The American Foursquare, sometimes called the “Prairie Box” was a hugely popular architectural style in almost every part of the country. It is one of the consumate American house styles. Though not technically an architectural style on its own (it’s a subtype of The Prairie Style), the American Foursquare is so prevalent that I thought […]
How to save 80% on home repairs may sound like a marketing hype gone wild. But anyone who has been a reader of this blog for more than a week will know that that is not my style. I am very serious about that title. What I’m going to share with you today is SO […]
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 […]
Drywall is dead. Long live drywall. I can’t say that I’ll miss him (I’m assuming drywall is a him), but he seemed nice enough. Faster than a three-coat old-fashioned plaster job, and less expensive to boot. But there has always been something about him I just couldn’t put my finger on. Something about drywall that […]
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 […]
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 […]
The trim installed in your home has gone through a lot of changes over the last couple of 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 […]
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 […]
We’ve been talking about all the fun things that unknowing owners of historic homes can do to harm the investment they have made in their old home for a while now. We’ve covered the major areas like windows, floors, walls (plaster), and siding so you might be wondering what the last blunder is. This last […]
A historic home is more than just a place to live; it’s a living history that you’re a part of. While the trials of owning a historic home can be daunting at times, the benefits are unrivaled. Financial benefits, architectural designs and quality of work that is unmatched by today’s standards are just a few […]
No Maintenance. These two words scare the heck out of me when it comes to home improvement products, especially when it pertains to historic homes. So, let’s dispel a myth… There is no such thing as a “No Maintenance” product for your historic home. Not a single one! No car will last very long without […]
Living here in the Sunshine State, it seems that folks have an unusual penchant for $0.69 sq. ft. 20″ tiles. The most popular colors are blah, boring, and blech. People love to toss these tiles down over red oak, irreplaceable heart pine, and any number of historic floors. These tiles are spreading like a wildfire […]
