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.