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Better than Plumb

The character of an old house

Kevin Ireton, editor-at-large

3 users recommend

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By the time I bought my old house, it had suffered much abuse and many indignities. The outside was covered with aluminum siding, the inside with wallboard. There was no plaster, no wide floorboards, no 18th century doors or trim. Except for a few window sashes and some chestnut roof sheathing, the only original parts were the stone foundation and the timber frame. And the latter, I eventually learned, was missing some key parts (like the post under the summer beam in the kitchen).

But it was unmistakably an old house. It had stood on the same spot for 200 years, and its walls enclosed the history of all the people who had occupied the place in that time. Still, I worried that I might renovate the charm and character right out of the place. I wondered in what parts that character resided. Could I remove, replace or repair the wrong thing and wind up with a house that felt new? Or even just vague? If I straightened the walls and leveled the floors, would I be happy with the result?

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. The fact of caring about an old house predisposes you toward making the right decisions. And George Nash’s advice about not straightening up the timber frame helped, too. But in the end, I think an old house is like the hammer my Dad gave me years ago. I’ve replaced the head twice and the handle three times, but it’s still my Dad’s hammer.

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Comments (3)

ted writes: Lawrence, we already have a support group, it's called, "Breaktime" and if you ever need to ask a question, voice a gripe or looking for somebody to empathize with or just need to whine its the place to go.
While my house is only 50 years old my family knows all too well about going for months without a kitchen or heat or running water for a few days is like. Perhaps the family should have a support group to turn to.
Posted: 2:08 pm on March 4th

Lawrence writes: Restoring something that needs so much work is painful in a number of ways. My place was the pub when they were logging the area in the mid 1850's. An old baloon framed shack really, with a couple of additions.

The painful part is the upset wife living without a kitchen for months because the project turned into more than we bargained for.

The shrieking about the big pile of travertine in the other building that should be in the master shower--the 3' x 4' x 16'pile of beech flooring sitting in the dining room and the computers and desks camping out in the house until I get drywall on in the shop.

There should be a support group for the wives of old home addicts.

L
Posted: 10:46 pm on March 2nd

Pelipeth writes: I too own an older home, 100+ yrs. Nothing to restore so I renovate. Take advantage of the homes site mixing the old with new, ie, as large a window as I can fit cause the view is worth a million $$$.
Posted: 5:36 pm on March 2nd

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