Any Art Deco love out there? My 1935 Art Deco house

[DanielleDeco (WavyGlass)]

Is your realtor 28 so he/she thinks a 35 year old is old? Good idea to ask if the parents have early pictures.

Ohhh, good point! I didn't do the math for how old the son could've been! 35's not old at all, I'm turning 32 in a week or so

A little update, the front hallway is done (yay!) and I'm working on the front bedroom now. Just skimcoating and working on some trim, etc.

Had an electrician move a sconce for me and when he opened up a channel in the wall I got to see what the inside of my walls look like! This bedroom wall is an exterior wall, so I wasn't expecting any insulation in there but I was thinking I'd see some 2x4s at least (I've got only a basic knowledge of home construction, if this is not weird to see, please excuse my ignorance!). It looks like exterior brick, 1x2 furring strips, half inch of fiberboard (beaverboard??), half inch of rock lath on top of that then a thin coat of plaster. The interior walls are built with 2x4s judging by the thickness and a giant square that's cut out form in between my closets. Looks like they all got a layer of fiberboard behind a layer of rock lath then plaster. Any info on why they used both? Was the fiberboard used for insulation? Just curious

Unrelated news, no photos of the house yet, but a random ebay search got me some fun stuff from the original homeowner's ice cream parlor! These are from the 50s/60s (judging by the designs), I'd love to find stuff from the 30s!

Inside the wall:




Fun stuff from the original homeowner's ice cream parlor:

[Don M]

That does seem to be unusual construction. If it is beaver board be careful as it is just compressed paper & may be very flammable. It may be something else entirely.

[matchbookhouse]

That could be Homasote rather than beaverboard. Homasote was first introduced commercially in 1916 and was known for its weather resistance and sound-reducing qualities. It was actually used to construct Byrd's quarters for his 1928-30 Antarctic expedition, and was later used by the Navy to build facilities in the Aleutians, known for their frequent rain (I've been there-it's true. It also rains horizontally due to the constant wind as well). Homasote has a rather ripply surface. BTW, the reason I have researched it so much is that the interior of my house is entirely Homasote, except for updated areas. It was pretty contemporary for this rural area in 1927, ans I can only attribute its use to the owner/builders' association with the nearby Naval Proving Ground, which would also have structures built of the same material during WWI.

[Nicholas]

Nice house, very interesting look, kind of like an adobe but with the Greek -ish look as you put it. I noticed the bathtub has the spigot where the overflow usually is. I saw one like that at a local building salvage place near here. I guess this at the cusp of clawfoot to regular tub.

[kelt65]

I love it! Those are very rare around here, usually I like to think of Art Deco as for public spaces only, but it does really work in a residence if designed that way. That said your options in restoring are ubiquitous - there's beautiful Art Deco lighting and trim available almost everywhere I look. While the style steadfastly refuses to "go with anything else" (kind of like Arts & Crafts) it is gorgeous in a 100% Art Deco environment. Being a grand style, there was Art Deco everything, from wallpaper to cigarette holders to lighting to furniture to architecture (also like Arts & Crafts). Lots of great finds on eBay as well as the reproduction vendors. Are you decking it out with appropriate furnishings and what not? I particularly like the lighting, as long as it's not too batmobile looking.

[Mick_VT]

this thread viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1568 has some light fittings that would IMO look great in your place!

[DanielleDeco (WavyGlass)]

That could be Homasote rather than beaverboard. Homasote was first introduced commercially in 1916 and was known for its weather resistance and sound-reducing qualities. It was actually used to construct Byrd's quarters for his 1928-30 Antarctic expedition, and was later used by the Navy to build facilities in the Aleutians, known for their frequent rain (I've been there-it's true. It also rains horizontally due to the constant wind as well). Homasote has a rather ripply surface. BTW, the reason I have researched it so much is that the interior of my house is entirely Homasote, except for updated areas. It was pretty contemporary for this rural area in 1927, ans I can only attribute its use to the owner/builders' association with the nearby Naval Proving Ground, which would also have structures built of the same material during WWI.

It's been a bit since I've been on here, thanks soooo much for the info! I will say it definitely does sound proof as I'm on a busy street and sometimes I forget as it definitely does as advertised! From what I've seen online it does look more homasote-ish then beaver board. Thanks!!

[DanielleDeco (WavyGlass)]

Nice house, very interesting look, kind of like an adobe but with the Greek -ish look as you put it. I noticed the bathtub has the spigot where the overflow usually is. I saw one like that at a local building salvage place near here. I guess this at the cusp of clawfoot to regular tub.

Thanks a bunch! I didn't realize til you pointed it out about the overflow, so when you said that I went right to the bathroom and was like, oh yeah!

[DanielleDeco (WavyGlass)]

I love it! Those are very rare around here, usually I like to think of Art Deco as for public spaces only, but it does really work in a residence if designed that way. That said your options in restoring are ubiquitous - there's beautiful Art Deco lighting and trim available almost everywhere I look. While the style steadfastly refuses to "go with anything else" (kind of like Arts & Crafts) it is gorgeous in a 100% Art Deco environment. Being a grand style, there was Art Deco everything, from wallpaper to cigarette holders to lighting to furniture to architecture (also like Arts & Crafts). Lots of great finds on eBay as well as the reproduction vendors. Are you decking it out with appropriate furnishings and what not? I particularly like the lighting, as long as it's not too batmobile looking.

I've been LOVING researching Art Deco and regency styles/lighting/details and have been planning on how to integrate as well as I can without breaking the ol' bank I really dig the grand/luxe look so I'm trying to add a bit here and there.

[DanielleDeco (WavyGlass)]

this thread https://www.wavyglass.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1568 has some light fittings that would IMO look great in your place!

Those are sooo COOL. I super dig that blue one, pretty wild. Thanks for the link!