by Alix Adams (Photo courtesy of Visit Bath)

Welcome to “You Should Move To…”, in which we travel the country scoping out beautiful, under-the-radar old house towns where big charm can be had for little cost. Have a city, town or neighborhood to recommend? Send it along to letters@circahouses.com!
 
Bath had bragging rights before word spread about the great homes and charming downtown because the city is situated on the river in a way that (long story short) accommodates shipbuilding like WOAH. So for 400 years now Bath has been producing ships of all kinds – more than 5,000 vessels launched since building started in 1743.
 
Read more

by Amy Dorsch Heavilin (photo above: Amy’s very own fixer-upper!)

Thinking of a buying a fixer-upper, but scared to death? Of course you are — we’ve all seen The Money Pit! To help clam your fears, we asked the lovely Amy of Vivacious Victorian to share with us all she’s learned about fixing up a beautiful Queen Anne home on a small budget.
 
Read more

by Elizabeth Finkelstein

It’s time to face the music.
 
Read more

by Leona Jaeger

This wonderful house has both historic significance in its community and best of all has been renovated without losing its original character! Take a look!

 
Read more

10 Under 50 is, without a doubt, CIRCA’s most popular recurring series. No surprise there — who doesn’t love to ogle darling old houses? And when these dream abodes are financially attainable for $50,000 or less?! Count us in!
 
One lucky CIRCA reader has turned daydreaming into reality, as the new owner of a Georgia property included in our August Edition of 10 Under 50: 4618 Wrens Highway Thomson, GA 30824. “Tell us all about it,” we implored. And so they did … enjoy Part 1 of this two-part tale!
 
Read more

It’s been a long while since CIRCA celebrated a Fixer-Upper … so let’s get back into the swing of things in a big way, with the Sleighton School.

Located in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, this is more than one house, down on its luck, in need of an ambitious owner to rescue it from old house purgatory. THIS IS AN ENTIRE CAMPUS. We’re talking multiple buildings spread across hundreds of acres, with dormers and fieldstone walls and multi-light windows aplenty.
Read more

by Lauren Spinelli

 
Whether you own a large chateau in the rolling hills of Burgundy or a modest farmhouse amidst the hills of West Virginia, it’s easy to incorporate un peu de Français country into your living space. To achieve this look, one must embrace a balance of gentle hues, ornate elements, textures, and Parisian-country flair. Enjoy my antique picks a la French country style.
Read more

by Leona Jaeger

This special home is not just *any* crush, it’s an Avalanche of Crush!

When I first saw the photos of this Canaan home, this Greek Revival goddess, I wanted to squeal so loudly my seams would burst! The stunning front façade with the “look at me” gable and balcony pulls you toward it like the wafting aroma of Grandma’s from-scratch pumpkin pie. Stately columns stand at attention at the entry and the smaller columns that wind their way around the wraparound porch create the homey feel of the proverbial white picket fence.
 
Read more

by Candice Whitlow

It’s no secret that old houses (especially fixer uppers) become victims of trends over the years. These trends could be the shag carpet and paneling from the 1970’s, or the cheap, polished brass fixtures from the 1980’s and 1990’s. Fortunately, many people have woken up to the fact that trends don’t always compliment old houses, and the restoration movement is growing by the day. While the old house movement is something to be celebrated there is another trend that needs to be addressed—the “Shabby Chic” trend.
 
Read more

by Hänsel Hernández-Navarro (photo by WindingRoad)

If there’s one thing we love about CIRCA, it’s the chance to “tour” the great vernacular architecture that makes America wonderful. Love shingles? You’re most certainly not alone! Join Hänsel as he teaches us all about the Shingle style.
 

The Shingle Style 1880 – 1900

 
The Shingle Style originated in New England in the 1880s and and became popular across the whole of the United States by the beginning of the next decade, the 1890s. Like the Richardsonian Romanesque and the Queen Anne, it is a genuine American vernacular style of the late 19th-century. It was historian Vincent Scully who in the 1950s identified and named this style, which appears to be a reaction to the excesses of the Victorian and the Queen Anne Styles. The Shingle Style avoided fussy effects and complex wall surfaces and textures in favor of a uniform wall covering of wood shingles, reducing and distilling them to bare essentials and forms like our early colonial houses. The style was an early manifestation of a ‘colonial revival architecture’ that emulated the New England salt-box and other colonial houses’ plain, shingled surfaces as well as their massing.
 
Read more