Historic House Heroes

How to restore a fairytale cottage (right out of Lord of the Rings!)!

In a mystical realm called Wisconsin 😉 stands @elvencottage, a c. 1926 cottage straight from your favorite childhood fairy tale (or adulthood fantasy novel). West and Alexis have painstakingly and carefully restored windows one by one ... and that’s just the beginning. The vaulted Great Room of Elven Cottage is anchored by a soaring chimney; West’s plans for the Game Room/Library, with a bookshelf to climb up and over the door, are wonderfully fun; the Guest Room, destined for exposed beams in the style of coffee shops West and Alexis experience in York, England, is sure to be warm and welcoming.

You’ll be speechless when you see this church-turned-home!

The hashtag #LookUp was surely coined with All Saints House in mind! Follow homeowners and restorers Anastasiia and Gunther through the arched doorway and into this converted chapel. The soaring ceiling is impossible to ignore (ok by us!), and the Great Room is filled with stories — some anchored by objects and others as memories that Gunther and Anastasiia generously share with us as they guide us on this “one-room journey.”

Meet the Amazing Couple Who Just Bought This Incredible Indiana Fixer-Upper

by Shannon Lee. Photos by Jane Daniels Photography. Joshua Targownik is ready to get out of town. Los Angeles, that is. His desire to restore a home to its original beauty has been eating at him for years, and his girlfriend has been itching to get back to Indiana. The result was the purchase of the Kirby-McMillion House, a home with stunning potential for these two do-it-yourselfers. Here’s how they...

This Amazing Couple Bought Their Old Home for Only $25,000

by Shannon Lee To lovers of old homes and fixer-uppers, Sandra Brown and her husband Bert are living the dream. In 2015, they stumbled upon a beautiful foursquare in the tiny town of Sparta, Georgia. Built in 1900, she had fallen into disrepair, and was in desperate need of someone who would see the beauty in her original wood trim, windows and doors, as well as the stunning six (count ‘em, six!)...

15 Years and Counting: Restoring a Massive Victorian Home on Danville's "Millionaire’s Row"

by Shannon Lee Some people spend their whole lives dreaming about buying and a renovating a big, old fixer-upper. Others actually take the plunge. Talking with Carla Minosh of The Danville Experience about her beautiful Victorian home is an utter delight. Her voice glows with warmth as the talks about the Sublett-Miller House, the home she and her husband purchased over 15 years ago in Danville, VA....

Our Favorite Historical Inns to Visit this Fall!

by Katy Mendenhall. Photo Courtesy of Boston Business Times How about a little fall vacation? Hoping in the car and driving to a quaint, historic inn for the weekend sounds perfect! I have researched and come up with some beautiful pieces of history that you can stay in today. After all, inns and B&Bs are a great alternative to the more expensive hotel chains. They offer a more personal experience and...

Preservation Greenpoint Brooklyn | Matthew Coody & Jennifer Schork

I'm staying close to home with today's Historic House Heroes post, as I have a serious soft spot for the neighborhood of Greenpoint in North Brooklyn. My husband's office is in an old rope factory there, and when we moved in we found handwriting on an interior column that read: "Last bale in this house: August 31, 1928. 2:25 p.m. Billy, Freddy, Henry." It is hard to be in Greenpoint and not feel a...

Mark Goff & Phillip Engel of 227 North Street

For residents of the small town of Healdsburg, California, the old Marshall House at 227 North Street had been -- until just a few years ago -- an object of great curiosity. At least since the 1950s, the long-neglected home had been in a sad state, it's foundation slowly sinking into the ground. Old-timers remember peeking into the house as children, believing it be haunted.   When Mark Goff & Phillip...

Cher Vick: One Woman's Quest to Transform a City

From our tiny abodes in New York City, the staff of CIRCA Houses loves to dream about the City of Newburgh, NY. Located just two hours up the Hudson River, breathtaking waterfront mansions by the likes of Calvert Vaux and Andrew Jackson Downing are being sold for less than the cost of a Manhattan studio apartment. Newburgh is the next big thing - we can just feel it! - in no small part due to the efforts...

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