The 1900 House

When you go through the pains of restoring a house back to 1900 detail, you really should make the most of it! I was sad they almost never talked about what it was like to live in gas lighting, or even the simple of reading in this low light. So many other missed opportunities to keep the kids busy other than having them just sitting around bored. Children in lower middle-class homes were expected to participate more. Maybe they should have given the family better guidance. Like not eating in the kitchen all the time or serving tea in the kitchen to guests was not something that would have been done. To get them OUT of their 1999 lifestyles. But everything was cynical it seems. Even the guy restoring the house that made the statement "It's gonna be a whole log gloomier and a whole lot nastier".. WHAT? You're really someone who love restoring old historic scenes and that's how you're describing this?

This film was great fun for me to watch! I grabbed it without even really knowing what it was about, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

It was fun to see them reworking the house, by removing portions of walls and appliances, and making awesome discoveries behind it! I appreciated the efforts and research measures they took in remodeling and redecorating. I learned quite a bit more then what I was expecting. There can be so much that one does not expect or take into consideration (Example: The reason's for all the Inspectors concerns).

It was hilarious to see some of the reactions from family members when they were confronted by things they had not anticipated, LOL!! That's the way it is with so many things in life (Example: We many times have no idea everything that a person is responsible for in a job/position, until we do it ourselves).

The most valuable thing this film produced, was stated beautifully about taking care what we 'romanticize'. We human beings have great tendencies to do that. NO, the grass is NOT always greener somewhere else!

I love the entire "House" series. This show in particular was very interesting. I am always fascinated by how people live/lived. I have had varying degrees of income (from very little to middle class and upper middle when I was a child). I take pride on my ability to withstand hardship and shows like this inspire me. To think what our families were able to cope with makes something silly like my cable going down very irrelevant. It is good to remember how tough people are and what they are able to do and this series does that very well. I can't wait for the next installment of House programs. 1900 House was my first introduction to the series and I immediately went out and rented other versions as well as eagerly awaited them on my television.

There is a bit of masochism in having a whole family endure such hardships for so long, but this sort of documentary is quite endearing and informative. There should be more such programs.

As to 1900, many of the hardships are artificial. Why for instance did women have to wear cumbersome clothes in a time before air conditioning, clothes that are very hard to wash? No vacuum cleaners? Big deal! Sweep! Our ancestors couldn't have been so miserable. There was plenty of fun even then, even a thousand years ago.

I really can't recommend this documentary and experiment enough. It is really entertaining and brilliantly done to help us understand life in 1900. I found the Bowlers as a challenging adventurous family who was willing to undertake this difficult project. Mrs. Bowler is a remarkable woman who was wonderful. Her twin daughters passed time by creating a little theatre in their home. What she missed surprised me the most? They did not complain about the television, radio, telephone, or computer, almost necessary essentials in our times. Life was tough in Victorian times by their experience. I can't thank them enough for their efforts of three months as a Victorian family.