How do you find out the age of a house?

Huntington

It's the house my father was born in, we were just wondering how old it is, no particular reason. I was going to look at the Ordinance Survey maps online but they seem to only got back to 1824 and we reckon it's older than that.
Had a look at the deeds but they seem to be only for the land, no mention of a house. (Is this a problem?:eek:)

Ostrom

Hmmm... a personal curiosity of mine too

Where is the house located? There are a number of sources you can turn to; local estate papers if you are lucky (hit and miss depending on location), previous valuations and tithe returns, poor law-union reports note individual properties as far as I am aware. All of which can narrow your scope, but, unfortunately you are automatically limited by pre-nineteenth century sources.

There are many papers (archaeological, folk studies, historical-geographical) you can consult that deal with regional architecture that may narrow it down - I would say unless you get lucky with a chance earlier source, the best you can do is narrow the margin of error of an estimate.

Can you give some details about the house?

The first edition OS are cross-referenced with Griffiths valuation (available at the Irish life centre in Dublin), and date between 1830 and 1842. The earlier down survey does not record individual properties, only townland boundaries. You may get lucky with an estate map

Huntington

Thanks Efla
The house is located on the Carlow/Wexford border.
It is a cottage which was built within the estate of Huntington Castle to house the farm manager. This post was held by my grandfather, great-grandfather & great-great grandfather AFAIK (b1777-d1837). I reckon it was built for the latter but maybe earlier.

Ostrom

The six-inch should show the house clearly enough - was there a farm of land attached? If so, it should show on the valuation returns which will allow you to place its ownership to the mid 19th century. Nothing as broad and formal exists beyond this, and you will have to do some digging for estate papers - the land registry, national library - a local history society is often a good place to start.

Sorry I cant be of more help, I'm not too familiar source-wise with the south east

Huntington

It would have been part of the farm belonging to the castle, I know who owned it as it's been the same family since it was built in 1625. I'm sure they have records but I wouldn't ask.
Doesn't sound like there is an easy way but I plan on doing some family history research in the near future so might come across the information then.
Thanks again.

Joe1919

Is their any architectural features such as semi-circular fan-light over front door as these changed over time and can indicate date. Also I believe the mouldings on the little feet of sach windows can be a clue. I sure there are other ways to date. Roof slates? Are there shutters on the windows etc. Fireplaces? all these can give clues if there original. Inside door panels and mouldings? I believe there was a tendency for mouldings, glazing bars etc to become smaller and finer from about 1800 onwards.
You could try the Irish Georgian society. They also have lists of builders and trademen online.
Also the are a range of publication on conservation from http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Heritage/ArchitecturalHeritage/

You could also try your local county council heritage officer but be careful, as its possible that you could be placed on the listed buildings register and this can be a pain in terms of planning applications if you ever want to extend.

Huntington

Joe1919 wrote: »

Is their any architectural features such as semi-circular fan-light over front door as these changed over time and can indicate date.

God no! Nothing like that. It's just a traditional farm cottage. Half-door, small panes of glass in the windows, totally open fire (no fireplace at all!), very Peig Sayers