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Friday, June 04, 2010

A bit of history

So looked up the house in the building registrar thingy.

It says, with some translation work...

"Big city house.  Built in 1875, attic extension 1921.  A pretty "street" house with a large, high facade and large "Danish flag" windows with profiled moulding.^  Beautiful cornice with dentils.^^  Recessed double door.^^^  Fine chimneys.  New windows in attic extension.
Should you with to change this house: The house must remain unchanged in every detail.  The replacement of building materials must be used for reconstruction purposes only."^^^^

So there you have it.  This date of 1875 makes me much happier, because there is NO WAY people were building in this style in 1915 like the owner said.  Also, the property appears in a city plan drawn in 1677.  There are 9 houses depicted on "my" street - and currently there are 20 real homes sitting here.  What I'm saying it that it's not so accurate, this 1677 map, but it *is* a freakin' old street.


^ I have no idea what they mean by "profiled." Is my moulding under suspicion?  Is my moulding *gasp* a mass murderer!!??
^^ Google translate gave me teeth-cut.  Google translate is not up on it's architectural terms.  Google translate doesn't know how to use Wikipedia.
^^^ Anyone know what a "fyldingsdør" is?  Apart from something about a door.   Is it something incredibly stupid, like "full-length" or "folding"?  It has a transom window above it - does that help?
^^^^ This last section sent Google translate into meltdown.  I've decided that this is what the authors mean when they started tossing "ved" around and leaving out words that would have made this all a lot clearer.

4 comments:

  1. Well, I'm not a carpenter, but...

    - profil usually means wood that has a lengthwise cut/indentation in it...like the planks that are used for wooden ceilings and floors that slide into each other like jigsaw pieces?

    - fyldningsdør is a door that has "fillings" between the frame, like your front door. I'm not sure it makes sense, but if you image google it you'll get an idea of what I mean. :)

    They are very popular, especially in old style buildings and usually a sign of quality. The doors where the filling is indented from the main frame are considered the best. Some people make fake "fyldningsdøre" by nailing on narrow mouldings (which makes the sections non-indented) onto a smooth door and then painting the whole thing.

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  2. Brilliant May, thanks!!

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  3. This is my biggest problem with the Danish language. I think I'm pretty fluent, but as soon as I have to talk about any even vaguely technical area (outside my field) blam! I'm back to ignorant-foreigner-just-off-the-boat status. Building, finance, car-problems, you name it, my vocabulary doesn't cover it.

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  4. What a cool history! Our home isn't nearly as charming....built in 2006, went into foreclosure in 2009...and now being lovingly restored into something that looks like an Italian villa. I haven't started yet, but one day I will get there...

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Keep it clean, don't be mean....