Bill Kibbel Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 http://uploads/inspecthistoric/2006328171849_banister1.JPG http://uploads/inspecthistoric/2006328172047_banister2.JPG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I'm guessing to easily view and greet whomever is in the parlor without having to come downstairs or lean over the rail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carle3 Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Looks like some student architect's great idea. As a builder I always loved those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 It's a converted church and that wall wasn't there before. That's where the ol' geezer stood and rained fire and brimstone down on his flock. [:-bonc01] OT - OF!!! M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian G Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I'll say one thing in its favor. I'll bet those handrails are good and stiff with those posts running all of the way down from the floor above. That's a weak point in a lot of railings I see these days; poorly anchored posts. Brian G. Strange, But Solid [:-alien] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 You may have something there, Mike. I once repointed exterior brickwork and re-worked the fireplaces and chimneys and on an old Baptist church in North Fork, Virginia that a man had purchased and was renovating. I was there pretty early in the process but, his plan was to restore much of the original church area and claim the choir balcony for his residence. Hmmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I have dim memory of some social function for this overlook; there was (I think) a social protocol that required some individual viewing from the 2nd fl., but I'm at a loss as to what the specifics were. Debutante looking down @ the suitors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homnspector Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 I think its so the gals with the bustle dresses can pass each other on the balcony[^] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Hockstein Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Is this a mutliple choice question?: 1 For when Rapunzel stood there 2. For Juliet 3. For Cyrano di Bergerac to court his woman. 4. For some rich person that had a carpenter friend that needed some extra cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Amaral Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Either Hausdok's 'church remnant' (probably not)or some sort of 'ladies rail' so she wouldn't have to hang over and show her bust... Never seen anything like that before.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 So Kibbel, what's if for? This isn't quite as heady as the last one, but I'm still curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul burrell Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Don't know why they built it that way but is beautiful wood work. Heart pine maybe? Paul B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 It probably was a house of ill repute and this is the toll station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Hockstein Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Thread drift but wanted to share these photos of a really cool house that sold near me for 1.9 Million. These are some amazing railings and other woodwork. Download Attachment: Exterior 1.jpg 8.61 KB Download Attachment: Inerior-2.jpg 9.39 KB Download Attachment: Interior 1.jpg 9.97 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baird Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Back to topic. I think it has a practical reason, like needing to support that balcony/mezzanine thingy and not having anywhere but the lower flight railing to locate support posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kibbel Posted March 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 And the answer is... (drum roll please) I have no I-freakin'dea. Any of the above could be the correct answer, except the church pulpit one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Why, you're just full of surprises, Bill! We can all be right! How diplomatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Kibbel, you crack me up. Durn your hide. I think it was the same sort of architectural feature as a widow's walk balcony; completely superfluous, but folks imagine that they're necessary for the architectural idea to be complete. Kinda like gigantic MBR bubble tubs, multi-nozzle turbo showers, big fancy foyers w/palladium windows & a giant chandelier, and unvented gas log fireplaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Awright, dats it! Where the hell is that damned voodoo doll? Yung, where are the candles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Fabry Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 asswipe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbinspect Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Now that's.... entertainment! I love it!.. A sense of humor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian G Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Originally posted by kurt Kinda like gigantic MBR bubble tubs, multi-nozzle turbo showers, big fancy foyers w/palladium windows & a giant chandelier, and unvented gas log fireplaces. Yeah, can you imagine a group of HI's 75 years from now, looking at pictures of a long-extinct multi-nozzle turbo shower and guessing what it was for? De-lousing chamber? Nuclear accident wash-down apparatus? Torture device? Tall, narrow spray paint booth? Damn silly things. How the heck is a guy supposed to lather up in one of those anyway? There's nowhere to stand out of the spray. Brian G. One Good Nozzle Is Enough [^] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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