Ever since I knew we were going to build a house, I knew that I wanted to have an antique clawfoot tub in our master bathroom.  It’ll be the only tub in the house since all the other bathrooms have showers and I wanted it to be perfect.  I’ve been keeping my eye out at antique stores, architectural salvage shops, craigslist, and antique tub resellers for the perfect one.  And let me tell you – it’s harder than you think to find exactly what you want when it comes to vintage pieces (and for a reasonable price).

But I finally found it…a double ended, center drain, wide brimmed, 6’ long, cast iron, claw foot antique bathtub!!  And it’s absolutely gorgeous!  It’s a Standard (now American Standard) tub from 1912 with all of the original (and working) hardware.  The original fire glazed porcelain is 100% intact, no chips, cracks, rust, etc.  The outside will need to be repainted, and the inside will need to be cleaned up & polished a bit, but honestly, it’s stunning.  I couldn’t be happier or more excited.  Joel bought it for me for my birthday and it’s the most perfect present…I couldn’t have asked for anything better and it’s going to look great in the new house!

Standard 1912 Clawfoot Tub

Corner mounted claw foot

Original faucets in excellent condition

Wondering how/where I found it?  Of course…craigslist.  It was originally put in a craftsman home out on the Puget Sound in Aberdeen.  So today we rented a Ford Expedition XL, and hired a couple of movers to help us move it out of the house.  And boy did we need the help!  The tub is about 400 lbs, and of course on the second story of the house with a wrap-around staircase.  We are so lucky that we hired a couple of guys to help us move it…there’s absolutely no way that we could have moved it ourselves!

I know it’s a bit crazy to have already purchased the bathtub for our future house when we haven’t even broke ground yet, but it was too good of a deal to pass up – the tub was listed for $1,500 on CL and I negotiated the owner down to $800.  So including the truck rental, gas and movers, we’ve probably invested about $1,100 into it (not to mention a days worth of time to drive there and pick it up).  But it’s such a steal – the same exact tub is listed in an antique salvage shop for $5,500!!  And it has a broken faucet and the porcelain isn’t in nearly as good of shape.  So we think we really scored, plus, it was my birthday!  And what’s life without a little adventure and craziness anyhow?  We’re very excited to put it in the new house, and are extremely happy it won’t need to be moved up any stairs.