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January 19, 2004

an old photo of a house almost exactly like ours

When the city assessor came out in October to set the value of the house for the Real Estate Tax Abatement Program, we noticed that he had an old file with him. This file had an abundance of info about the house, including an older, undated photo and assessment info going back to 1956.

The picture to the right is the only photo in the file. This is a neat photo, but we think that it isn't actually our house. As we found out before, a house with the exact same footprint used to be right next door. This older photo shows a house with a higher porch, different front steps, and a telephone pole out front. Also -- the dentil block on the older house is larger than ours. And, it appears that there is a house directly to the left (as seen through the porch), and our lot has always had the empty extra space there. Roll your mouse over the photo on the right to see for yourself! Regardless, the house in the picture has the same detail that our house would have had, that has since been lost.

We do know this:

• The assessed value in 1956 was $700 for the land and $5000 for the 'improvements'. This didn't change until 1964.
• The house was bought at foreclosure for $4,200 on on June 4, 1963,
• The records show that on June 7, 1963, a permit was obtained to apply the (fugly) asphalt siding that is still on the house.
• The assessed value for the 'improvements' declined between 1971 ($5600) and 1976 ($5300), but has otherwise risen steadily.
• There doesn't appear to be assessment info for before 1965 or from 1985 to 1998.
• There is no information about when the garage stopped being a viable 'improvement'.

Posted by john m at January 19, 2004 6:21 AM

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