The house was only front-door less for about a day, which was an exciting one. We found some cool stuff while ripping out the hated old front door and gappy trim. There was really weird linen lining (for insulation? moisture resistance?) between the old front door trim and the wall. Looks like it was nailed in place on top of the original redwood before they put on the trim. I wonder why? I doubt it had any insulation purpose - if so, it failed miserably. But it's nice to see that under that is solid old-growth redwood, a little weathered and darkened, but holding up pretty well after 105 years.
Also notable were the rusty old nails that that came out when ripping out the old door casing. They're square-headed iron(?) nails. Look like they're handmade. One one hand, these are fascinating and historical. On the other, it's not all that reassuring to think that the nails holding together most of the house look like this.
