Scotty Dog Cutout Shutters

Heart be still – these have to be the best cutout shutters I ever did see!  I spotted them this afternoon on a colonial in Melrose.

Cut-out shutters do something to me – they produce that internal “click” that makes any house instantly appealing. Cutout shutters come in all sorts of varieties – diamonds, initials, squirrels, shamrocks, etc.

But scotty dogs?  Never did see these before.  Scotty dog cutout shutters are a twofer for me. This house isn’t for sale but if it were I’d be in line.

I’m a cat person but years ago on ebay I discovered the enormous popularity of scotty dogs and scotty dog ephemera.  Though I’ll never have a real live scotty dog my house now has its share of scotty dog collectibles – I’ve got drinking glasses, vintage cards, framed mottos, books and more adorned with these endearing little black dogs.

Here’s more info about cutout shutters in an earlier House Parts post I wrote.  Sadly, the squirrel shutters pictured on the Cambridge house have since been removed.

And here’s the charming Melrose colonial adorned with scotty dog cutout shutters.

Melrose house with scotty dog shutters

Best Doorknobs

Best Doorknobs  Cambridge real estate agents see so many renovated properties that we become mighty particular about the details.

After viewing renovation after renovation, it’s almost inevitable that you develop as sense for what works and what doesn’t – what looks right and what just doesn’t – what buyers tend to appreciate and what they don’t.

Relatively minor details – like hardware selection – can really separate the humdrum from the Wow! properties.

Getting the style right, the finish, the choice of metals – it’s not easy to pull it all together.  Here’s an example from a house where the homeowner got every detail in the renovation just right.

These are the best doorknobs I’ve come across.  The little flipper over the keyhole – not sure of its proper name – is reminiscent of antique doorplates but the overall style is crisp, classic - even contemporary. They’re the perfect choice for the older homes that make up most of our housing stock in Cambridge.

Not sure where these are from but I’ll add the info if I find out.

Antique Boot Scrapers at the Emerson House

Antique Boot Scrapers   One of my favorite things to find outside an older house is a vintage bootscraper.

Many a New England front porch or granite threshold has a wrought iron or cast iron boot scraper or two.

Older boot scrapers were simply designed like the pair at right at the Emerson House in Concord.

Victorian versions are more ornate and eventually figural versions such as a Scotty Dog or Dachshund were produced.

But give me the simple lines of an early bootscraper outside an old New England house.

More House Parts We Love

 Glassed-In Vestibules

 Entry Brackets

 Decorative Window Trim

Rose Covered Arbor on Hammond Street

Rose Covered Arbor   It’s been a long time since I’ve done a House Parts We Love entry – cripes it’s been too long since I’ve posted anything for that matter – the Cambridge real estate market has been humming and I’ve fallen off the blogging bandwagon.  Time to get back on track and start filling in all those empty days (it’s one of my guilty secrets – blog posts are dated but I have complete control of the dates).  So don’t be surprised if multiple posts show up in your email.

Back to today’s favorite feature – Rose Covered Arbors.  There’s a bumper crop of roses out and about in Cambridge and Somerville and nothing’s prettier than a arbor gate covered with roses.  This pretty arbor is next door to a house I sold on Hammond Street in Cambridge.

I’m a bit of a wimp about bees so I’m not sure if I could walk the gauntlet every time I come and go but these sure are a pretty sight – from a safe distance!

Here are some more house features we fall for:

Victorian Bracketed Entries

Beautiful Fences

Front Entry Benches

Glassed In Vestibules

Original Edison Electric Wiring Box

How cool is this?

I spotted this vintage electrical wiring box / gizmo in a carriage house in Somerville during our weekly tour of new real estate listings.

Yes – that’s knob and tube wiring visible at the top of the photo.  But what I really love is the original “Edison Service Cut-Out” box.  Never have seen one of these before!

I can’t remember when Boston Edison turned into Nstar but this piece of equipment clearly predates that by many a decade.

Bracketed window trim on a mansard on Avon Hill in Cambridge

Decorative Window Trim  

Window crowns – curved trim, bracketed or pedimented window tops - became popular on houses during the Italianate period.  Second Empire mansards often had trimmed window tops like the one at right and window-top ornamentation can be found on Queen Anne Victorians as well.

Here are some of my favorites spotted on houses in Cambridge. For the life of me I can’t get larger versions of the photos to show in the slideshow. If you click on it you’ll get the larger views.

It’s often a certain special feature that makes us fall for a house.  Here are some more house parts we love:

Bracketed Entries

Cambridge Fences

House Numbers

And for more favorites, click on the House Parts tag link below.

Window Box with Pineapple and Greens

Pair of Marblehead Windowboxes

Marblehead Window Box with Deer

I’ve yet to put window boxes on my old house but when I do I’ll remember these when winter comes.

It was a beautiful day for a house tour. The sky was clear and blue and most of last night’s snow had melted from the ground.  Marblehead has an astonishing collection of restored pre-1800 houses. What a treat!

Next weekend is the last of the holiday house tours for 2009.  Make your plans now!

Glassed-In Entry on a Cambridge House

The magic of house parts we love is that they can make us fall in love with a house.  Glassed-in vestibules do it for me – I bought my house in large part because of the charming glassed-in entry out front.

On my house the glassed-in entry replaced the two original porches on the front, similar to the porches on the other houses on the street.  Now the glass paned entry with a round top gives the house a special charm.  My theory is that the original owners of my house admired the rounded top entry on the house around the corner and made the change to their house.

My house’s vestibule is in the slide show below. It’s not the best picture of the entry – you can’t see the curved top – but it’s a great picture of my parents standing out in front of the house.

These glassed in vestibules provide shelter from the elements and add a great deal of charm to the facade.  Here are a few of my favorites: