Clawson

A Montgomery Ward Wardway Norwood, this classic American four-square was built in 1920. The third owners currently live there. The second owner did alot of work to retain the original charm of this house, but the great recession took its toll, and when he moved out, all of the light fixtures went with him. Luckily, the current owner fixes up old houses for a living.

Steve’s future rendering.

Walk thru the front door…..

Mahogany is nice, beveled glass french doors, original glass doorknobs, cool.

Proportions…..good heavens, is that…….. Mahogany paneling?

And a cafe door? And cove ceiling?

First we the sand the floors.

Then, for whatever reason, we thought the front hall needed something.

No inlays here, just a knife to score a v-groove (so the stain won’t run out), a straight-edge, square, ruler….

And a new welcome area. Thanks to our dear friend Steve.

Then paint.

Next the bathroom. Every house built in 1920 needs a hot tub, right?

Aside from the Victorian Trim……alright, so the budget to update the bathroom isn’t quite completly in place yet, lets get the basics. The Mansfield toilet, out. Recessed mirror, in.

Steve’s collection of sconces will prove handy. Yes, the switches still work. Yes, we had to make a tool to get them apart and rewire them. No, you do not have to touch them……there is a switch on the wall.

Steve’s collections of sinks will work nicely, as well…..

A “Standard” top fed toilet. The Great Western Potteries of Kokomo, Indiana and Tiffin, Ohio contracted and fired porcelain for the Standard Sanitary Company, who at the time only made cast-iron sanitary ware. The patent date on the toilet says 1914, which isn’t the actual date it was made, but between then and whenever Standard bought out Great Western helps to date this toilet. Look for an update later.

The Crane Co. of Chicago sold high-end porcelain fixtures in the early 19-teens. This one bears the Trenton Pottery Company seal (TePoCo star). Thomas Maddocks and Sons was also located in Trenton as early as the 1880s, and most old original subway tiles were fired in Trenton.

The brackets are original, as are the 2″ glass legs. The upper and lower pucks on the legs are adjustable to about 3/4″ apiece. The shut-off valves are Standard. The cup holder’s origin is unknown, but lets pretend it’s a Mott. We had another set of glass legs, which some @ss%^& stole out of Steve’s barn during the Great Recession. They also stole the pucks. Probably for scrap.