Time Flies ... Literally

This week has been an incredibly busy one! Wow, time can truly fly by and we learned this in more ways than one this week. Because we accomplished so much, we have decided to split it up into several posts for you. In a nutshell, though, here is the list of everything we accomplished this week:

• Removed 30 cedar tree stumps;
• Trimmed the silver maple;
• Discovered and dug out the original well;
• Called Diggers Hotline to mark our property;
• Removed the vinyl siding from the porch area;
• Researched original meters;
• Discovered the original laundry chute's location;
• Discovered the hard floors in the downstairs bedroom;
• Discovered the hard floors in the living room;
• Researched the history of the home; and
• Had a wonderful interview with a prior resident!

See what I mean about the time just flying? A lot of this was done in part due to the research of the history on the home and the wonderful interview with a prior resident, which is what I wanted to write about today.

The house was built in 1920 by Joseph and Ella Pockat. Mr. Pockat was a bricklayer that absolutely loved his craftsmanship. (This explains the 6' x 5' x 8' brick lined outhouse pit!) The house was built with a fieldstone basement, NATCO hollow tile bricks, and then finished with stucco. Unfortunately, Mr. Pockat was fatally hit by a train in July 1941, at the age of 49. He and his wife did not have any children.

Mr. Pockat also helped to build the house next door to ours for his wife's sister. His sister-in-law was married to Mr. Schmidt and together, had a son named Armin Schmidt, who was born in the house next door in 1921. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Schmidt at his current home for a couple of hours. We were joined by Mr. Schmidt's daughter and niece. Together, we were able to piece together a lot of the history of the house.

After Mr. Pockat built the house, the second story was used as an apartment for various family members. What is now our girl's bedroom was actually the kitchen. And the master bedroom was used as a living room, with the boy's bedroom used as a bedroom (no surprise there). Additionally, the back of the house featured a two-story, glass enclosed double porch. This area was used as a greenhouse, sleeping porch, and a place to hang the laundry on those cold wintry days.

Mr. Schmidt was living in the apartment with his father in 1941. Armin had been kicked in the chest by a horse and was recovering when the call came in at six o'clock in the morning advising of the untimely circumstances of his uncle's accident. Afterwards, Mr. Schmidt (senior) purchased the home and resided here until the 1960's. Mr. Armin Schmidt married and purchased the house next door, on the opposite side. In other words, all three houses were "in the family" at one point or another, with our house in the middle.

Mr. Schmidt's daughter and niece also lived upstairs in the family rental suite and were able to remember the layout of the house very well. Together, the three of them were able to walk me through a rough, hand-sketched floor plan, pointing out various things. It was during this time that we learned that our well was "approximately 15 paces from the backdoor". (It was!) We also learned that there had been a laundry chute that was accessible from two separate doors: one in the kitchen and one at the bottom of the stairs. (It was!) We learned that Mr. Schmidt was not a big fan of refrigeration and so used a dumbwaiter type of system and a hole in the basement to keep his food cold. It was supposed to be located at the bottom of the basement stairs right before the rainwater cistern. (Guess what...it was!) We also learned that there used to be a small bathroom in the basement where we now do our laundry. (This explains the extra covered sewage hole we were wondering about.) Mr. Schmidt asked if the "fruit cellar" was still in the basement. He seemed pleased to learn that it was and that it is the exact same room that I am using as my pantry! We learned about the original metering system, the original color of the outside of the house, and that at one time, the entire house consisted of all wood floors.

Unfortunately, Mr. Schmidt had to sell the home when his father was placed in a nursing residence (this was roughly between 1960 and 1965). At the time, a Mr. and Mrs. Mautz were renting the unit upstairs and ultimately purchased the house. While the family lost track shortly after this, they recalled that the Mautz's did sell the home. Based on our research, we believe that it was at this time it was sold to a family known as the Schroeder's. It was the Schroeder's that did most of the remodeling to the house, according to our current neighbors. While the Schroeders were in residence, the porch was removed, the well and sidewalk buried under the dirt, and the siding and windows installed.

No one really knows what happened to the house after the Schroeder's. Apparently, it was vacant and then owned, rented, etc. and at some point, went into foreclosure. It was bought out of foreclosure by the company that ultimately sold the house to us. And we are doing our very best to turn the clock back almost 100 years to restore this beautiful home to what the family originally remembers it being. A home filled with love, laughter, and both good and bad times.