Interior before-Parlor

This room was originally the parlor. It is on the Northeast corner of the house directly right of the front door. This room had the most damage from neglect. The flashing on the front porch had failed and the mortar failed causing water to be able to penetrate the wythe masonry. Due to freeze thaw cycles and being closed in the summer the conrete coat placed on the brick cracked, some bricks spalled, and the wallpaper grew a large amount of mold.

 This was after the room was sealed and the loose debris removed.

The large trim was nailed into 2x4s installed in the structural brick. They had rotted in the wall and I don't know if the trim can be saved as a portion of it had rotted.

The windows were all replaced with insulating windows and all have to be reinstalled due to improper installation. This window is very loose and the trim can't be removed without the whole frame coming out.

 This is the doorway directly to the right in the hall. It is a shame the original pocket doors aren't there.

 This is the North wall. There are two strips of lathe under the windows which is behind a cavity formed by the limestone window sill.

The West side of the room that leads to the living area. The door used to open the other way and was replaced with the same hollow core door type...

Interior Before-1st Floor Entryway

Before we purchased the property from the City of Springfield, the had removed all of the carpet installed withing the past 15 years as well as a large hackberry and maple tree from the back yard due to a strong storm bringing down limbs.

I saw the inside before purchasing it when the person in charge of emptying the property was removing the beds and various items left by the Agape House. The inside smelled terribly of mildew and mold from the front room wall's flashing leak and carpet.

 From the front door, you enter a small area with  the stairs on the left and the main hall in the front. We believe that it is not original, but we think that they salvaged trim from the kitchen area of the house for this area and more than likely this lovely 6 pane door.

 The view into the main hall. Just to the right is the large doorway to the then parlor area. It originally had massive pocket doors, but only the rails remain. Replaced with 2 hollow core doors and pressed board at the top to fill the oversized entryway.

In the hall, the flooring is severely buckled with dips and humps.

 The only surviving transom window is in the front. There is evidence that there was once a transom mechanism

 The door leading the the staircase to the 2nd floor. It isn't that great and this area is overloaded by the staircase and the 2nd floor overhang over the stairs causing sever deflection. This door has a turn bell installed because at one time the owner rented out the second floor.

 The doorknob to the left in on all of the original doors thankfully. They are very nice. The front door we believe is original. It is a softwood with beveled glass and carving applied. The hinges are large 4 screw hinges. The bottom is a a massive 14 inch quartersawn board. There is extensive evidence of past doorknobs.

The threshold looks to be old. This flooring is not original and must have been installed in the past 50 years. The original flooring is evident on the stairs and the bedrooms on the second floor. The original was long strips of oak and what is here are short wide planks of oak. This area here also has deflection.

Exterior Before

 Here is the full exterior of the house showing where all the additions and problems are.

 Someone removed the original porch and put this stupid thing on... There are no gutters except on the car port and all of the flashing was done really badly and has caused water problems. This side faces East

The Northeast Side

West Side

 This is the two story addition. Both floors are bathrooms and that door goes straight upstairs.

 NorthSide

Northwest Side

The back is a mess of siding and additions... West Side

This is the sunroom

South Side

South Side under the car port.

That pipe is only for the water heater...

It gets really hot right there. It would be good for solar collection.

Introduction, Background, and History

In Fall 2015, we purchased the house next door with the intent to restore, repair, rent it, and then sell it. The house had been shut up since 2012. This is the way it currently appears. It is in poor condition mostly due to poor later installations and lack of heat in the winter.

The house has three sections: the original 1908 structure, two story and one story addition from 1927, and a carport and sunroom from around 1947. The original 1908 structure consisted of a wrap around porch, 1/3 partial basement, and a 3 foot crawl space. The foundation is limestone rock with lime mortar. The exterior walls are supporting wythe red brick in two courses with lime mortar. The window sills are limestone. There are two living floors with an attic. There are 4 bedrooms on the second floor with an original bathroom with and addition bathroom and staircase going outside. The first floor has a fireplace, parlor, living area, dining area, kitchen, an addition bathroom, addition room, and sunroom addition. The original heatsource was forced air heat from coal converted to gas and then converted to HVAC in the attic and basement. The original lighting was gas. The total square footage with additions is 3696 square feet and the land is 60 ft by 150 ft.

History

• The Original Owner and Age

The Land Platte was down in 1894 and was part of Peale's Subdivision owned by Josephine Peales.

 The 1909 Greene County Tax Records showed that the property's value increased by a large amount compared to the adjoining properties showing that the land had a house built. This showed that the house was built in 1908. The 1909 Tax Book from the Greene County Archives showed Olga Larkin being the first owner and was only there a couple of years. Her husband was Edward Larkin. He had a brother that lived only a couple of blocks away. They divorced not long after moving.

 Edward Larking was a blacksmith according to the 1910 Census and according to the Springfield Directory worked with his brothers at a blacksmith shop on Pickwick Alley which is now McDaniel downtown.

In 1933, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Springfield shows the house with a wrap around porch and an outbuilding. The pink represents brick and yellow wood frame. The wood frame was added in 1927 by the first owner to live there many years. He was a travel car inspector for the Frisco Railroad. We have cussed him several times for his methods of construction.

 According to the Tax Assessment from the archives, the sunroom was built in 1947 and probably so was the carport as well. So, the porch was removed roughly that time.

The last owner was the Council of Churches in Springfield, MO. They operated it as the Agape House. A building manager was in charge and it served as a boarding house to families of prisoners to stay when visiting their family. They took over sometime in the late eighties. They did a lot of ugly "improvements."