We're trying. At least we started out that way. The plan was to have a new house that looked old and plain Jane, and looked like it has always been there.

I love traditional black & white with big front porch. So that is what I would have done. But then DH tells me he wants stone or brick, etc, but I think we have a nice mix of modern with old.

The front side is more the laid back Grandpa's country farm house that we wanted to present, then the back side was designed more for the way we live, away from the road, so I think we are accomplishing what we were going for.

Then the inside, the bones and main systems are pretty modern and efficient - geothermal, spray foam, tinted windows, etc, and then some nicey things like steamshowers in 3 of the bathrooms, safe room under garage, 2 laundry rooms, blah blah blah, but the decor will be pretty laid back and user-friendly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Build in Pictures

My husband and I built a new/old house several years ago..
I took hundreds of photos of houses in Savannah, Charleston, Camden and chose my favorite features. We then had plans drawn.

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We built a new old house. Lots of stained wood (flooring, windows, doors, trim cedar beams inside and out), stone (garage that looks like barn, front veranda, sidewalk, capped walls, FP, flooring), English cabinetry (unfitted look with four finishes - three painted/one stained, all glazed, distressed). DH and I hand distressed the doors, windows and trim before they were stained...4th of July weekend....in the deep South!! We have three verandas, a screened porch and live in a valley, on a lake w/lake and mountain ridge view. Lots of copper, inside and out. I love my house. ;D

We used Jack Arnold and built a European cottage, not the French he is more well known for designing. Our kitchen cabinetry was made in England.

Good bones are essential. No geothermal, but well-built, good windows, materials, etc.

No one would look at our home and think it's 100+ yo, but to do that is extremely expensive (unless you do a lot of the work yourself). I think the final key is to fill it with a mix of old and new. This is the Building forum and not Decorating, but.......I don't buy new accessories, lots of vintage/antique furniture, buy things when traveling, family pieces, etc. Don't buy mass market, IOW. I love buying lamps at antique stores or made at a locally owned store. One of a kind, more or less.

Another thing I did (sorry so long) was to keep finish levels (on everything) constant throughout the house/both levels. The lower level is open on three sides for water/mtn views and has a high sheetrock ceiling (we poured walls at 14ft, ceiling is almost 11ft), not a basement. Light fixtures are a mix of old and new but look older.

Good luck with your build!

Not sure where in the southeast you are located but check out this website:

http://www.dixonkirbyhomes.com/gallery.html#

We are also trying to build a new/old home. I agree that keeping materials constant really help. We have an all brick home vs. brick in the front and siding on the sides and back. Also, hardwood throughout, including all the bedrooms. Another important part which we struggle with is keeping things consitent with a particular style or home. So if you are doing a craftman home, carry it though with Craftman doors/light fixtures/cabinets/hardware.

Good luck!

I designed my house to capture the old-time feeling with minor upgrades. Twice we have had repairmen ask if the house were an original old house, even though the concrete slab is clearly visible. The interior isn't laid out as they would have back in the day, they would have a center hall with smallish rooms coming off it. My front room opens into a large living area, with an open plan leading to the kitchen/dining area. The master bedroom is on the oposite side.Rather than wood lap siding it has Hardie lap siding.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Most new homes borrow heavily from the past. Unfortunately, they don't do it very well.

I was going to start a thread like this, so I'm glad you did. We are building what we hope will be a "new old house" in Atlanta. I look forward to hearing other peoples ideas! We knew we wanted an old looking white clapboard house and found an architect who had done a lot of the old house look down at the Ford Plantation. She did a great job of integrating the funcional aspects that we wanted in a way that looks like the house has a "history".

For example, with our 4 kids now all teenagers or about to be, we really wanted a master suite that was a sanctuary. We also wanted to be able to live on one level when the kids are gone and just close the door to the upstairs. So the body of the house is two stories with the formal rooms downstairs and the kids bedrooms and baths above. Our master suite looks like an addition on the right and the dining room, kitchen, family room, and mudroom entrance are an "addition" to the left. The main floor will have 10 foot ceilings, which adds to the old feel.

The garage is a drive under carport behind the house that serves as the foundation for a big screen porch off of the family room, so we don't have a big garage on the front of the house that is a dead giveaway that the house is new. Also we will be doing geothermal, so there won't be any air conditioner units outside. We, too, will be using hardiplank -- still undecided on regular or artisan.

With 3 levels we are putting in an elevator shaft which is tucked into a stair tower in the back. We will just have closets in the space until we need the elevator.

In short I think our architect has done a great job of giving us the look we want in a way that suits our steep, difficult lot and incorporates the function that we want. I'm a little worried about getting the details right to preserve the old look, but Justeen has certification in Historic Preservation, so I will trust her to keep me in line. Here's a link to her site:

Here is a link that might be useful: Justeen Oess Architects

Melanie,

We have tried for a vintage feel in our home with woodwork trim and doors, wood floors, etc. but not an authentic recreation. Ours is a story and half with a cross gable that gives the upstairs angled ceilings reminiscent of an old home.

There have been a few posters on here that have gone the whole nine yards with gorgeous results. If the search is working now, you can probably find them.

This is a link to the plan we used (with few mods).

Jill

Here is a link that might be useful: House Plan

We completed our new 'old house' this past spring (March 2009). We designed the house ourselves with the help of a local draftsman. We came up with our design by taking photos of area homes and going through books of historic homes that were of the period we were looking for. Our house is an Italianate Farm house and fits perfectly in our 12 acre rural setting.

The house did cost us a bit more with the added trim work inside and out but to us it was worth it. We used Hardy Board and Azek trim on the exterior and installed a geothermal system for the heat, a/c and hot water.

Pictures of our build are posted on the blog listed below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to our Construction Blog

Here's a link to a local (for me) architect. Gorgeous homes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dungan Nequette

Here's another:

Here is a link that might be useful: McAlpine Tankersley

We are attempting to build a new/old house. We comb the salvage stores often trying to find items that will add character to the home we are building. We have spent a large amount of time studying historic homes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ourfoursquare

Thanks everyone for the replies! I think the hardest part so far is trying to figure out what is historically accurate for the area. I'm building on a mountain, where 99% of the houses were built after 1910. There were homes up here built right before the Civil War, but most of them are gone. So do I go with a style that goes with the oldest standing houses nearby (tiny Craftsman bungalows with a few Tudor Revivals scattered in), or do I build in an off-the-mountain style, even if historically it wouldn't have been built there? I'd love something 1850s-1890s... but I have no idea what would have been here during that time.

I think the biggest deal for me in reference to new old homes is choosing something appropriate for the area. If you live in the Midwest, and you build something that looks like it belongs in New Orleans... it may be gorgeous, but it won't look like its been there forever. If I put a Connecticut farmhouse on a mountain in TN, I think it will look out of place. I absolutely love the style of home that lsst built, but I don't think it would be appropriate in my area.

I like the Craftsman style quite a bit, but most of them up here are tiny, and I need at least four bedrooms (master, girls' room, boys' room, guest room). They are also close together in neighborhoods, right on the street. My house will be on wooded acreage, pretty far off the street. Would a Craftsman look silly out in the woods by itself? For that matter, I'm afraid anything farmhouse-esque will look silly out in the woods, instead of on what might have been farmland.

Any suggestions on what style of new old house would be best for this area? I am in SE TN, on top of a mountain, in a small town. I plan to put the house on a pretty good sized grassy clearing in the middle of the woods, but there will be woods surrounding the property. I want it to look like its been there for at least 100 years. I'd like it to seem like it really could have been that old, just had additions and walls moved and whatnot over time. I'm not looking to just add a couple of old elements to a new house.

I hope all this make sense! I'm just beginning the planning stage, and this is already harder than I thought it'd be! I think I just need a good architect, instead of trying to piece together something from the internet.

Thanks again! :)

I'd start with local resources. Have you checked your local library? Is there a nearby historical society? Is there a planning and development office that might have a pattern book? Any of these resources might have pictures or drawings of local homes from the period you desire. Once you have your thougts sorted out, working closely with a good architect can get you the rest of the way.

Have you thought about log? Our first house, was old old old, added on here and there, and when we went to remodel the kitchen, it was the original house, a one room log cabin :-)

I would have loved a log, but as you mentioned about settings, I think it might have looked out of place since we don't have the right setting, although I have seen some gorgeous ones that werent sitting out in the middle of the woods but that is what I picture in my mind.

But I guess most log homes built now do look modern, nothing too much one room about them.. ha.. but I still like them for that kind of setting :-)

I am thinking my next house will be a two room log ...

Jill,
What a cute home!!!
Congratulations.

Gary,
Great Job! Beautiful hardwood flooring, too.

melanie

I can see your dilemma. I think part of the challenge you are having with finding a new old house for the setting is the setting itself. 100 years ago a rural home was usually built by someone who made their living via agriculture. For a myriad of reasons, a mountaintop would not be the ideal location of that home. For example, many farmsteads built in the time period you like had the barn on one side of the road and the house on the other. Back when travel was less efficient than it is today ( and much slower) that set up worked quite well. For the modern family it's a nightmare unless it's a dead end road. The same with house placement. There were several reasons to place the home and major buildings close to the "main" road not the least of which were preserving tillable acreage and not adding extra travel time/maintenance by having a long private drive.

In my mind your setting screams out for a log home...not that that is what should build or even want to build, it's just what would have been built in your setting in the time period you reference. Farm houses would have been built down away from the mountain, craftsmen's bungalows would have been built in town etc.

So ..... I would build what you want and not worry about the appropriate period correct structure for your particular site. Any kind of new old house will be lovely in your setting. I think a nice craftsman or even a victorian would be enchanting in a mountain setting. And the Waltons had a fabulous farm house in a mountain setting.

Just make sure you LOVE it before you start ( no doubts) and you will happy. AND 100 years ago it WILL be what people were building in the TN mountains "100 years ago."

Have you thought of taking a day trip to the western NC area to get ideas?
When I think of the area you describe, I think of the architecture of lodges such as the Grove Park Inn in Asheville NC.
I am thinking lots of stone and stained wood to give the feel of the old hunting lodges popular in the SE in the 1800's.

You can't build a new old house. The details just will not be there. Nobody but nobody can reproduce all of the original techniques and materials from 100 or 200 years ago. Ask a stairbuilder to mortise and tenon the newel posts into the stringers. Try to find sections of stair railing where the goosenecks and the 12' run of railing were cut from the came continuous plank of black walnut, 3" thick and 12" wide. It's not that someone might not be willing to try, as long as the cash keeps flowing, but the original quality of materials is just not to be found anywhere at any price. My example is just one area of the finish. What about doors, hardware, millwork and flooring?
I've spent my career as a preservation carpenter in abject wonder at the designs, materials and craftsmanship of old structures.
A few things design-wise that are always wrong in replicant houses. Windows are never the right size, profile or trim. Stairs doors and trim are done with off-the-shelf parts. Hardware is generic. Interior wall finish is drywall. Drywall? Really?
Replicant houses are made with the thinnest veneer of antiquity, because the builders and homeowners don't know better, are willing to compromise to save money. or want to get in before the next loan payment.
Sorry but I scoff.
The only improvement I've seen in the situation in the last 25 years is that the designs have gotten better, thanks to architects like Versace, who actually have an eye for old house space and detail.
Casey

I have thought about log (in fact, my uncle has been building log homes on the same mountain for decades), but it just doesn't give me the same old house feeling. Ponydoc hit it on the head though - the property doesn't suit the styles I have been looking at.

When I originally planned this build, several years ago, it was going to be on a large flat piece of old farmland. This land is still there (and in the family), but instead of being out there in the country by itself, it is surrounded by developments. Its just not the setting that I pictured anymore, there isn't the privacy anymore, and the family close by is... not as cooperative as they once were. But back when I first started planning, it begged for a new old farmhouse. The original farmhouse is still on the property (tiny, falling down, 1 room from the early 1700s), and the last farmhouse is still there, though its a converted barn and also fallen into disrepair. Its about 100 acres, on both sides of the road, and parts are still being farmed - we've got a lot of corn.

But then they opened new schools on the mountain (private school quality with public school price) and the school system was too hard to pass up. Otherwise, I'd probably build at the foot on the other side of the mountain - farmland without zillions of McMansions.

Lsst, that's a brilliant idea. I am not far at all from Asheville, and those houses might be perfect. I'll have to go up the next long weekend I get.

Casey, I see your point about replication. Fortunately, there are many many craftsmen in this area with restoration experience. I have seen their work and they are willing to work on a new old house, and their prices are not exorbitant. I cannot afford some of the materials used in old houses, but that is to be expected. No matter what I build, I have a trim guy who does everything from scratch, and who typically does replacement trim in local Victorians. There is a local mill that will do my floors out of old reclaimed planks and flooring that came from buildings that have been torn down. Obviously, nothing will be as good as a pristine, well preserved, old home. But finding one of those? Almost impossible in this area.

Instead of drywall, what would you suggest? I have plaster & lathe in my current old house, and it is almost impossible to find someone to even repair it. I think that will be one of the hardest parts of the new old house. I love my plaster walls, but where will I find someone to put up new ones? I have read about plaster veneer... I wonder what that even looks like.

Again, this house will be my forever house. If it takes longer to build, if it costs more to be done right, I am okay with that. I plan on living there until I'm in my 80s. I don't want to look at it then and wish I had done it right to begin with.

Gary, thanks for posting. Yours was one that I was thinking of. I remember your stair rail and unique trim. Absolutely gorgeous!

Casey, I agree in principal to what you are saying but are you suggesting that if you can't be totally authentic to not do it at all? That is rather discouraging to those with budgets that don't stretch that far.

Melanie, a lodge style or post and beam type house would seem appropriate to your setting, is that a style that appeals to you? I could also see using some stone, as that would be geographically appropriate since local materials would have been used back in the day.

Jill

Old brought up to new, or new brought back to old.... either way... you won't be able to escape the Money Pit :-)) (I loved that movie BTW, especially his laugh when the tub falls through the floor!! )

So keep in mind when you say, it doesn't matter the cost for the new, remember you wanted to get away from the cost of the old :-)

But I do understand, if you have to spend money either way, it just as well be something you absolutely love and want to raise your family in. That is why we decided to build what we wanted, instead of buying and trying to remodel and attempt to make it into something we wanted.

In your research and exploring, you will find something that speaks to your heart, and it will be "the one". So don't get too hung up on the style. As mentioned, whatever you decide & fits your family will look wonderful in your setting when complete :-) Just my opinion :-)

I love riding through the countryside and looking at old homes. Since I've been living in the south for 30 years, I've seen a lot of what is typical in the rural south. A vintage log cabin would possibly be in keeping, but it would have to be hand-hewn logs to capture the true effect. That would be very expensive! Log homes are also a lot of work to maintain. Most of the old farmhouses I've seen have been rather plain victorians, with little or no fancy trim. They're usually two story, with steep roofs and a cross-gable design. It's not unusual to see a large farmhouse on top of a hill, with a few trees right around the house, and fields below it.

So much has changed in the south over the years that a house from 1870 would be more of an oddity than the norm. Between termites, rot, and in many cases, poor construction, houses just don't seem to last as long in the south. The house I grew up in in CT is now about 240 years old, and is still solid, straight, and fairly original.

Your best bet is probably find a style you like that is known to be in the area, and go with that. I've found plenty of fairly big Craftsman designs, particularly bungalows, although it depends upon your definition of 'big'. I like Craftsman style, but they're all too big for our budget!

We too were striving to build an old new house... but as Casey stated you can't "really" do it.. for good reason. I certainly didn't forego our indoor plumbing and while there is lots of debate about the "authenticity" of the *gasp* attached garage, I opted for that modern convienience. After 2 weeks of snow and now single digit day time highs I DO NOT miss my "old shed" garage that was 50 yards from the house.

We built our "new old house" on our farm just behind our "old old house" that we just tore down about a month ago. There were parts of the tear down that were incredibly sad.... like having to bring in extra equipment because the house was literally too well built for the original bulldozer we used. Seeing the beams- hand hewn, mortise and tenon etc. Some of the beams were 12" x 12" hand hewn and 50 feet long. Stunning. But for every little bit of regret we had...... there was just as much relief.

When we saw the places the orginal electric was passed through those awesome beams. Scary. When we were able to really see into the far reaches of our pit of a basement. I could go on and on. Many of the same reasons that made it such a cool old structure made it almost impossible to update to modern functionality.

So we are salvaging some of those beams - our mantel in our family room will have been on our property as part of a dwelling for almost 200 years- and loving our new more efficient, roomy, safe, bright new old house.

I've been looking at Asheville B&Bs & historic homes for sale, and they seem to be mostly Victorians. Some are closer to the road (those seem to be the Queen Annes, with lots of gingerbread and interesting shapes), and some seem to be set a little farther back in the trees. Maybe a Victorian on the less elaborate side would work? At the foot of the other mountain in town, there is a historic neighborhood full of Victorians. My boss lives in one of the larger but less elaborate ones - I know its late 1800s, probably 1890s, but I'm not sure. I've watched her do a lot of the restoration, plus the similar house next door is just beginning restoration... so I feel like I could pull off an authentic looking Victorian. But would it look odd back in the woods? I wouldn't be going for curlicues and turrets, but its still a style that is most often on the street, in cities.

There is only one home built on the mountain in the 1890s-1900s on the same type of land. It stayed in the same family forever, and about 10 years ago a young family bought it to fix it up. Apparently the project was too much for them and they sold it to a developer, who clear cut the property and put in dozens of McMansions. The original house still stands, but it looks a little silly surrounded by all of the new houses. The only photo I can find online is an old one... I'll have to drive over there and see if I can take a better one. Its supposedly made all of marble and mountain stone, as the man who built it had an earlier house that burned, and he wanted this one to be fireproof.

Now, I don't by any means need a replica of this home. I just wanted to show yall the only old home in the area that was on the same type of property.

A little info on the area - there is a largish city in the valley of the two mountains. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, the wealthy people in the area settled on the mountains, as a way to take advantage of the "healing mountain air" and cooler temperatures in the summer. Most of the old houses are on the brows, where they can take advantage of the view...and so most of them are pretty close together. If I were building right on a street, an elaborate behemoth* of a house would not be inappropriate. But back in the woods... I'm afraid it might look odd.

Maybe I need to give up on the idea of building further back off the road. I was hoping for more privacy, and worrying less about the kids getting near the road, but it seems that to be historically appropriate, the house should be closer in.

*I don't need or want a behemoth of a house. But I do need one on the larger side to accommodate 4+ bedrooms.

I live in Asheville and we are building in one of the historical areas. Asheville is "in town." The lots are typically under 0.2 of an acre. The houses are very close together and close to the street. Although the majority of the houses here were built between 1880 and 1940, I don't think you'll find the style here you are looking for.

You need to drive around out in the country. Investigating rural bed and breakfasts is a good idea. Most of those are large white farmhouse types with lots of porches. I don't know if that is what you want. My family's old homeplace is in rural Wilkes county and sits up on a hill off of a dirt road. It is a basic tin roof cabin that has never been painted. However it has been added on to through the years (it's about 130 years old) and could be considered four bedrooms.

When you say you need a larger house, how big do you need? I am surrounded by 100s of 4 bedroom houses that are all less than 1500 square feet. Then on the flipside there are humongous houses sitting on 0.2 of an acre.

I originally had the same goal as you. I wanted to fool people into thinking that my house had been on my street as long as all of the other houses surrounding it. Then I realized it wasn't practical. The original houses have roped single pane windows and we will have energy efficient clad windows. The original houses have either chipped stucco or wood clapboards. I will have Hardie siding. So instead of trying to duplicate an authentic historical house, I have decided that I need to blend in. I know I have a long way to go and there are many things I haven't thought of yet. (I posted my plan here once, but it didn't generate much interest. Maybe I'll try again.) Good luck to you in your quest.

Just a few more photos:

The oldest house on "my" mountain, from the 1850s:

Oldest standing house on the other mountain, which had the wealthy building summer homes on it before the Civil War, but most of them were destroyed due the battle that happened on top of them. This one is early 1900s.

The hotel on "my" mountain was built in 1913, but was torn down in the '80s. The first photo is from the '30s, the second from a brochure in the '50s.
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Some of the hotels from the other mountain. The first two are the "Inn" that was built in the early 1900s, but later destroyed by fire. The last one was built in '29, and is now a college.

Again, not that I am looking to build anything like these - I just wanted to show you all the oldest buildings nearby that I could find. There isn't much in the lodge style you'd expect to see in the TN mountains. The history is not well put together, and there are hardly any photos or drawings of buildings that are no longer standing.

Does this help any? What do yall think I should build?

NC Amy, I'd love to see what you're building! You're right though, no new construction is going to trick anyone with any knowledge about old houses into thinking it's old. But from the street, maybe, before you look closely... I suppose that's the goal. And my boss's house, even though it IS that old... its had things replaced and redone. The trim work is all new, because some previous owner tore out all the old stuff. The siding is wood, yes, but the guest house is Hardie Board, because the wood was too far gone to repair. And the original kitchen was a miniscule box stuck on the back of the house, so there is a large add on for kitchen and laundry room. The house next door is having to replace some of the windows, and I'm sure the new ones won't be the same.

I am not really sure what I am looking for, size wise. In a perfect world, I'd get the functions I need in less house. I need a dining room that can seat at least 12, preferably more. A living room where a large group of people could gather and watch a movie or play a board game. A kitchen that I could really cook in, and have the kids help or the extended family bake cookies in. A real laundry room. If I can have that and at least four good sized bedrooms in 2000 sq ft, then great. If I need more, that's okay. I am not a fan of open floor plan and having spaces that do triple duty - eating/living/working spaces drive me nuts. I think the separate spaces idea should work well with a new old house, but I think they will require more sq feet.

Another concern is planning to be elderly. Old houses never have a master on the main floor, unless its an add-on. So do I build a master on the main so that it looks like its been added on, or do I plan for an elevator, or...what? If I'm planning to be 80 in this house, I may get to the point where the stairs are not possible. Then what?

If I were building right on a street, an elaborate behemoth* of a house would not be inappropriate. But back in the woods... I'm afraid it might look odd.

Maybe I need to give up on the idea of building further back off the road. I was hoping for more privacy, and worrying less about the kids getting near the road, but it seems that to be historically appropriate, the house should be closer in.

*I don't need or want a behemoth of a house. But I do need one on the larger side to accommodate 4+ bedrooms.

I live in a horse community. Like I posted above, we're on one of the lakes. No horses for us - too hilly. Everyone has at least 3 acres. Some 20. Not your size plot, much smaller. Most houses here are +/- 6Ksf. None look odd in the woods.

You could always do what we did - main level is entered from the front veranda. Only 2 steps up. We can live on only the main level when we're 80. We were in our last house 20 years and it's 30+ until I'm 80. Our home appears like a small cottage attached to a stone barn from the front. Only the sides and back reveal the true size. Three bedrooms downstairs, three on the main (but one was turned into a sunroom). If you don't want a downstairs, you can have an upper level with dormers/rooms. We did away with the original upstairs on our plan - with the lower level we did not another bed/bath or the bonus room. I also didn't want the stairs going up in the kitchen...But, the house was framed so if anyone ever wanted to come in and add those rooms they can without problems.

We do have an open floor plan, but the kitchen could easily be separated from the great room with a single wall. Actually, Jack talked me out of closing it in during construction. He told me to live with it for awhile and if we changed our minds, it would be easy to put in a wall. The DR and foyer are open to the LR, but by arches and they (and the kitchen) only have 9ft ceilings. "An open floor plan" can still be built, but have most of the rooms on their own. Every open floor plan does not have to be completely open, if that makes sense. We've been in 4 years, and I don't regret leaving it open, but it's what we like. Next family might rather close it off.

Everyone here has given great advice, but no one can (or should!) tell you what kind of home you need to build. Only you know what you would be happy with. imho, I think you need to look around (like you are doing) and one day, you'll see which style of home you are more drawn to and will be happy living in for the next 20+ years. Then, you will know.

A larger house should have more landscaping around it, and a more formal house should also have more landscaping. Building too close to the road on an acreage is a definite negative, everything else aside.

As far as historic-ish homes, take a look at this: http://www.storybookhomes.biz/

I wanted a falling-down Victorian to restore, but they've already all been restored (FAR out of my price range) around here or are in neighborhoods with astronomical crime rates and were never very nice to begin with. We're remodeling a 1960s house instead, with not a lick of historical sensitivity, either. :-) If it looks good and we like it, we do it. Since the neighborhood really has every conceivable style of architecture, from prairie farmhouse to a really sad attempt at a Spanish villa, from a 5-over-4-and-a-door to a ranch-style to angular contemporary to English cottage, nothing looks out of place, so we're free and clear in that department! (We're going to go arts and crafts meets prairie style on the exterior--while avoiding the cliches of the standard "craftsman" reno.)

We duplicated the old houses around here when we designed ours. People are often surprised to learn that this is new. One thing that REALLY helped us was that we found a builder who loves historic buildings. The house was easy to design -- historic structures are pretty straightforward -- but we allowed ourselves to get distracted by frills. We had, for example, asked the architect to plan for transom windows. The builder talked us out of that (and saved us $$$) by pointing out that transom windows don't fit the simplicity of the older homes around here. We spent time driving around with him and developed an eye for the kind of detail that builders love. Then we changed our plans accordingly. A good builder's eye can be priceless. Good luck.

We're planning a New Mexico territorial 4x4 ... ideally it will respect the genre but with modern plumbing and lighting.

Some infill houses in Phoenix historic districts are so well done that the people who moved in after the build have to be convinced that it's not just a really well upgraded original.

How about something 1880-ish? Try Italianate farmhouse or American carpenter Gothic? Or even a simplified Second Empire house? All of these had simpler forms for the "boonies" that would be more within modern budgets.

Our new "Victorian-esque" home.

I think the gothic revival style would fit into your area. It's a very basic design that can be tweaked for style by varying windows and porch design. Almost all of the Civil War vintage farmhouses in my area (Eastern Shore, MD) are of this design.

The link shows a few pics of this style. But lots of other old styles to browse through in the list to the left.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gothic revival farmhouse

I just got this email but you can do as well or better at Amazon.

Here is a link that might be useful: books

It was so much fun to read about everyone's paths to a "new old house." We are finishing our build in the next month, and I was very inspired by the concept of the new old house. For me, it was about capturing the classic proportions of old houses, rather than attempting to replicate them. For us, budget was a major concern, so I could not afford all of the materials that a true Versace-approved new old house would require. Instead, we focused on not making the mistakes that poorly done "new old houses" seem to really suffer from, like wrong roofing, wrong windows, etc. In some ways, it is just as important to focus on what NOT to do as it is to think about what TO do.

I used two books, in addition to Versace's and lots of books of historic homes from our area, that gave detailed information about construction patterns. One is "Traditional Construction Patterns" but I can't recall the other right now. They are both on Amazon. (And I probably reviewed them there.) What they did was teach me what the obvious markers are of a poorly-done traditional construction...they are the things that - once you can recognize them - make the house obviously "wrong." By adhering to traditional construction practices and using new materials, we were able to avoid some of the mistakes that we would have inevitably made attempting to build a "new old house" on a budget. The homes in Versace's book and portfolio are gorgeous, but totally out of our reach.

And, as other have suggested, really studying the home in the area helped me immensely. I paid attention to the size and placement of windows and doors, shape of window lights and number, trim details, porch raining profiles, etc. I was really obsessed!

Good luck on your design and build. This is such an exciting process.

Gary,

I like your tile choice in your kitchen, would you mind sharing the name and manufacturer?

Thanks, Missy

A new “old” house is exactly what id love to have.

I have one

I've seen a 'new' old thread.