Fort Madison, Iowa 52627fmiowa.com/albright/albright_house_pics.pdf · Microsoft PowerPoint -...
Transcript of Fort Madison, Iowa 52627fmiowa.com/albright/albright_house_pics.pdf · Microsoft PowerPoint -...
Albright “Betsy Ross” House716 – 718 Avenue F716 718 Avenue F
Fort Madison, Iowa 52627
Rob & Carol Davis
Encased flag that Betsy Ross’s granddaughter, Rachel WilsonRachel Wilson Albright, made at age 93 y/o, and donated to her church.
Smaller flags that Rachel sewed. We’ve been told thatbeen told that Harry Smith of the CBS Morning Show has one of these small flags, as he collects Betsycollects Betsy Ross items.
This is a picture of the house in the early 80s from a news articlenews article. Probably posted in advance of the auction to reclaim back taxes.
Both sides actually had matching fronthad matching front porches but one had already fallen down.
We still have all the ornate brackets to put up under the eaves (76 in all)eaves (76 in all).
This is a picture of the house 20 yrs later, in Oct. 2000, right after we bought itwe bought it.
The “historic” side has always been a residence and has not had a lot of rehabbing.
The “commercial” sideThe commercial side was acquired by the American Legion in the 1920s and extensively gutted and rehabbed.
Hence, the 2 names.
716 Avenue F, 718 Avenue F,716 Avenue F, “historic side”
718 Avenue F, “commercial side”
Th 718 id h d d i iThe 718 side shrouded in ivy, which is very detrimental to old brick and fragile mortar.
This is the house after we boarded up the broken windowswindows.
This is the house in the about 2005‐2006.
The 2 arched windows on the 2nd
floor look the way they do because Rob made screens and put in very heavy duty screenheavy duty screen, and inserted the wood half‐circles to block insects, etc. Eventually they will look “normal.”
This volunteer tree grew next to the 716 foundation and was acting as aand was acting as a lever under the foundation.
Cutting it down was the first thing we did.
Exterior wall without the tree; wall is a little bowed (the straight red line shows)line shows).
The side of the 716 Ave. F residence. We need to replace all thatreplace all that kinked‐up concrete.
I would like to put in a wider brick terrace (4‐ft wide) with Englishwith English gardens.
Side wall of the 718 Ave. F residence.
Ditto here about a brick terrace path.
This is the side view of the entire house, as seen from the house on the corner, with the parking lot and street in between. Doesn’t it look like a six‐flat?!This was taken in Jan 2001 3 mos after we bought itThis was taken in Jan. 2001, 3 mos after we bought it.
This is the rear view of the entire house with the parking lot at the rear of 718 We installed a heftyparking lot at the rear of 718. We installed a hefty electric service in case we decided to rent out any “flats” or whole floors. Still not sure what we’ll do but we’ll have plenty of power to do it!
This is the rear view of the back porch of 716 It hadThis is the rear view of the back porch of 716. It had a rickety staircase going up that kids were using to get inside. Rob tore it down with his bare hands, he was so mad!
This is the rear view of the back porch of 716 now.
We still need to enclose the first floor rear porch, but it’s so much better than it was!
Interior, 716 “historic side”,
Entry of the 716 side, with the arched doors toarched doors to the parlor (to the right) and the dining room (to h l f )the left).
First flight of the 3‐story staircase inside the residence at 716 Avenue F (“historic side”)(“historic side”).
Parlor of the 716 side, with the large i d f i thwindow facing the
street.
Marble FRPL is just jout of frame to the left .
Di i f th 716 id ith th h d d d thDining room of the 716 side, with the arched doors and another door (don’t know why!).
Dining room of the 716 side, with a couple of chairs and a gravestone rubbing of the Betsy Ross granddaughters’ DAR plaque (for a house tour in 2004, first one in decades!)
Many interior doors had ceramic keyhole covers and onyx door knobs. y y yI removed all the covers to keep safe.
Initial condition of a 2nd floor interior room, 716. Not really too bad, considering all the leaking.
3rd floor bedroom on the 716 side, with a gray marble sink, probably circa 1900. Probably too heavy for anyone to take it out. p y y y yOur good fortune!
2nd floor bedroom of 716 historic side. May have been used by a servant, y ybecause the hatch in the floor (original) has a tiny staircase that goes directly to the butler’s pantry below.
Closer look at the hatch and stairs in the floorCloser look at the hatch and stairs in the floor.
These are the t i th tstairs that come down from the 2nd floor bedroom of 716 historic side.
They were obviously meantobviously meant for either a servant or children.
These are locking drawers built into the stairs that come down fromdown from the 2nd floor bedroom of 716 historic idside.
They not only serve as steps, p ,but were also probably used to safely store s garsugar, silverware, etc.
Original condition of the butler’s pantry It and the summer porchpantry. It and the summer porch (visible thru the cupboard) were the most damaged from rain leakage.
Herringbone bricks under the ground at rear of 716. We’ll eventually expose them all but it’s a lot of work, and so many other things to do!
Interior 718 “commercial side”Interior, 718 commercial side
Church across the street (as seen from my front porch) offront porch) of 718 Avenue F (also called the “commercial side”).
It plays Carillon bells at 9 12 3 6bells at 9‐12‐3‐6 every day. Often when I would be exhausted and thinking “why are we doing this?!” the bells would startwould start playing and it was like God saying “hang in h ”there.”
Initial condition of a 1st floor interior room, 718. You can see someone putsee someone put up pegboard at the ceiling as a stop‐gap measure!
Not sure why there is a stone lintel over the cupboardover the cupboard doors but perhaps it was a bricked‐up doorway into which the cupboard (original to the house) had been relocatedbeen relocated during rehab.
Same wall, just down at the floor. All damage due to rain water leakagerain water leakage
718 parlor, pre‐1890.Seated are Elizabeth Campion and Sofia Hildebrandt, and Standing is Rachel Albright Betsy Ross’s granddaughtersAlbright. Betsy Ross’s granddaughters.
718 parlor, 2010. Decorated in cast‐offs, etc.
This was the original interior of the 718 commercial side. Had been used as county offices during the 70s‐80s.
At first glance, we thought these were bathroom stalls and thought “whatbathroom stalls and thought what the heck …?!” Then we realized . . .
All the glass on the floor is from the upper cubicle openings.
This was the original interior of the 718 commercial side. Had been used as county offices during the 70s‐80s.
Big double doors in the 2nd floor of the 718 commercial side.
Inside this room is where we sleepwhere we sleep when we stay there. We have a roughed‐in shower bathroom (green arrow), and the doorway to the new covered porchnew covered porch is toward the rear by the yellow arrow.
When used by the American Legion, the 2nd floor served as a dance hall, so like the 1st floor (the meeting hall), it is one big cavernous space. Will be fun and challenging to devise good floor layouts.
The 3rd floor bedrooms (originally for the children, pre‐1920s) were probably used by the legionnaires as other types of “meeting” rooms (wink, wink!)
You can see a “paint ghost” of the outline of the original porch post, which we cited to help us get a grant to help with the porch rebuilding so both sides could look consistent. The American Legion restyled the porch on 718 to be more “musket‐and‐ball” like.
This is the Mississippi River from a 3rd floor bedroom. Building is our commercial property.