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Great thread!!!!! I'm just outside of Albany, NY and have owned this 1871 Victorian farmhouse for 9 years (my husband's grandfather's house which we bought back from a subsequent owner). She's pretty big--3200sf on the two main levels and a full basement and full attic as well. If we weren't both on teacher's salaries with three young kids, I would be an 11. Or a 12. Or just off the charts! Unfortunately, my "purist" sensibilities have to be knocked back a bit mainly due to cost and practicality. I would say I'm a 6-7 with our current budget and lifestyle. EXTERIOR: Still has 46 ORIGINAL windows (and one new wood bay window in kitchen) but 1950's aluminum siding over top of original wood siding with scalloping on the eaves. No original shutters left, which were on every window from an 1940's photo we have. 1950's aluminum exterior storms over original windows. One section of original front porch railing remains and will be replicated when we redo front porch. KITCHEN: I designed and gutted the 1930's kitchen that was in place but "updated" in the 50's and some in the early 80's--so I felt no sorrow at tearing out the robin's egg blue flecked Formica counters, drop ceiling, peel & stick tile, etc. Drooled at people's 100K kitchen renos over on the kitchens board, but settled for a complete, modern reno with stainless appliances (an Aga would be nice, but $$), full-overlay white doors (wanted inset, painted), Brazilian Cherry floors (wanted reclaimed southern yellow heartpine), and soapstone counters and a giant farmhouse sink (both exactly what I wanted). The kitchen looks like it fits and works well for our busy family. WOODWORK: Have not TOUCHED the floor to ceiling built-ins in the dining room. And no other owner ever has either--other than to gently refinish. Crown jewel of our big, old house. Original wainscoting is still perfect--will put in new wallpaper (in this room ONLY--otherwise, wallpaper is my arch-enemy!) Still has 100% original trim, 6-panel solid doors, and flooring (except kitchen). Downstairs trim/doors have never been painted. Upstairs was white when we bought it. (secretly, I wish it was ALL painted when we bought it--hubby would never consider painting trim downstairs, but the white upstairs looks so fresh/clean with bright room colors!) floors are all original (southern yellow heartpine and quartersawn oak). --Put in central A/C upstairs only--installed in attic with minimal distruption to house--just 1-2 grilles in each room. Oh well. I LOVE it! Best update we've done :) --No major changes to the blueprint of the house since it was built--open concept would have been nice, but now that my kids are 4, 7, 9, it's not as necessary as when they were little babies. Only changes were when the house got indoor plumbing! --Gutted one horrible 1950's bathroom and tried to make some aspects look "period" while on a budget--saved on fiberglass tub but got basketweave tile. Relatively cheap vanity/mirror from Lowe's but refinished original cast iron radiator. --90% of the house still has the original plaster walls. --Have all of the original Italian marble fireplaces, but have not broken through to make them workable again (simply due to $$$). --Took the 6th bedroom (which is the smallest and has no closet) and made it into a 2nd floor laundry room with front-load washer/dryer. No regrets here either!! I like to remember that this house was never built as a museum and it's not in a super-trendy historic district--it was clearly just a big, comfy home for one of the first families in this area. I try to imagine what "improvements" the people that lived here 140 years ago would be ok with--don't want to anger the ghosts, but I have to make it "liveable" for our family and this generation. Am I still a 6 or 7??? -Sarah

Wow. When I looked at your pic, I thought it was the back of the house. I think it's because the patio looks like a patio, and the french doors look like a way to the patio, and there's no front walkway or anything that says welcome, and even the lighting by the door is not symmetrical. So those are things you can definitely fix. Where is the street front and where is the driveway where people park? Is the front door visible from where guests park? If not, it's always more challenging to help them find their way...landscaping helps tremendously with that. Before I'd move the front door, I'd think about what's going on on the inside as well. Do you have a foyer area? If not, this would be a great opportunity to create one. Much more gracious to separate the entry from the living room. Second, in order to tell people where to go, the front door needs to be most prominent on the facade. Also, it is nice for guests to have some kind of shelter while they are at the door. So if you have the ability to add on, I would think about adding a porch with a hip roof to repeat the lines and color of the roof, and have it supported by posts and railing that will make it more obvious where the front door is. Definitely change the style of the front door too so it's more like a front door. And move the downspout to a corner, not in the middle of the wall. I agree the bays are small, but again, it depends on what's going on inside as to how much they can be changed.

The term brickmold is used differently today than it was historically. Today, "brickmold" for some window manufacturers means one specific profile (about 3" wide with a barely there ogee profile at the edge). Historically brickmold meant any piece of wood with a molded profile that ran around the joint between brick and wood millwork. Brickmold profiles changed with historic styles, so there's a difference between a Victorian brickmold and bungalow brickmold. Some other current manufacturers will call this window component "staff bead" or "back band," but really brickmold is any piece of molding along the edge of brick at an opening. Brickmold was the historic way to seal the joint between the wood sash pocket and stops and the edge of the brick of the brick opening. The joint might have been packed first with oakum, a tar impregnated rope, that would have acted as a waterproof sealer. The oakum packed joint would then be covered with a brickmold. Brickmolds aren't for function today. They're for aesthetics. Since modern windows are so plain looking, brickmolds are a good way to add some profile and depth to the way the window looks. The curved profile in the picture is the brickmold and combined with some plain stock (diagonal line) gives the window a nice proportion back from the sill. You can see that without the brickmold there would be a gapped seam between the window unit and the brick opening.