My standard take on this is every room that will be occupied should have a switch that will turn on the overhead light no matter what happens to the network in case of an emergency. First responders need an easily understandable switch in case a room fills with smoke or worse.

Smart bulbs are great for secondary lighting like lamps and such, but the main room light should be on a switch.

One option might be a POE to 12/9/5v convertor like this. I use one to run a 12v non-POE switch up in my attic from a basement POE switch.

Be really careful with those antique cloth covered wires. The cloth insulation can start to fall apart very easily and leave exposed wire when you try and push it back in. Judging by the one wrapped in electrical tape that might have already started to happen though it might have been done to mark one wire as a hot lead.

I don’t think you’ll find one these days. The problem is the trickle current is enough to make some LED’s glow dimly all the time since they use so little current. I use an Insteon system in my house and when I used an older dimming lighting module with that feature to try to run my LED Christmas lights they would always stay dimly lit even when switched off.

Nice job. I’d say the doorbell issue did you a favor…

I would worry less about the doorbell and more about the fact you have a live circuit branch in your house you can’t turn off. Get someone in the house to find out what that’s about before you try and replace anything.

I guess everything old becomes new again. I built one of my first DIY projects with a 555 back in the early '80s, a variable windshield wiper delay for my car. Back then you only got that feature on really expensive cars so it was way cool to have it in a '74 Volvo wagon.

What does one do to reset a ismart outlet or smart switch?

Turn the circuit breaker off and on.

Depending on how close you are to the neighbors I would face them toward the house to try and contain the sound a bit. I’d run them in mono too.

It was fun in its day, being the first sort of DIY HA gear and I used it for years. But there are certainly much better ways to automate a home now.