RandiTS

I "lurked" last night which is kind of like stalking but not as creepy and read all of the topics that you had under the Inspecting/appreciating old homes.. I found it absolutely amazing how Bill could just whip out the knowledge on anything that someone posted - just didn't know if he traveled to other states too (and if I can afford him And also enjoyed seeing the things that you all have run into while inspecting... gives me a new appreciation for what I might can expect and also makes me extremely grateful that at least in Houston, we don't have basements so that I don't have to worry about rats and snakes and crawl spaces although that won't be the same in Virginia.. although, we do have armadillos and while there seems to be several raccoon run ins reported, I think a field trip is in order to see some of our critters...

Thanks ya'll so much for the input... we go see the house the week of Thanksgiving and will decide then if we want to take that big plunge. If so, then I will call Bill and see about paying for the Lexus instead of the Hyundai...

It is in Front Royal, VA. About 70 miles from Washington, DC, 2 miles from the Appalachian trail (in case I buy the house and need to run away, I apparently can walk to Maine or Georgia) and the actual house can be seen at remounthome.com. I have found out that the town has file cabinets full of the history of the house and the family who lived there until 1960 and the battle of Front Royal (led by Stonewall Jackson) would have taken place on part of the original property which was 700 acres, now down to little under 4 acres. I want to make sure that I don't let the history and my dreams to preserve it take over my common sense. As I like to say, I may be blonde but I am not stupid

Hi - I am in the process of deciding on whether to purchase a Greek Revival home built in 1847 (brick) with an addition added in the 1850's (wood) in Virginia. While I have been "told" that the main house is in good condition (if you overlook that no working plumbing), the addition was apparently built on the foundation of a previous building from around the 1780's that was on the property. I looked on the historical home inspectors site and there are no inspectors registered in VA. What next steps would you suggest for finding the proper person for the inspection? It is going to have to be someone with great references and skills because I most likely will have it done before I even see the house in person as I live in Texas and won't be able to make the trip north until the week of Thanksgiving. Any suggestions on where to start would be appreciated. The house is on both the National and Virgina Historical Listing and I would be restoring as much to the original conditions in the 1850 - 1870's as feasible.. thanks Randi