2018

by Elizabeth Finkelstein   I live just north of New York City, so I'll admit that when it comes to historical homes, I'm a tad bit spoiled. A number of homes in and around my area were built by the crème de la crème of hotshot architects—at a time when architects themselves were a rare breed and accessible only to the very wealthy. Case in point: This jawdropper of a home in Rye, New York, built...

  by Elizabeth Finkelstein Living in New York's Lower Hudson Valley, I'm surrounded by incredible old houses. I see them every day; I gawk at them, I take pictures of them, I drag all of my out-of-town guests on long neighborhood walks, and I talk ad nauseam about them. My entire town is eye candy; frankly, it's why I live here. Every so often, the opportunity presents itself for me to visit an old...

I grew up in a Greek Revival home in upstate New York that my parents poured decades of love into restoring. The photo above is my mom standing in front of the house when she and my dad first purchased it over 30 years ago. This photo inspired CIRCA Houses, and it's now inspiring our new social media series for Throwback Thursday!   All are invited to join in the fun! Send us your back-in-the-day old...

by Elizabeth Finkelstein Ever since I started writing this particular column several years back, a funny thing has happened: I've started to become a magnet for cheap, old fixer-uppers. They seem to come to me in my sleep. They arrive daily in my inbox. People have even stopped me on the street to tell me about them. (Yes, this IS my dream-come-true, in case you were wondering.) It occurred to me one day...

by Elizabeth Finkelstein. Photos courtesy of Friends of the Old West End.   Ok, Danville is not literally on fire. But hear me out. The city's Old West End National Historic District has 43 historic homes for sale – half for under $50,000. These homes range from 1,400 square foot cottages to 5,000+ square foot Millionaires’ Row mansions. There’s something for everyone. Sure, I love ogling...

by Elizabeth Finkelstein   Much as I love what I do for a living, it can sometimes wreck havoc on my life. BECAUSE I WANT ALL THE HOUSES. Can you blame me!? LOOK AT THIS ONE. It's $44,960. It hurts. I want it. The little fan on the front landing! The staircase! The built-ins! The pocket doors! EVERYTHING!!!! Seriously, just look at the photos.   Can you believe...

by Elizabeth Finkelstein Just because I know that most of you have long lists of New Year's resolutions that begin with "fix up an old house" (am I right?), I've rounded up 15+ gorgeous historical homes for sale for under $50,000 that are just waiting for a little TLC.   And lest I forgot to mention it, if you LOVE cheap old houses as much as we do, make sure to follow our other Instagram feed...

by Elizabeth Finkelstein   When you do what you love for a living, and make it as public as I have made CIRCA, a funny thing happens: People start "thinking" of you a lot. Or, at least, they say they do. For me, this usually comes in the form of "I thought of you yesterday because I drove by a crazy looking salvage dump and you would have loved it," or "Have you seen so-and-so's house yet? You should...