those beveled 5 pointed stars that you see on houses

[mopinko]

i bet someone here could explain to me what they are. i have been in galena illinois a few times this year, and see them all over there. i could probably find this out from the google, but i thought you regulars here would be more interesting reading.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. The beveled 5-point stars are just decorative

whereas the ones that look like flat stars with a hole in the center, are often incorrectly called barn stars and are actually anchor plates.

read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnstar

[Vinca]

2. A few years ago HGTV had one in a dream home they gave away

and the fad took off from there. China can't make them fast enough.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. They're called earthquake bolts. Many Charleston SC homes have them

Not all of them have stars, but here are a few pictures of star shaped ends. Other common motifs are circles, Xs, Ss, lion heads, etc. They were threaded onto the ends of long iron rods that went side to side in a house to help hold it together in the event of an earthquake. They started using them after the Great Charleston Quake in 1886.

[Paper Roses]

4. The star bolts you show are beautiful and functional.

I'd love to have one. The star referred to by the poster are the (I think) large, 12" or more tin, painted things that you attach to the house.

I'd hang one of yours in a minute, the others do nothing for me. I saw lots of them when I was helping my daughter look for a house south of Boston. All big, brightly colored. Many in places that interrupted the eye.

My personal feeling is showing but I don't really think they add much.

[mopinko]

5. yeah, i have been seeing those. assumed those were ties.

looking at houses in galena, il. seeing those on many of the old houses, but also the others decorating lots, too. suspect many, at least, are the real thing- old german barn stars. seeing a lot of old barns, also.
wonderful little town. history by the ton. think the vast majority of the good antiques out there were sold in the 70's and 80's tho. it was quite the place to go for them.

[old mark]

6. Exactly! Many old brick houses have them, including ours, built in 1920. We do have

occasional tremors here, and the old place is still together...We have the 5 pointed stars, made of solid iron, and they ARE functional...I think we have 2 or 3 of them, with bolts through the brick walls (double brick walls with an air space between).
We have an end of row and they are on the exposed wall, of course-they were meant to hold the walls together.


mark