Where we grew up.

[imoldernu]

This could be fun. It was for me. A trip through Zillow to find the places where we lived.
The first place I remember was from age 3 to when jeanie and I were married,
and where I lived when I first met her in 1943 at age 7. (She lived about a mile away in a more expensive part of Pawtucket then).
So, my Elder Street home was a rental,and as I remember, the landlord had paid $4000 for it. (Our rent was $7/week and that went up to $11 when I was in college.)
Anyway, imagine my surprise when I went to Zillow and found the Zestimate price @$182,526.00...

Have you checked out your childhood home?

 

[imoldernu]

Oh Boy!... here's one more. A big mistake. Take a peek on Zillow at...

68 Oakwood Avenue
Falmouth, Mass

We bought in 1966 for $11,600... You should see the price today.
"We grow too soon old, and too late smart.

 

[MissMolly]

The house I grew up in. 1,268 sq/ft. Mom, Dad, 6 kids and a dog (after we moved there were 2 more kids). 3 tiny little bedrooms, living room, kitchen, 1 bathroom and a utility room that had a big scary furnace in it (but was really nice to sit up against in the winter). On the right is a breezeway and garage, so the tiny living part is on the left, halfway behind the tree. The girls' room was the window at the very far left. There was a wringer washer in the utility room. We hung clothes outside on the clothesline to dry in the backyard. No air conditioning. According to Zillow is worth $115,000. I have no idea what my parents paid for it back in 1952.

 

[Just_Steve]

Oh yeah, childhood home, how charming.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...aw3IyTdWQB1fQW0w71FZY0PJ&ust=1547590660211355

 

[W2R]

My parents' home when I was a kid. The first image is from Zillow, and the second (black and white) photo is one I took when I was a kid. Twenty-seven rooms on 3/4 acre, and they bought it in 1943 for less than $3K. They sold it in the mid 1960's when we moved to Hawaii. We didn't spend much time there, since my father was a nearly compulsive traveler. We were always somewhere overseas.

 

[braumeister]

This sort of nostalgia is always fun for me too. The house I grew up in, Brooklyn NY:
1,240 sf, built in 1925 on a 1,800 sf lot.
My parents bought it in 1948 for $10K and sold it in 1972 for $60K
Zillow shows it today at $504K

Like everything else in the neighborhood, it was severely damaged in Superstorm Sandy in 2012, but is currently being rebuilt to a much higher standard and will probably be worth far more in another year or two.

When I was little, the only heat was from a small coal stove on the ground floor (bedrooms were upstairs). I remember going outside to the coal bin with my father in the winter and getting a bucket of coal first thing in the morning. He had a big bucket and I had a little one. If lucky, there were still some live embers in the banked stove, so we could put fresh lumps of coal on top and blow a bit to get the fire going again.

Around the mid 1950s we got natural gas and installed a real furnace.

Sometime in the early 1960s we got a window air conditioner for my parents' bedroom, and later another for the living room downstairs. Around the same time, the city put sewers in, raising the street level about three feet. We could finally forget the septic tank in the back yard. But I could never forget falling through the rotted boards (a few inches below ground level) into that septic tank when I was around seven years old.

Hard to believe this was New York City, but most people don’t connect to the fact that Manhattan is just one of the five boroughs.

 

[CardsFan]

You made me look.

Parents bought this in +/-1959 for around $14k. South shore of the Boston area.

Current Zillow estimate is $487k.

 

[Bamaman]

I grew up in a modest 3 bedroom 2 bath cape cod style home in Nashville, TN. The neighborhood was changing when we sold the home 12 years ago. Now, little English is spoken. We sold to a retired social worker that was used to being around immigrants.

Nashville's real estate market is beyond hot, and homes are selling for 3 times what we sold our house for. A 1,650 square feet home in a bad neighborhood is more expensive than my 5,200 square foot, 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom home in a luxury neighborhood 2 hours south of Nashville.

And with Amazon bringing in 5,000 new jobs, house prices are only going higher.

 

[pjm-7]

The house where I grew up no longer exists. The location is now a highway exit ramp near Cincinnati.

 

[MRG]

Middle of Pennsylvania, house was a converted barn, built in 1900. It was finished the year I was born. Four bedrooms with 2500 square feet. I think DPs paid $18,00 in 57, sold for $75 in 76, today $300k.

It's amazing looking at the area how much it's changed. What was rural is now pretty developed. Pretty much the same anywhere.

 

[Ronstar]

My childhood home is 5 miles from my current home. Parents built it in 1963. I inherited it when my parents passed. I remodeled it and sold it in 1992. I should have kept it and moved there. I go by it about once a week.

 

[Dawg52]

The house I grew up in is gone. I wouldn't even think about driving through the area today. Too many stray bullets.

 

[Souschef]

I grew up in the area of the Bronx NY called Unionport. I have no idea why. I left there for the West Coast in 1958. The things I noticed that had changed were the red awnings added, and the boxwood hedge replaced by wrought iron fencing. Also the porch railing is white now instead of black.

 

[Scrapr]

630 Flagler Blvd in Lake Park Fla

Only spent a few years there before we moved back to Oregon. No idea what my folks paid for it in 1960, Was brand new then. Think my brother was born a few months later. Looks like it went into foreclosure/auction recently. Pretty sure it went to auction during the recession too. It was a fun neighborhood. There was a line of bikes going to elementary school. We had a crossing guard to cross the main street.It would be 20 or 30 kids deep. Neighbors all kept an eye on the kids

edit: Zillow says built in 1957. So I was one year old. Brother in '58. Another brother in '62.I don't remember moving in

 

[RobbieB]

Now for sale at 49,900, reduced from 52,000.

 

[ERD50]

The house I grew up in is gone, replaced with a McMansion a decade or so ago. It was a tiny 2 bedroom house, small kitchen with eat-in area, a small living room and 1 bath. No basement. My Dad added on an attached garage and dining room between the house and garage. Three kids were squeezed into one small bedroom until we moved when I was 9.

But it was a suburb of Chicago, and on 1 acre to support septic, so McMansions went in when sewer was brought in (so a big house could cover more of the land) and urban sprawl/commuting raised prices in the area.

My parents' home when I was a kid. The first image is from Zillow, and the second (black and white) photo is one I took when I was a kid. Twenty-seven rooms on 3/4 acre, and they bought it in 1943 for less than $3K. They sold it in the mid 1960's when we moved to Hawaii. We didn't spend much time there, since my father was a nearly compulsive traveler. We were always somewhere overseas.

27 rooms! Holy Cow! That's an impressive looking home, and looks great in the current pic and your pic. Are you sure about $3K at the time? I see ~ 3K~4K for an average home in the 40's. I would think that would have gone for much more. What did your Dad/Mom do for a living?

-ERD50

 

[aja8888]

The house I grew up in is gone. I wouldn't even think about driving through the area today. Too many stray bullets.

Same for me. It's an empty lot in a slum. I guess it burned down. Back in the 1950 - 1960 time frame, it was a slum also. It's at 123 Orange Street in Waterbury, CT.

 

[MarieIG]

Oh yes, I have checked it out, lol. Three bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths. Parents brought it for 20k in 1960. Zillow has it for 455k.

 

[akidagain2018]

I own my childhood home (from age 1 onward). Mom passed, many years after dad, and two of my siblings as well. I bought out my sisters and still have it, starting to do some remodel. It still has the original 1960s ranch built in cabinets in the kitchen. Brandy-new windows and roof a la yours truly this past year. It's my retreat from the rat race - my country home retreat..

 

[street]

You folks were raised in some nice looking homes. The home I grew up in was a two story farm house. My parents got married they each had an old car and they traded one of the cars for the home. It was a great home and was sold in 2012 for 25K. We were not poor but we always had what we needed. I couldn't imagine growing up in some of the homes pictured. Very nice.

 

[Moemg]

I just found out my childhood home is gone . I grew up in a small town in Pa. . The town was small but perfect for a great childhood .We lived in a four bedroom one bath attached home . When my Sister became a teenager she converted the attic bedroom into her retreat . It had been my brother's magic room.I loved our home . We had the perfect neighbors who were like family . It was not luxurious in any way but it was home.I have great memories of growing up in that house .

 

[CoolRich59]

The house I grew up in located just south of Chicago in Dolton, IL.

My parents were the original owners, but I have no idea how much they paid for it when it was built in 1957. The area has not thrived and the Zillow estimated value is $2,500 less than when my Mom sold it 10 years ago.

 

[Hermit]

The house I consider my childhood home was a simple 1000 sq ft ranch in a small town on the eastern Colorado prairies. My parents had it built in 1963 for about $14k. It was then the last house on the street and horses were kept on the other side of the street. Now it is surrounded by other houses. It is currently listed on Zillow for $125k. My mom died in the house. Dad sold it right after. He was ill and could not live by himself and moved in with my family. He died a year later. I haven't been back to that town for many years.

 

[mountainsoft]

I grew up in rural areas around Centralia, Illinois. I couldn't find most of my childhood homes on Zillow, for that matter the best I could do was satellite views in Google Maps. No street views out in those rural back roads either.

However, I did find one house I lived in when I was about 9 or 10 years old. Different paint and finishes inside but the kitchen, layout, and exterior looks the same as it did 45 years ago:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/301-Melrose-Ave,-centralia,-il_rb/

What really surprised me was how cheap houses are back there, even today. Many houses in the 30K to 50K range. Even a newer 6 bedroom, 5 bath, 6096 sq ft house only sells for 390K. Wow!

Out here in Washington state even our little 1456 sq/ft house is valued over 360K. If I didn't love where we lived we could retire back to my home town and live like millionaires!

 

[Alan]

The house I grew up in has now been demolished. We had an outside toilet and a standpipe in the yard, both of which we shared with our next door neighbor.

The wooden hatches in the walls seen in the photo are to coal bunkers. When coal was delivered it was dropped in the street, below the hatch, and we would shovel it in through the hatch.

I don't miss "the good old days".