Very interesting. The sawdust-and-paper insulation would not meet modern US fire code, but people used what was on hand in the past.

My older books on construction and architecture show narrow diagonal lath boards used to be common on wood frames walls, andnplaster was applied over those. That was before plywood and sheetrock became common, of course. Horizontal wide boards probably serve the same purpose of adding rigidity to the framing.

Old wiring is often a hazard. Loads are higher, early safety features were often nonexistent. Yes. Having the wir9ng in some kind of exposed conduit or channels is less attractive, but easier to install or upgrade.

Thanks for all the photos!