Greetings to all who are reading! I can scarce believe it is already into February of 2015. Did I say Happy New Year?
Some time back I had shared about what is, or was, to eventually become my new home. I had dubbed it as “Mosey Cottage” after my late husband. His heir, our daughter, along with her husband, bought me this house with some of her inheritance money. (I always had said that her dad would buy me a house someday. I never expected it to be by proxy after he was gone!).
Anyhow, this entire past summer and well into fall was spent on everything BUT the house. My kids bought new cabinets and a counter top for the kitchen back in September for a steal! BUT…..we never could get the electric people there until well into October or November. Then we were well into our busy Holiday time and it was way too cold to really do much work on the house. The poor kitchen sat looking like this for a long time:
One view of the “before” kitchen
Pitiful, isn’t it? You can see that the flooring is taking quite some effort to get torn up and out. You wouldn’t think that water logged wood and such would be so hard!
Ok. Now comes a new twist in the adventures of Mosey Cottage. My oldest daughter and her new husband found themselves in a life situation that has landed them into the front two rooms of the house! The original bedroom is now a bedroom/kitchen combination.
Making good use of space.
Working fridge and useless stove
They’ve done fine with the living room. Not how I would decorate but it suits them. We scrambled to get some kind of heat going. That’s when I found out that son in law #1 had turned on the ventless gas wall mounted heater.
Gas wall mount is just to left of picture.
That thing scares me and I don’t trust how the gas lines are run into the house but when you need heat you go with it. I also sent over my electric fireplace/heater. I have to say that between both heat sources it hasn’t been too bad for a two room living arrangement.
Electric fireplace in far corner.
Remember the undone kitchen? The bathroom is part of the problem too. It is also rotted out. My kids have to cross the street/intersection to run to my youngest girl’s house for bathroom facilities and water. I guess they are camping in the best tent possible!
YESTERDAY, while son in law #2, the one living there, was working on tearing out flooring at son in law #1’s request, he nearly fell into a WELL!!! Or a cistern. Not sure what exactly it is and not sure if the previous owners or even realty people knew this was there!
It’s in this corner
Evil eye of well
Looking into the abyss
covered in brick and caving
Yep. He was tearing up flooring and having to use a shovel in places. When he turned I guess this is what he found! Frightening! We aren’t sure how deep. The flash from my camera shows some kind of metal rods or piping down there. It also shows some kind of algae on the water. I’m just glad it is too cold for snakes!!! >SHUDDER<
I suppose now son in law #1 will have to bring in people to assess what we have to legally do with this new find. I’m sure the city has some laws about old houses built with cisterns and such. I don’t have a clue what the insurance people will think about this! And I really don’t believe the original owner knew it was there! House was built in the 1930’s is what I was told. Were houses built over cisterns during the Great Depression? I KNOW they were built this way at the turn of the century (1900’s). Another twist to all of this is the fact that a major Marathon oil refinery lies about three blocks to the east! >sigh<
Mosey Cottage appears to have taken on a life of it’s own. And for now my daughter is enjoying the adventure first hand as I can’t begin to live primitive.
I would LOVE to hear all your feedback on this one! Anybody else ever have such an experience?
Haha! Life in the Whole has taken on a whole new meaning. THIS hole has water in it!
Enjoy your life. And all it’s holes!
~ Bonnie
Life in the Whole 
Good Gosh Bonnie what an experience. Must be a bit disappointing when you had such high hopes for this little cottage.
Hope all goes well.
🙂 ♥
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Thanks Julianne! It will all work in God’s timing. For now I am happy that my kids are there starting their new life together. Whatever they can do to the house is ultimately to my benefit. It is their blessing. 🙂
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My farmhouse (early 1900’s) has a septic(toilet only), the bathroom sink, shower, and washer go out drain pipe and my kitchen sink goes into a cistern. I would definitely say that is a cistern…and i would not at all be surprised that they built over it.
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Wow TamiMc! Your house is complicated with the waste water too! the location of this cistern just might have been for the sink since it is just to the left of the sink’s location. I wonder why sink water was caught in a cistern since there would be soap and food waste in the water? Is there access to the cistern for gaining water for flowers and gardening and such? It’s like a rain barrel that has been buried!
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Lol I did some googling and cisterns can be used to collect use or waste. I think in your case it was the well for the sink. It could have had an old pump faucet. I think though they only have access from the top.
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Indeed this one seems to have only had access from the top. A pump faucet usually indicates a well. Hmmm. I should think that, if this being a cistern for pump water at the sink, the sink would have been directly over the cistern. It is currently about 6 feet to the west of this hole. Mighty awkward for the plumbing that goes with it all. As you can see in the pix, the cistern is actually tight into that corner. I’ve looked outside and there MAY have been an access point there as well. Hard to say without having to tear out a section of the wall too! My son in law is flabbergasted with it all. 🙂 Young folk just never knew the ways of their ancestors.
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The original sink may have been in that spot, you never know with old houses. I’m lucky, i had time with my grandpa who taught me a lot.
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