I recently received an anonymous letter from one of the former owners of This Odd House (I was the anonymous addressee). Somehow, word had gotten back that his former house had again changed hands and that there was remodeling and construction activity going on. He didn’t know me, but of course he knew my address.
It was a revealing letter describing how his parents had acquired the store, he had grown up in the house, it had been converted to a duplex, and then he had taken ownership and carried the remodeling on.
Among the interesting tidbits was that he was the visionary to put the time capsules into the walls. And it was his father to credit/blame for the exterior style of the house. Over the protests of the son, the mansard roof was installed. His father had also been the one to lower the ceilings from their original ten-foot store height.
I think I would have made different choices over which ceilings to drop, and I know that not everyone finds mansard roofs attractive: love them or hate them, they are distinctive in our particular community.
The final treasure in the letter was a copy of the MLS listing for the store when his parents bought it in 1969. It includes a small black and white picture of the store, truly the “before” picture of this continuing transformation.
I’m excited to establish this contact. I hope to learn much more about the colorful history of This Odd House!
The MLS listing for This Odd House in its 1969 incarnation.
Wow! What an exciting opportunity. It is really fun to see the house/store in it’s original “splendor.” How fun for you!
Very cool! I hope he will continue to exchange info and perhaps more photos!