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Would you buy a house built in 1800?
There is a listing for a house on Main Street in the town we are looking to buy a home in that caught my eye. It is nothing I would normally look at but something drew me in and I fell in love with it from the pictures. It was built in 1800 and completely redone inside. It is a victorian with a grand wraparound porch, a sun room, a living room with fire place, family room, a new cherry wood kitchen, and a charming dining room. There are 2 bathrooms (one upstairs and one down that were both redone), and 3 bedrooms on the second floor, 1 (with a possible second) bedroom on the third floor. Out back is an adorable little shed, lots of parking, and a cottage. The cottage has a living area, a sleeping area, a gas fireplace, a kitchen, and a full bath. The whole place has been repainted beautifully and is move in ready. It is right on Main Street ina charming area of town by all the cute ice cream shops, boutiques, etc.
It has been vacant since March 2010. The last time it was on the market was last year and they were asking a very reasonable $284,000. It was pulled down and is now a short sale listed in January for only $189,900.
What I love about it is the character and charm, the location, and that it is in the school district we SO want to get into. I also love that it has a cottage. We moved to the are almost 2 years ago and all our family is 2 hours away. It would be wonderful to have this space for them to stay with us instead of renting hotel rooms like they do now. It would also be nice to have if my parents ever needed to move in with us down the road which is very possible. I also love the price. It's on the very low end of our price range and the monthly payment would be about what we are paying for rent right now.
What I don't like about it is that it does not have central air, it is over 200 years old so I'd worry about what I can't see with the electricl, plumbing, etc, and this may seem silly but my main problem with it is I'm afraid it could be haunted. It's so old and why has it been vacant for a year with such a low price now. It's had quite a few owners over the years. The last thing I'd ever want to do is buy a haunted house. 
The town itself is very old and there are legends of hautings all over and even sightings down main street of old carraiges and ghost soldiers. You just never know. And my good friend went to high school with a girl who lived there back then and she thinks she remembers her telling stories of ghosts.
Would you ever buy a home like this? I think it's just the cottage that has me thinking...
Re: Would you buy a house built in 1800?
I would love to buy a house like that.
Are there things to check out, look for, and consider during tour, inspection, and contract negations? Yes.
In case anyone is curious here is the listing for the house in question. I think when it comes down to it I'm more worried it is haunted than anything else. I know we could have it thoroughly inspected for mechanical problems, foundation, etc. But, ghosts not so much. lol I think I would even be fine if my friend didn't remember possibly hearing stories from her friend. I'm being silly right?
http://www.flexmls.com/share/1NlI/52-54-W-MAIN-STREET-STRASBURG-PA-17579
I love old houses. They are more upkeep, and if you decide to redo anything it almost always turns into a bigger job than you anticipate.
I grew up in an 1820s farmhouse that had a double murder suicide in 1979. No ghosts.
We have have bought and sold historic homes. Just sold one last year that had historic designation. More than likely with all the remodeling that is listed in the description, wiring/plumbing etc have been updated. This is easy enough to find out and of course you with have inspection contingency.
As far as it being haunted, REALLY! Yes, I think you are being silly. I would not base my decision on stories people told when they were kids.
Glad that I am not alone! lol I just wonder why the owners walked away from it a year ago. They did own it for 8 years at that piont but still it seems strange. Maybe I will do some research ... AND go see it in person. I am really curious about it!
Heck yeah. That would be awesome. There are just some things that go with buying a house that old, though...insulation, energy efficiency issues, storage space. It comes with the territory.
As long as you know it and are willing to deal with it going in I don't see a problem. I would love a house with such a history.
And if you're seriously worried about ghosts, you can hire a medium to come in and tell you or sage the place to cleanse the energy.
In 1800 there was no electricity or plumbing, so both of those are obviously newer than the house! And as a PP pointed out, the electricity is 200 amps, which suggests a newer system. Does it have a breaker box or fuses? Fuses are old, breaker boxes newer. The fact that it has more than one bath also suggests that plumbing has been updated since it was originally put in. A cherry kitchen with a dishwasher sounds like it is also newer, and utilities were probably upgraded then, if they weren't up to snuff.
The previous owners may have had to move because of a job, so don't read too much into that.
Ghosts? Well, I really think most of those were exorcised by electric lighting. They make a good tale, but are probably exaggerations of the sounds that old buildings make. If you're nervous, get a cat -- you can always blame odd sounds on him. You can always ask the current owners, through the realtor, if they experienced or heard of anything.
It sounds like a great deal. If you don't go for it, I just might move to Strasburg myself!
Love it! I'd definitely look at it and consider buying it.
You are probably going to have to stick to window a/c units because it doesn't have the duct work for a/c and that would be $$$$$ to add.
As long as the wiring and plumbing is up to date, I think it'd be a great house to live in! The cottage is adorable!
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Unlikely that I would buy a house built in the 1800s. Not worth the hassle to me.
I also would not base anything on just pictures. The layout could be very weird, which is a hard/expensive thing to change. I would consider buying it to tear it down and build something new in its place if you had the funds.
I'd buy that house today if it was in my area. I love it! Get a structural engineer out to do a foundation inspection. You'll probably have to keep window units, as PPs said, but that house is amazing, ghosts be damned.
You can add A/C to old houses esp if you have attic or basement space. Look at Unico systems. We put one in our 1925 house last year and love it.
I love old houses so I'd totally consider it!
My DH has an 1836 house and I have a 1950s house (mine is on the market and we are newlyweds). Older homes have character, generally solid construction and I love both of ours. We both got construciton inspections, lead paint inspections, electrical inspections and insect inspections before signing on the dotted line, Get these inspections and you ease some worries. Also stop by city hall and request all building permits for the house in particular for the last renovation. Any major renvoation should have a city permit signed by a city inspector. City inspectors in Mass are very precise and won't sign off on just anything. Houses of this age will naturallly creak and the plumbing may knock. (Bleeding the pipes every couple of years can limit the knocking.). These noises are due to the age of the place and not any ghosts.
Researching the history of your new house can be a really cool thing. My DH's house was a speakeasy with a secret trap door in the living room that went to a dry cellar where they hid the booze. We have specially secured the trap door because we put the couch on top of it and don't want to end up in the dirt basement while watching a ball game. While rewiring the computer and phone lines in the dirt cellar part (We have a dirt cellar and a cement cellar due to additions added in 1870s) we have found a collection of old bottles from when the house was a speakeasy. We also found a police citation from that era that was hidden in one of the bottles. For damp cold Mass, it is impressive that it is still legible. We have it framed in our living room as an artifact of our home.
Would I buy another home like this? Yup; but not anytime soon. Two mortgages are sufficient. Hopefully the 1950s ranch will sell soon.
It is a lovely area! Friends of ours just sold their townhouse near Millersville University and move to Strasburg (they are off Main Street). The school district can't be beat either. We are definitely going to move to the area if not directly in town then at least nearby.
I might be interested to see if it still had cast iron plumbing - that could be an issue. but other than that, if you like it go for it!!
40/112
NO.
I woke up from a dream just now (it is about 12:24 am here in Northern New England) Still have nightmares..
I went to the trouble to log onto this site just now to warn anyone about this house.
Many people in the Lancaster area know/knew me and can vouch that I am not a fraud.
Just as many people know that house is pure evil.
I moved into 54 West Main Street in sept of 98 and within 6 months I had to close off the entire 2nd and third floor. I lived on the first floor and I gave that crazy bit*h who lives up there all that space.
I've lived in 28 homes in my life and I've never experienced anything like 54. Just not even fun. You feel the eyes of hell on you when you walk through the hall towards the bathroom and back room.
this is not a fun ghost who tosses dishes around or slams doors.. this is an evil thing that resides up there and even the most faithless and skeptical people I've invited to sleep up there have rushed down stairs to me in the weeping hour (3:14am) begging for a spot on the floor next to the couch.
I'm sorry for anyone trying to sell this house.. I lost a lot of money on this house too.
mjax