I am at a loss . Stone is not an insulating material IMO so you will need insulation Is the idea of the sealed double paned glass what you are thinking for the insulation? I think I get it . You would have to have something custom made are you getting some quotes

This is my concern with the stone walls, and of course it depends on where you live how much insulating will need to be done.

Mar 5, 2007 - But with stone, the thermal resistance is so low that in order to offer a reasonable level of insulation, the walls need to be unrealistically thick. A typical 500mm thick stone wall, for example, has the equivalent insulating value of only 15mm of rockwool

Hey Patricia, well before we started renovating stone was the insulating material in every wall here hahaha and yes thinking the double pane glass would be in place of sheetrock. Not getting quotes yet just discovered this wall today and got the wheels spinning :)

Hey Patricia thanks for that feedback. For some reason your first comment didn’t fully post the first time. Yea it might not be feasible but the ground floor is about a foot and a half thick. We had professional masons working on it and when we turned on the radiant heat floor this winter even though the house isn’t sealed or insulated fully yet on all the other walls it wasn’t terrible so I’m feeling optimistic about the ground floor :)

Why would you not want to re-point the stones? In a house museum near me, they have some of the structure exposed with Plexiglas covering it.

Hey @houssaon we did have it redone on the ground floor and it’s stunning. This was just a thought to keep a piece perfectly in tact to show how the house held up all these years. Just thinking out loud is all!

i LOVE old houses!! This isn't going to answer your question, but I have friends who bought a home and part of it was an old farmhouse built in the 1700s. The builder who did the gorgeous reno/addition installed a window-sized farm door that you could open & see original stone along with a beam that someone had carved the year that the house was built. I love that they salvaged a little history & it was very cool to see what was going on behind those walls.

I am glad to hear that it was quite warm. I love stone walls, we have huge FP in our 1956 MCM ranch and we left the back side exposed in the kitchen and it is my favorite part of the house. Sheet rock really does not insulate either so IMO that double sealed wall of glass will be awesome. it needs to be a sealed unit to keep moisture from building up in between the two layers of glass. I am not sure how you will handle the cleaning on the backside but may if it is sealed well enough around the perimeter it won't be an issue. I would love to see that space when it is done. These are a couple of pics of our FP it is 10' x8'x4 '

I've seen portions of the interior walls preserved behind glass and/or plexiglass in historic homes in the UK, all to great advantage. In one, there were shelves installed, made from reclaimed wood, on which items found INSIDE the walls (old bottles, scraps of newsprint, etc.) were displayed. It's definitely a unique look that provides a fun peek at the past. If there's any way for you to pull your idea off, I hope you do it. I think it would be wonderful!

Have you considered re-point all of it except a section - maybe the part that is under the window gets covered in glass The glass on the whole wall just seems to take away the "charm" of the stone compared to the re-pointed. And you can always frame photos of the "before" wall and have them on the main level rather than having your guest go up to the 3rd level to see what the walls looked like originally. Beautiful (re-pointed) stone. Please post photos when you get your home completed as we would love to see it in its completion.

I can't see repointing stone that was never intended to be finished and exposed. That would defeat the purpose of showing what was there. I've seen exposed construction in museums but it was in a controlled environment, not an exterior wall. Maybe build an insulated wall in front and have a window into one section. If it is fixed glass, there would be buildup of all the stuff that happens in walls: bugs, dust, cobwebs,etc. So you'd have to be able to remove glass and clean.

Thanks everyone for commenting! Yes it is an exterior wall and my friend who is an architect mentioned same concerns regarding dirt, dust etc etc. I’ve seen it in museums in the UK so I know it’s possible just don’t know how lol! And my husband isn’t sure it’s a good plan bc of insulation and things like that. I don’t know how to tag users on here but: Patricia: your house looks beautiful!!! I absolutely love MCM houses and if this doesn’t end up being our forever home I’d love to get my hands on a MCM
Houssaon: could you ask them how they did it? Lol
Paula A: could you get your hands on your friends pictures? I’d love to see what you described and I love getting inspo from other old house renovations!
Idaclare: we have found a glass bottle with mystery stuff inside cork still in tact! An old iron missing the handle, cast iron. I’ve also been saving very old pieces of wall paper on different floors. I want to frame them for after :)
Ted- that is a good idea!!

@Julie Schmooley we have a cottage that is built of native stone. The walls are 18 inches thick so internal ducting was not possible. The clever solution was to do ductwork between the exposed beams the main room and cover with reclaimed wood that makes them look like an integral part of the house. You can see it in the second pic. Its actually cute. The interior walls are plastered which was the quick and easy way to keep the crumbly stone from invading the space. But if you look closely at the window wells you can see how thick those walls are.

The entire exterior was repointed by a former owner who was a stone mason, and from what I know it will last us quite some time. So if you can find someone who has those skills, its probably worth doing. I think your idea about a glass wall is an interesting concept. I wonder how practical it would be to live with.-- I can imagine running into it after one too many glasses of wine. We find that our place doesn't get very cold in the winter nor hot in the summer-- its actually quite comfortable. We rent it out as a vacation spot and our guests never have complaints. I think a lot of people here have no idea what its like to live in a stone house nor why stone was a material of choice for centuries. Best of luck and so excited to meet a fellow stone house enthusiast.

Omg your house looks gorgeous! That looks like PA stone am I correct? Maybe I’ll have my mason just repoint the bathroom one wall so the stone is carried throughout the home a bit. I know what you mean about the thick walls, did you see my second pic? That’s like a two foot stone wall he repointed for me 🥰 I love his work! It’s a dying trade! It’s been lovely going over there during the heat and seeing how nice and cool it stays. We put radiant heat under the slab and that room also has the original hearth fireplace so I’m hopeful it will stay plenty warm come winter! Thanks for sharing!!! It is so nice to find a fellow stone and old house enthusiast as well! So many people don’t understand the admiration, some workers I’ve had for odd jobs is like why didn’t you just knock it down?! I’m like nooooo it’s history!! It deserves another 150 yrs ❤️

Ours is in Maryland. Used to be the school that served the families who worked at the Francis Scott Key estate. We were lucky in that it had been well cared for over the years...the school was decommissioned in 1929.

Would love to see your progress as you do your restoration!

Julie- even more reason to re-point that wall as if down the road you change your mind to do it, that person may no longer be around and trying to find some one else may be a disappointment.

Hey everyone I took pics today to show you. So I think the wall by tub wouldn’t be a good choice to repoint because of moisture, but the bathroom butts up to the chimney of the original hearth on ground floor. Maybe we could clean up the brick to show exposed? Also showing pics of the original floors the pumpkin pine they’re dusty from renovating, and the structural original beams we can’t show bc of framing.