Do you hear the words rehabilitation, renovation, restoration, and preservation used almost interchangeably and wonder, what do they really mean? Yes, the common thread is that they all move towards some kind of “improvement.” However, understanding the distinctions can completely change how you approach your own old-house project.Personally, I lean into historic rehabilitation...
Old Houses
Sharing our expertise on preserving the original character in an old house.
And, more importantly, why old-house stewards like you matter. If you own or care for an old house, you are already part of something larger than yourself. Long before historic preservation became a formal movement, ordinary people made deliberate choices to repair rather than replace, to understand rather than erase. We don’t just live in old houses, we live with them. It’s a relationship. But,...
When people hear the word “historic”, they often picture the obvious places: a handsome Main Street lined with 19th-century storefronts, a house museum with a gloved guide and a velvet rope, a battlefield marked by interpretive signs. I spent most of my childhood visiting places like these on summer vacation. As a culture, we label places as “historic” because they feed our curiosity, connect us...
Scott Hanson’s book, Restoring Your Historic House: The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners, hooked me with just one sentence:I have not found a single that prioritizes the identification and preservation of a historic house’s character-defining features as a starting point in the process.The bold emphasis is mine. I literally swooned. And then I kept reading…all 700 pages. I strongly recommend that...
Another year draws to a close. The days are shorter, the nights seem darker. But look, listen…each old house glows with the light of all its stories. It’s up to us to keep those lights shining.Scrolling back through this year’s CIRCA Old Houses Magazine, here are some favorite lessons:Old houses are a relationship, not a one-time project. The best preservation work grows over years, not months....
Old houses can be a lot. They creak, they sigh, they shed paint chips like confetti, and they tend to surprise us in all the wrong ways (usually involving water). And yet, we see that abandoned 150-year-old Italianate with the collapsing plaster and ca-1974 kitchen, and instead of running away, a voice inside our head whispers, this house needs me. That whisper is how many of us start our journey...
You bought an old house because it spoke to you. Maybe it was the glow of sunlight through wavy-glass windows, the heft of an old brass doorknob, or the way the staircase feels worn smooth by generations of hands. But when it comes to planning updates or renovations, you might be asking yourself: what exactly makes this house worth preserving? As a rehabilitation strategist, real estate broker and...
Summer is the season of open windows and outdoor projects. Some people wilt in the heat. I thrive—-one benefit of my Texas childhood? Or maybe because it’s such a great time to give old houses some love. Longer days and (generally) drier weather create ideal conditions for maintaining your house’s envelope (all the parts that distinguish and protect the outside from inside), especially one of its...
Walk around any historic neighborhood and look up. Just under the rooflines, delicate scrolls, sturdy supports, bits of carved or jigsaw-cut wood that seem to float beneath the eaves. These are brackets. And while they may be small, they are anything but insignificant.Like so many details in old houses, brackets—and their siblings corbels, consoles and modillions—do the quiet work of holding everything...
Impressive Italianate Mansion with 7 Marble Fireplaces! - CIRCA Old HousesWhen it comes to 19th-century American architecture, few styles flirt as shamelessly with the dramatic as the Italianate. With its towering proportions, bracketed cornices, and flourish-for-flourish’s-sake ornamentation, this style is the architectural equivalent of a romantic period novel—part poetry, part posturing, and...
Historic Mount Mourne: National Register Landmark - CIRCA Old Houses Have you made it through the six Spring maintenance tasks assigned in our last post? Don’t worry, just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Old houses (and life!) sometimes throw us curve balls. A big part of home stewardship is accepting the fact that houses are never “done”. It’s an ongoing relationship that takes...