Restoration of Our Home in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Condition of Home
September 2001
Once we decided on making Chattanooga our new home, the Hanover house was the second one we previewed. Our realtor, Bill Holmes, had selected it based on our price and desire for an older home with loads of character. At first glance, it was a little scary. Dark mildew covered all exterior walls and much of the paint was peeling. There were several cracked and missing windows. But the home was obviously built extremely well and had so much personality that the problems we saw seemed less overwhelming. We did not know it at the time, but we had just found our dream home.
Inside, all the downstairs floors were carpeted. The kitchen and breakfast rooms had aged vinyl. There were noticeable watermarks on many of the ceilings and walls indicating that there had been water problems in the past. The pedestal sinks in two of the baths had been removed and replaced with fabricated cabinets and sinks. The beautiful cherry staircase had been enclosed with a door separating the upper floor from the downstairs. Aluminum windows had replaced two of the largest windows in an upstairs bedroom.
We could tell that there had been renovations in the past. The downstairs had partially upgraded wiring, copper pipes had replaced the original, and many of the plaster walls had been repaired. Also, a fairly new furnace, central air, and hot water heater had already been installed in the home.
To our surprise, when we attempted to insure the home, we found that we would not be able get insurance unless the wiring was totally updated. Much of the downstairs had been rewired but there remained much of the original knob-and-tube wiring throughout the home.
Later, after we had purchased the home, we discovered many other problems we would have to address. At the closing we met the wonderful Hubbuch family. We found that George Hubbuch had engineered most of the repairs and renovations made to the home. He visited us the day after closing and shared colorful memories of growing up in the house. He was a valuable source of information about the history of the house. He pointed out construction features, past modifications and existing problems of which we were unaware. He also gave us many original plumbing and lighting fixtures that had been replaced over the years.