Bringing back the past

I have a google notebook that gets used occasionally, and yesterday I was looking through some of the links I had in there and found a site for historical photos of Riverside, my neighborhood. I've always had a fascination for old buildings and houses. When I was in middle school I imagined myself being what I called a "historian" so that I could have an excuse to go tour old houses and research their histories. I also wanted to live in a storefront apartment in downtown Newton. I remember walking into a two-story antique furniture store once and on the second floor was a line in the floorboards where they had been replaced after a wall had been torn down. I wasn't so interested in the furniture any more but instead I imagined what the original room had been used for, and looked for more signs of the "old".

A few years ago when my sister lived in South Carolina, we went on a driving tour to see the houses that survived the Civil War. I could have stayed there forever. It's amazing to me that those houses are still standing over 100 years later, when the house that I grew up in has only been around for 20 years. Kansas is a young'n compared to the states in the East; it became a state the same year the Civil War started.

This past spring I went for a walk around Riverside trying to find the houses that are in the photos on the website. These are a few of the houses that I found. I would have looked for more but I only remembered a couple of the addresses.

Riverside Castle. Circa 1890.
905 Spaulding. Circa 1909. The first residence to be wired with electric lights.
Lily Pond and Villa. 1916.
Photo credits here.

I think my fascination with the old is what attracted me to my cozy little apartment. When I started looking for an apartment in Wichita, I toured the "cookie cutter" apartments close to downtown and just knew that I could do better than that. They just didn't have the feel of "home" that I was looking for, and I really wasn't willing to pay a lot of money for something that looks like everyone else's. This one is perfect (thanks for finding it, mom!). It has all of the things that have attracted me to old buildings. Hardwood floors (I like to think that they're original, but I'm not sure), lots of character, thick door frames, original french doors (again, not sure on originalness [originality?]), skeleton key holes, and was built around the '20s or '30s. I've been living here for a year and a half and don't imagine leaving any time soon. Just to prove to you how cute it is (even though nearly everyone who reads my blog has seen it -- so I guess these pics are for you Lindsey!), here are some pictures. There's a mix of before I moved in (the bathroom, kitchen, and "dining room") and from last August (I had to take advantage of the real flowers from Christann's wedding).

Here's the outside and my first front door. My hair looks much cuter now.
This is my second front door. My apartment really isn't big enough to need two doors, and I don't use it because it is painted shut and there is a table in front of it now, but maybe the Milk Man thought he deserved his own entrance?
Yes, it really is as small as it looks. And there's no dishwasher. I find hand-washing dishes to be pretty relaxing.Glass doorknob! Do you see it?
This is from the living room looking into my bedroom.
Finn. (There are flowers in this post, too! hehe.)