# How Can I Research This House (Demolished) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567 "2013-05-16T23:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/1 "2013-05-16T23:55:20Z")
Link:[https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3131733669703.1073741825.1755616334&type=3&uploaded=1](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3131733669703.1073741825.1755616334&type=3&uploaded=1) This picture is of a Japanese style home, in Quincy, MA. It was built around 1965-sadly, it was demolished (replaced by a fake-colonial McMansion). At any rate, how could I find the plans for this? I recall seeing a similar home in Port Charlotte, FL-but I have never seen anything similar, in all of the books I have studied. Anybody know how I could track down the plans? I hope to bild a similar home, someday:D ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/2 "2013-05-17T01:27:03Z")
Well, ask around older neighbors (arty types, maybe an elderly architect in town) who might know the architect, or be able to remember if it was ever published in any architecture magazines. Long shot, but see if it’s in [Buildings of Massachusetts](http://www.amazon.com/Buildings-Massachusetts-Metropolitan-Boston-United/dp/0813927099) anyway. Once you have the architect’s name, you can try to track down whether his practice was continued by some other firm. That’s unlikely for a residential architect, so see whether his papers went to any institution, or whether he had a younger widow who survives, or a nephew who has a basement full of stuff. In short, not easy. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/3 "2013-05-17T01:27:43Z")
It’s possible that plans were filed with the town of Quincy, and many NE towns are just crotchety enough to hang on to scraps of paper that old (or, like my town, to have digitized all the archives). Try the town clerk with the building’s address. ---
**Author:** ![LMarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@LMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LMarie)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/4 "2013-05-17T02:02:16Z")
A title company or your county clerk should be able to help. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/5 "2013-05-17T19:09:49Z")
Start by checking with the [yax assessors office](http://www.quincyma.gov/government/ASSESSOR/). You can also contact the neighborhood real estate office and see what history they can pull. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/6 "2013-05-18T03:50:38Z")
He’s not asking who _owned_ the house, but who _designed_ the house. It would help a little if we could see the picture of it. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/7 "2013-05-18T05:21:19Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Link:[https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3131733669703.1073741825.1755616334&type=3&uploaded=1](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3131733669703.1073741825.1755616334&type=3&uploaded=1) > This picture is of a Japanese style home, in Quincy, MA. It was built around 1965-sadly, it was demolished (replaced by a fake-colonial McMansion). At any rate, how could I find the plans for this? > I recall seeing a similar home in Port Charlotte, FL-but I have never seen anything similar, in all of the books I have studied. > Anybody know how I could track down the plans? > I hope to bild a similar home, someday:D There is a company that already has the plans, and in fact builds it for you > **[Gallery](http://www.haikuhouses.com/html/gallery.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-research-this-house-demolished/658567/8 "2013-05-18T05:24:32Z")
Skip down to the section about the house at 121 Buckingham in the next URL > **[ForgottenTour 46, Prospect Park South, Brooklyn - Forgotten New York](https://forgotten-ny.com/2011/07/forgottentour-46-prospect-park-south-brooklyn/)** > > Why was this ForgottenTour different from most other ForgottenTours? Unlike eight of the previous nine tours this one did not feature clouds, rain or rumors of rain, and thus was considerably…