Snapshot of a UA Century Home: 1826 Upper Chelsea
(written mid-November 2023; images by permission of current owners Trish & John Cadwallader)
“It was a 1917 kitchen when we purchased the home in 1983.”
Forty years hence, John and Trish Cadwallader fondly reflect on the DIY renovations their younger, energetic selves undertook in the mid-1980s to update a home that had been frozen in time. They are only the third family to live here, and with a 1917 built date reported on the Franklin County Auditor’s site, the house ranks as one of the earliest of UA residences.
1920s view of 1826 Upper Chelsea.
According to Trish, UA founder King Thompson built 1826 Upper Chelsea as a spec home with all the latest conveniences. Technological advancements by the 1980s had obviously made these original designs obsolete. However, John and Trish still kept many intact during their renovation. A tour of their current home provides amazing glimpses of the past.
Trish knew the ice box “was a beautiful piece of furniture and added character to the home” even though it was hidden under layers of green paint when they bought the home. She stripped it and used linseed oil to return the wood to its natural splendor:
The brass plate reads: “McCray. Kendallville, Ind., USA.”
Even on this temperate late fall day, the ice box, now used to house recyclables and storage bags, was very cold inside just from drawing upon the natural elements. One can imagine its effectiveness when it contained a block of ice. The Cadwalladers were given an antique ice ordering card which is instructive in understanding how this process worked:
The orientation of the card indicated how much ice the homeowner was requesting.
The advertisement on the card’s back seems to discourage the “old way” of using ice obtained from the river when it was frozen.
“We were told ice delivery to the house continued until 1960,” Trish explains. Deliveries were placed from the back of the ice box, which extends beyond the home’s back exterior wall.
Another original feature of the home was the central vacuum system. The basement still hosts this steampunk-styled device, and baseboards throughout the home have metal keyed disks where the hoses would have connected.
The original dishwasher was one of the few items that the Cadwalladers removed due to its footprint, but only after documenting it in this pre-renovation photo:
The February 1922 Norwester Magazine (p. 32) describes a dishwasher as follows: “…an electrical dishwasher and dryer into which the dishes are piled and at the turn of a switch receive a five-minute bath in hot, soapy water. They are then automatically rinsed, after which the machine is opened to let them dry themselves.”
The home was connected for both gas and electric at a time when electricity service to residences was an emerging concept. For example, sconces in the home have behind-the-wall power sources for gas or electric.
At over 100 years-old, the Cadwalladers’ remodeled home brilliantly hosts modern-day living while sincerely honoring its past.
The Cadwalladers recently purchased a Century Home Marker (above the mailbox) to celebrate their home’s century status!