Last week I helped my friends at Florida Victorian Architectural Antiques with the salvage of four early 20th century homes on the banks of Lake Eola here in Orlando, FL. We were busy removing any parts of the home that may be of some value to someone in the future. Old wood windows were removed [...] Read on →
Occasionally, I use terms on this blog some of my readers may not understand. I recently mentioned “first-rung” neighborhoods in a post and got some comments about what on earth they were. So, for everyone else who didn’t know but didn’t ask, here is your answer. How Cities Grow When areas are first settled there’s [...] Read on →
I have a lot of friends and clients whose homes fall into something I like to call the Historical Cusp. They don’t live in a house of any particular historical significance, and it’s not quite old enough to have been built by hand with non-standardized materials. But it still maintains some of the characteristics I [...] Read on →
Old houses can smell. Not always, but many do. Maybe your house had the crazy cat lady or a bunch of fraternity brothers who never cleaned up after wild parties. The older your house is the more likely you had a dirty occupant at one point in its life. The best you can do is [...] Read on →
The bumper sticker on my truck reads, “Please Recycle. Buy an Old House.” It’s not often a company can fit its mission statement on a bumper sticker. A beverage napkin maybe, but we boiled it down to bumper sticker length. Honestly, there is a bit more to our company’s mission, but the real reason I [...] Read on →
When it comes to your old home’s exterior nothing is as important as the details. Fish-scale shingles, jigsaw cut balustrades, creative cornices. There are so many things that make your old house unique. And saving them or replicating the missing pieces distinguishes your historic home from its neighbors. If you own a crumbling Victorian or [...] Read on →
Every old house has its own story, and each one is unique. Once you move in, your family has now become a part of that story too. While I may talk a lot about saving the historic and original features of your home, I realize that an old home is not a museum. Maybe the [...] Read on →
Restoring an old home can be rough. Often times you’ll come to the end of your rope either from lack of energy, funds, knowledge or all three. When that time comes (and it will come) it’s time to look outside yourself. Finding a “tribe” of old house lovers to be a part of is the [...] Read on →
So many folks go a little crazy with the seemingly endless list of repairs they inherit with their first old house. It can be overwhelming. There is too much to do and too little money and time that they freeze up and don’t do anything! Well, don’t become one of those people. There is a [...] Read on →
The Mushroom Effect is an interesting phenomenon in home improvement that is particularly prominent in old houses. This is not an actual problem with fungus growing in the walls of an old home. No! It is much more serious than that. It happens when a small, and rather innocuous home improvement project, quickly mushrooms into [...] Read on →
Your home wasn’t built all by its lonesome. It has friends all around the neighborhood, built at the same time by the same people using some of the same techniques and materials. Just like you can learn a lot about someone by asking their friends, your house is no different. Maybe your historic house has [...] Read on →
Personality types are a fantastic way to learn a bit about yourself. There are countless tests like the DISC or Myers/Briggs. And there is one test you’ve probably not heard of. The reason you may have missed it is because . . . well . . . I just invented it. The “SPA” test is [...] Read on →
Your historic home’s proportions were carefully thought out. They were planned by a designer or architect to work together and complement the overall style of the house. An out of scale addition like an oversized dormer or an undersized porch will only serve to confuse the look of your house. If you’re planning a renovation [...] Read on →
Whether you home is Victorian or Craftsman, Greek or Colonial, plain or elaborate you should respect Its vintage. It is what it is and trying to change it will only lead to trouble. There’s something incredibly jarring about one type of home masquerading as another. Your home has a vintage that is completely unique unto [...] Read on →