Really big dovetails

[GunnyGene]

Thought y'all might be interested in this. :)

This is a local dovetail cabin (1 room) built in the 1850's. Originally slave quarters for the plantation. The hand hewn planks are about 5" thick. This shows the front porch area, which I believe was added much later. This type of construction was considered a step up from the earlier and more primitive log style.

The main house and several other outbuildings and land, were up at auction a couple years ago, but no takers, due to the poor condition of the main house. It's not currently occupied and could still be bought if someone wanted to restore it to it's former glory. It would be a major project, tho.

Main house and separate kitchen and larder (brick building to the left of the main house).

 

[mohavesam]

Hard to believe it had no "takers"? I suspect it was not a true auction, and had an un-realistic reserve or starting price? Any building can be bulldozed or donated for tax benefit (larger investors). Possibly with this type of property - old burial plots or even a proper farm/slave cemetery could cause HUGE legal issues and costs beyond dollars.
Possibly the property is not quite as valuable as the sellers might think?

Yes, the dovetail construction is unique today. But it is simply what men did in that time. They built with the tools they had at hand. Today the old wild hardwood might be more valuable than the slave history of the building itself. I had a haybarn (peg and lintel construction, built with no nails) on a dairy farm, historical in that it was built in 1880 and its purpose met by helping feed several counties... Twice buyers tried to convince me it should be sold for furniture wood. Unfortunately they were Amish, and I don't do business with the Amish.

 

[GunnyGene]

It was a legit auction. I went to it, and know the owners and the auctioneer, who is well established in the South. There are quite a few of these old places for sale around here, but not many people want to put the time and money into them that it takes to restore them. If I recall correctly, they were asking around $220k for the entire property, which includes about 20 acres.

 

[GA Cracker]

I really enjoy seeing the design in old structures like that. Thanks for posting.

 

[427mach1]

That must have taken a really big dovetail jig and a huge router!

 

[powder smoke]

Very cool gunny.
Reminds me of an old timber frame building I worked on. All the floor joist were dovetailed
into the carrying timbers with a shoulder to support them. That kinda joinery is labor intensive
with modern power tool. Back in the day with handsaws chisels and mortising machines holy
cow must of been a project just laying in joist. Roof rafters were splined at the top together with
actual birds mouth cut into the end to lock onto the timber on the outside wall.

That's when Men were Men. ps

 

[powder smoke]

That must have taken a really big dovetail jig and a huge router!

hehehe lol.ps

 

[mohavesam]

It was a legit auction. I went to it, and know the owners and the auctioneer, who is well established in the South. There are quite a few of these old places for sale around here, but not many people want to put the time and money into them that it takes to restore them. If I recall correctly, they were asking around $220k for the entire property, which includes about 20 acres.

You may have mis-read my comment. A 'true auction' is one with no starting price or reserve. I'm not sure if the house or the land was the problem, but obviously and in a factual (proven by result), the package is not worth $220K. Shame. BTW, in a true auction, the highest bid establishes Fair Market Value. So...

 

[GunnyGene]

It was a legit auction. I went to it, and know the owners and the auctioneer, who is well established in the South. There are quite a few of these old places for sale around here, but not many people want to put the time and money into them that it takes to restore them. If I recall correctly, they were asking around $220k for the entire property, which includes about 20 acres.

You may have mis-read my comment. A 'true auction' is one with no starting price or reserve. I'm not sure if the house or the land was the problem, but obviously and in a factual (proven by result), the package is not worth $220K. Shame. BTW, in a true auction, the highest bid establishes Fair Market Value. So...

Apparently I did misunderstand. That happens sometimes. :) The main house was the killer. I looked it over pretty good & it has some serious problems, including with a couple of the chimney's and the foundation, siding, etc. It would likely need another $75k or so to bring it back to decent condition. You can only restore these old places up to a point, then it just ain't worth it.

 

[Mike J]

Thanks for posting Gunny. The old plantation homes are always interesting to look at. It is mind blowing to think about the amount of physical labor to took to build those structures with hand tools.

 

[sebtool]

We bought our current house in '97, but the 1 we wanted to buy was an old farmhouse on about 100 acres a few miles from here. The owners had passed, and it had been vacant for about 1 year. The stone foundation needed help in 1 corner, major wiring and plumbing work as well. Not to mention full insulation and plaster repair. But it was still a sound structure, well built, and weatherproof. Being 20 yrs younger, I was up to the task but the 'estate'/kids wanted too much for the property. It had a couple of old barns, good storage, and an old dairy barn with a silo. It had tons of potential. But with me doing the majority of the work, we still figured it would take $30k+ to make it inhabitable, $60k+, total, to get it in good shape.

We bought another house, not nearly the quality or potential of the 1st. The property sat empty for another 3-4 yrs, and I heard thru the grapevine that it was sold for $40k under the previous 'firm' asking price.

In the mean time, being vacant, and in a semi-remote area, punk kids starting breaking in, having parties, and tearing things up. Within 2-3 yrs, the place wasn't rebuildable, and is going to have to be bulldozed. Every time I drive past there it aggravates me, because it could have been a great home. :evil:

All because some broker blew smoke up the kids' butts about the value of an old house and a piece of ground... greed is a wonderful thing, eh?

 

[GunnyGene]

Very cool gunny.
Reminds me of an old timber frame building I worked on. All the floor joist were dovetailed
into the carrying timbers with a shoulder to support them. That kinda joinery is labor intensive
with modern power tool. Back in the day with handsaws chisels and mortising machines holy
cow must of been a project just laying in joist. Roof rafters were splined at the top together with
actual birds mouth cut into the end to lock onto the timber on the outside wall.

That's when Men were Men. ps

Found out a little more about the bed today. It's 100 years older than we thought - Late 1600's. It will be one of the lots at a nationally televised antique auction at the Opryland Hotel and Resort in Nashville on 21 Nov. So there is a deadline on this in order to get it to Nashville in time for the auction.

No pressure there! :shock:

I'm trying to locate chunk of mahogany that will be big enough, and may have a line on stick. If not, I'll have to use some other wood. Not really a big deal since the piece was originally painted anyway.

 

[737tdi]

Gunny: Couldn't a bit of the problem be the horrendous economy in MS.? Not a slam on MS just an observation. Seems awfully hard for a lot of people to make a decent living there.

Karl