. As we tore these rooms apart, we made some interesting discoveries.

Unexpected Wall Finishes

One of our discoveries was in plain sight–we just didn’t know what we were seeing. The kitchen walls had what we thought was a textured wall paper from the 1950s. It turns out it was really “faux tile” made out of plaster in 1910. Faux tile plaster was quite common in that era, as it was cheaper than tile and in this house, we see clear differences between the materials used in the rooms used by servants. It involved scoring the plaster with lines before it was completely cured, and sometimes it was even faux painted to look more like real tile. I would have loved to keep a portion of this wall, but none of the intact “tiles” were on walls that we will use in our future kitchen. Darrin did manage to cut out a section, though, so we can use it somewhere in our décor.

David and I were also surprised when the kitchen walls were removed. The exterior walls are all double brick. The interior brick is the one that no one was ever supposed to see, while the exterior brick is higher quality. We love the look of brick, but we also need to have a wall to hide the pipes and insulation that we will be adding.

Exterior brick

The two types of brick used in the house

The entire main floor has a double layer of brick walls.

Disappointing Kitchen Floor

We knew that there was a hardwood floor under the kitchen vinyl but we didn’t know what kind of shape it was in. We were hoping that we could stain or paint it for our new kitchen floor. However, we discovered many things that prevent us from doing that. First, the subfloor that was placed over the wood was attached with a ridiculous number of nails. They were literally hand pounded in every few inches! But, we hoped that we could still use the wood if we painted it instead of staining.

Then we discovered all of the holes in the floor in the powder room. Not only were there holes for the toilet and sink, but there were also holes from the original toilet and sink and a few holes that were inexplicable. We discovered that the current powder room was built in 1946 because the carpenters signed their work. Some of the shims used in the construction were from a Clementine crate that was dated March 1940.

Finally, we found that one section of the floor wasn’t wood at all. It was cement put in place as a fire-retardant for the old cook stove.

Cement flooring for the cook stove

Lots of holes in the old powder room floor

We also found that the original kitchen floor was linoleum. This was a common flooring for kitchens at that time. Linoleum is not the same as vinyl. Linoleum was found by accident in 1861 when linseed oil oxidized into a skin from a can of paint.  It is made from natural components like linseed oil, tree resin, wood and cork flours, limestone and pigments with a jute backing. Vinyl was introduced to the public in 1933 and is made from petroleum products. We have found a modern linoleum product that we love and will look perfect in our 1910-inspired kitchen.

Master Bathroom Mystery

When we pulled out the clawfoot tub, we found an envelope attached to the side of the tub by magnets. Unfortunately, it was empty. We don’t really know why it was there, but my speculation is that it was a place to store money. But who knows? Perhaps it was a hidden love letter.

We found examples of excellent craftsmanship like the lead pipe trap leading from the tub. But we also found a leaky old pipe that had been wrapped in electrical tape before being closed up behind the new powder room ceiling!

Lead trap from tub

Pipe wrapped in electrical tape

The Nicest Kind of Discovery

We have also discovered the friendly people of Cranbury. Many have stopped by to say hello. We have been invited to dinner, parties and other activities. And this package was left on our kitchen counter (back when we had a kitchen counter!)