Obsession with authenticity on a historic home...

[Chango]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Considering there's a growing appreciation (and market ) for truly authentic restored historic properties, how much authenticity is enough.. or even too much?

It is hard to get too much. THe only things that I prefer not to have authentic are things that are unsafe or impractical.

Of course it's a bit extreme to cook only on a coal stove, light the night with candles, use chamber pots and the ole' moon & stars shack out back, but what about everything else?

Our house was built in 1836. It was added on to and substantially remodeled in 1850 and 1868. More changes occurred in the 1930s and in 1946. Some butchering was done in the 1980s. It is all part of the history of the house. You have to pick and choose what you will keep. We were not about to turn our house back into a two room house heated with a fireplace that was also the sole means of cooking. We choose hte earlies practical time period for additioans such as bathrooms and the kitchen. For use that mean later 1920s for the kitchen and early 1900s for the bathrooms. Some bathrooms we kept the seperate hot and cold water faucets with mixing in the sink. Everyone only turns on the hot and washes their hands before it gets hot anyway.

We love to use candles and every now and then will leave lights off and use 20 - 30 or so candles around the house. We have no safety problems, but it does not provide a whole lot of light. It gets expensive though.


Would you be turned on or off by original single pane windows?
I am majorly turned off by vinyl replacement windows. Not a big fan of double pane replacements made with wood, especially where the muntins are glued on to a solid piece of glass. I love our few remaining wavy bubbly glass windows. IF you fix the windows and use storms they are very close to the insulating properties of modern double and triple pane windows that look awful.

Antique radiator heating system?
No. This is a far more comfortable, efficient and healthy heating system than the forced air systems used to save installation costs in modern homes. Radiated heat is a luxury upgrade in modern homes. A bigger problem is the lack of airconditioning. Look up Spacepack AC for a nice solution.

Knob and tube wiring, push button switches and archaic looking fixtures?

You can buy new push button switches. We rpelace all of our "modern" switches with these. Some even have dimmers. WE remove all the home depot garbage light fixtures and rpelaced them with salvaged re-wired fixtures or quality reproductions. Older light fixtures were works of art. Modern light fixtures are works of chintz. Please - no cieling boobs!

Most people seem to panic over knob & Tube wiring. Most of it is perfectly safe. You do need to have it checked out or learn the common problems and check it yourself. Often the exiting K & T systems are insufficient for modern needs. One light fixture and one outlet per room is simply not going to cut it. However once you mess with it, you are going to end up replacing it, so if the K & T wiring is not enough, then you will end up re-wiring. This needs to be done first in case you have to put holes int eh walls cielings or floors. Usually a lot of thinking and some creativity can eliminate the need for holes. We planned our furniture layout ahead of time and placed most of the outlets where they will be hidden. If you use really nice reproduciton covers, it can still maintain a historic look. See classic accents, they alwo have the push button switches. The push button light switches and work of art light fixtures is what many people comment on in finding our house charming or cool. Keep in mind really nice antique fixtures are pricy. Look for an antique light restoration company in Ypsilanti michigan online for examples of the pricey beaauties available, then go find affordable ones if you can.

A working gas lighting system?

I would love that, but would want electrical back up. I am not sure how gas lighting works for reading etc.

Antique non-standard kitchen and bathroom fixtures?

We had to build a entirely new kitchen, so we hunted throughout the country for salvage parts. 1930 farmhouse counsole sink, 1927 Magic Chef 1000 stove/oven, 1926 monitor top type fridge, flooring from an old masonic temple, cabinets from a 150 year old house that was being torn down. We then hid a dishwahser, sainless dish sink/disposal, and microwave where they cannot readily be seen. We also put a modern full sized fridge/freezer out in the sunroom. We also hunted for antique r reproduciton bathroom fixutres. We used the few that were still in the house and replaced all the modern junk that was updated over the years. It is expensive and takes a long time to find. Sometimes you have to have parts made to make things fit.


How about historic floor plans?

Much better than the warehouse look of the "open floor plan" which I think it a trend foisted off on us by developers to reduce costs while raising prices. Once their marketing convinced people the "open" was better, the idea sold itself became trendy and they could charge more moeny by building less walls. Personally I do nto want to live in a warehouse and if I want "open" I know how to opent he doors between rooms. Giant Pocket doors are the best of all worlds.

Well-made but uncomfortable antique furniture?
This is a problem. Antique furtnirue is more pretty than comfortable, but boy is it ever pretty!. Some real high qaulity reproductions are both pretty and comfortable. We chose to go with antique furniture and lots of pillows. People still get comfortable. Fainting couches are very comfortable by the way.

Is it enough to give an nod to the past with superficial decor while accepting the fact a historic house is now in the 21st century,
No. As other mentioned. If you like new houses better, buy one. It is cheaper and you do not destroy history for future generations. There is no need to butcher a historic house to live in it comfortably. We live comfortably in our historic house, and people who live in multi million dollar modern mansions come visit and say they are jealous. Sure, some people do nto like it, but the ones who do just gush. I have not heard anyone exclaim "Oh I so love your granite counter tops that are just like 1000 other kitchens in this area" or "What a great and utterly useless grand entrance you have in this McMansion, I so love that every other house on your street had hte exact same grand entrance"

Just do nto hear expressions like that.

No interst in hacking up a historic house in order to make it common and ordinary and just like every other house in a neighboring subdivision.

You can maintain historic integrity without making the house a muesuem.

I think we belong to the same cult, Coldjensens (sometimes know as the OHW forum too. )

Anyway, I'm really bringing this subject up because it's a constant battle between my wife and I.

I want to go as historical as possible and would LOVE living in a "museum house" straight out of 1920, but my wife has other ideas... if she had her way, she'd gut our bungalow, open it up, wrap everything in in drywall and generally make it look like all those "shiny new" mcmansion houses that have popped up in former farmland all around us.

Neither of us is getting our way entirely, so we have to meet somewhere in the middle, though I (admittedly) get the final ward, since normally I'm the person doing the work on the place.

... that of course, causes relationship problems, and she's complained several times that our house is all "me" and does not represent "her".

Any advice, y'all?

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Chango

I think we belong to the same cult, Coldjensens (sometimes know as the OHW forum too. )

Anyway, I'm really bringing this subject up because it's a constant battle between my wife and I.

I want to go as historical as possible and would LOVE living in a "museum house" straight out of 1920, but my wife has other ideas... if she had her way, she'd gut our bungalow, open it up, wrap everything in in drywall and generally make it look like all those "shiny new" mcmansion houses that have popped up in former farmland all around us.

Neither of us is getting our way entirely, so we have to meet somewhere in the middle, though I (admittedly) get the final ward, since normally I'm the person doing the work on the place.

... that of course, causes relationship problems, and she's complained several times that our house is all "me" and does not represent "her".

Any advice, y'all?

Tell her the house gets the final decision.
Seriously, a house will tell you what needs to happen, what your wife wants to do is NEVER going to look right.
Ever.
I had a design client about 3 years ago that tried to take a very modern house and turn it into a traditional home with all the trim, woodwork, etc that one would expect from a 19th century house.
It was the most ridiculous looking thing ever, and they had to rip it all out to sell the doggone thing.
Perhaps if you educated your wife on what period bungalow interiors looked like, and what they CAN look like, that might help?
I have some really fabulous pics of a total reno of a 40s bungalow I did a few years ago, I can PM them, if that might help.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

Tell her the house gets the final decision.
Seriously, a house will tell you what needs to happen, what your wife wants to do is NEVER going to look right.
Ever.
I had a design client about 3 years ago that tried to take a very modern house and turn it into a traditional home with all the trim, woodwork, etc that one would expect from a 19th century house.
It was the most ridiculous looking thing ever, and they had to rip it all out to sell the doggone thing.
Perhaps if you educated your wife on what period bungalow interiors looked like, and what they CAN look like, that might help?
I have some really fabulous pics of a total reno of a 40s bungalow I did a few years ago, I can PM them, if that might help.

I think I've bought every bungalow design book ever published and got her to look at them. We've done historic home tours, get praises showered on us right and left constantly from everyone who visits and even got a blip about our house in American Bungalow Magazine once, but she doesn't seem to care or even enjoy all the attention.

I guess she wants a new house again (we moved from a tract house we had built new to chase my dream of restoring an old house). I love the place and still have big plans for a more complete restoration than what we've already done, but sometimes I'm tempted to just give up, put the place up for sale and live somewhere boring.

I've thought about renovating the basement and making it "modern" to at least offer some "escape" from "old" for her, but we just don't have the money to do it yet. Half the downstairs is a very deep (about 5') crawlspace that would have to be dug out and it would be a PITA to put windows through the 2' thick foundation...

[LiveLoveLaugh]

My house was on the verge of collapse. Built in the 1800's, I purposely didn't register w/ historic homes because I couldn't afford to restore according to history. I replaced foundation, plumbing, electric and roof...I didn't change a thing about the 'bones'...I love my home and I beleive my home loves me! Trust me!.....anyone who 'loves' old houses knows a 'happy' house...lol...my house is VERY happy...my house is in history books! Still called...'that beautiful old house'...AAAAHHHHHH.....I am proud and blessed to call this house HOME!