Recently I found this house pictured in a display of old photographs which had been reproduced for a fascinating display of local history at the Fick Fossil and History Museum in Oakley, Kansas (definitely worth a visit when traveling on I-70!). The house looked vaguely familiar; it’s unusual front gable had stuck in my mind… perhaps a Radford or Hodgson design? I found the answer the next day in the 1909 edition of Radford’s Modern Homes… it may have been offered with a different name or number at other times or by other plan suppliers, but in 1909 it was marketed by Radford as Design No. 1508. Fortunately the museum display included the address of the house which still stands
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Design No. 1508 as offered by the Radford Architectural Company in 1909. Image courtesy of archive.org.
This is the photo I saw in the museum… the image appears to have been taken at some time prior to 1950. The house varies some what from the Radford plan in details, but is clearly the same design. Photo courtesy of the Fick Fossil and History Museum.
Here is how the house appears today. The original ornamental ridge cap survives!
Wider replacement siding and a different color scheme are among the few changes made to the exterior of the house since it was built.
I like the diamond windows better than that on the original drawing but i wish they had kept the castle crenelations in the drawing. it ain’t no castle but crenelations are always so classy. you should add them to that disaster you’re rebuilding. give it some real class.
re the greenhouse – why in hell are you putting on both corrugated panels and glass? glass is so 19th century and covering the glass with the plastic kind of kills the effect of the glass and only adds one more layer of complication. you’re not adding anymore insulation not that you need it where you live and you’re asking for a big moisture problem between the two layers. unless some “expert” came up with this hare brained idea, i would just forget it. as to ventilation, the easiest way is heat controlled panels at the top of the roof which would be a snap if you are using corrugated panels. They open and close automatically based on temperature. there’s even a smart phone app now developed by a computer guy and an organic farmer up here in maine that calls you if there is any high or low temp problem in the greenhouse. you mentioned worry about moisture getting in through top opening panels. what???? it’s a greenhouse. you’re gonna need a lot of moisture and you can run it right onto the plants. it will be a big help. end ventilation systems in a house as small as yours are not very effective and tend to be overly complicated as well as taking up much needed light. in a design like yours, you need all the light you can get so unless you’re opening this into the house, paint the back wall blindingly white to reflect the light. and speaking of light, there’s another reason not to use both corrugated panels and glass. two layers of anything cut down the amount of light transmitted into the greenhouse and you want all the light you can possibly get.
The castle crenelations were the best part of the original design – the stubby little rooflets just don’t compensate for their omission! I also agree that the diamond windows were an upgrade… you win some and you lose some. Thanks for your insight as to the greenhouse… I will incorporate your comments into Part 4 of the greenhouse saga when I post about it again and respond to them there. I will chew on your ideas in the meanwhile! (The purpose of the corrugated plastic is to help protect the shatter-prone glass from hail and to assist with the shedding of rainwater [which ain’t as clean as it used to be], but I agree it might add to a moisture problem.)