Tiny houses have recently become a huge grassroots movement focused on scaling back our cluttered lives and living more simply. Quality over quantity is the theme of the movement, and I’m a big proponent of that. Over the next few weeks I’m going to share an exciting project we’ve just finished here in Orlando. I’ll [...] Read on →
Lots of old homes have the mysterious second front door. Some were added in renovations over the years, but others are original. The explanations for these original double doors are all over the map. Many folks finally give up hope of finding an answer to this architectural mystery, but I have some ideas for you. [...] Read on →
The law of supply and demand is a basic economic principle of a free market that goes like this: As demand for an item goes up the price goes up. This attracts new suppliers who increase the supply bringing the price back to normal. The laws of supply and demand are constantly in motion in our economy [...] 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 →
Every old house is hiding some pieces of its past, and it’s up to you to figure them out. Many folks want to restore old details that have been removed or covered up over the years. And while some remodels may have completely wiped out any signs of the past there may still be ways [...] 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 →
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 →
Lake Eola’s last remaining historic homes are in danger of destruction. Yesterday I learned of the City of Orlando’s plans to remove 5 historic (according the Orlando Sentinel these homes are only “semi-historic” whatever that may mean) homes dating from 1915-1930 that border Lake Eola park in order to add what will presumably be green [...] Read on →
The Folk Victorian style is one of the most often found styles of historic homes in America. Folk Victorians can be found in almost every state and chances are you’ll find an example somewhere in your own town. Next to the Craftsman Bungalow this is the style most often associated today with being a “historic home.” [...] Read on →
The trim installed in your home has gone through a lot of changes over the last couple centuries. On the simple frontier homes of early colonial America there wasn’t much need for the fanciful trim and moldings present in European homes at the time. It was a wild country and the focus was on survival. [...] Read on →
The Tudor style is one of the American Eclectic architectural styles that, like other American house styles, borrows heavily from the original Tudor style of England in the 16th century but adds its own regional American touches. In America, the dates for this style are loosely pegged between 1890 and 1940 though the most popular [...] Read on →
There is something special about an old house. The incredible craftsmanship, the quality materials, but most precious is the history and story they tell. It’s easy to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of how to cope a joint properly, or cleanly refinish wood floors, but sometimes I need to remember why I do [...] Read on →
After a century of paint jobs and humidity a lot of your home’s hardware can loose its original luster. It’s a small detail in a historic house, but properly restored hardware on windows, doors, and elsewhere gives a house that extra oomph that adds to the overall vintage feel of the home (whether people consciously [...] Read on →
There are countless old and historic house blogs scattered across the Internet. Some of them focus on How-To subjects, others discuss the history of old houses, and some are an online diary of people’s journey to fix up there own historic house. Some of these blogs are great for learning the step-by-step of certain projects [...] Read on →