I have an older home (built 1940 - 80 years old) and we also like keeping the old house feeling; however, making a home look and feel like a 200 year old home is a much harder task. For example, will your city allow you to erect your outhouse? And do you plan to go without running water, electricity and natural gas? :)

The overall architectural design is not hard to duplicate, and you can find idea books in the stores. I've also run across old books online that show the design and typical layout of older homes, and in some cases explained why they were made that way. Large central hallways, transom doors, and other features served a purpose in older homes, and its good to understand the why and how.

Keeping all the architectural details for a particular time period may be challenging. Off-the-shelf moldings, door knobs and other fixtures and hardware will be hard to find, and you will end up shopping at specialty suppliers. This increases cost and in some cases it may drive your builder crazy trying to make it work properly. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it; just be prepared for the challenge.

Bruce

Why did you start another thread on the same topic?

@hot rod your advice is welcome on both. As I could not figure out how to delete/rename the previous discussion and I’m new to Houzz, I wanted to make sure that knowledgable people didn’t pass over the previous topic (titled/focused on Architectural Salvaging) and that my main question (how to start/where to begin) was answered.

I feel that I know where you are coming from. I am originally from Massachusetts. When we built our retirement home in Washington state, I wanted it to reflect the old cottages and homes that I remembered as a child. I knew I had to have a kitchen fireplace, an old kitchen table ( had that already), a claw foot bathtub. I bought books off the internet, had stores order books for me. I must have 6 large books on cottages in Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and homes on the coast of Maine. I scoured the internet printing out pictures and putting everything in folders to lay out a plan of what I wanted and my must haves. I used antique brick on the walls of my kitchen because it looked old. I originally wanted 12 over 12 pane windows, but since we have such a great water view I settled for 6 over 6. We built the house ourselves and it took 3 years to do it. It gave me a lot of time to work on a plan. To sum it up, just do a lot of research and do your homework. Best of luck to you.

I suggest you start by reading Russell Versaci's book "Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home"

Morgan, I do not mind hopping over to this one to give you additional advice. : )

I am going to give you a heads-up: the further back you go in time, the more difficult it will be to build an exact replica. But, based on experience, I will not tell you that it is impossible because it truly is not. It will just require time, work, and money.

Whenever I speak of my project, I like to provide a disclaimer about my involvement. We sought an architect after I researched (extensively), brainstormed, and created schematics for our project. My partner was okay with me taking the reins because of the wealth of knowledge (from design to code) that I had accumulated in regards to the project. Due to our lack of professional experience, I was adamant about getting an architect on board once I knew exactly what it was that we were wanting to create. We sought out architects classical backgrounds--one with notoriety and the other, less renown. The first offered to take my work and create plans. . .the second was willing to jump in and work off of what I had created. We choose the second one for the collaborative experience, and he still has an active role in our project.

Anyway, I would recommend that you and your partner sit down and try to come up with a budget, the degree in which you want to replicate a historical home, and how much input you want to contribute to its design. You will need to decide if you want to give the architect or designer unlimited creative freedom, which could be fun to see what they come up with on their own. Or, you can decide if there are any non-negotiable design elements that must be present in your project. But, before you begin, you must do a bit of home work to find out what it is that you truly envision for your project.

Like many others who have gone this route, I have accumulated quite a book collection about historical architecture and pattern books. Of those, the two books that I found most helpful in the beginning of our project were: A Field Guide to American Houses (this one because it included all of the American architectural styles in one easy to read text) andGet Your House Right (it provides information for lay persons who are interested in learning more about classical architecture).

The Honest House by Ruby Ross Goodnow is a good book. Every once in a while a first edition will come up on eBay.

Another resource you may want to consider. Chances are, your state university has an architecture department, and chances are there is someone there who does architectural history. A good architect can get you the look, a historian can make sure that it actually follows in design what would have happened over time. You have to tread a path between new an old techniques, materials, acoustics, so you'll need a contractor who wants to build this house.

There are several very good books by Henry and Ottalie Williams on old houses, primarily New England vintage. This is one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/392774553000

There are many types and styles of old houses, from simple Capes to Georgian mansions. I think you should decide what you like and try to stay true to it. There are companies that sell entire old house timber frames like this: http://www.mainemtpostbeam.com/frames-for-sale

Reading books may be helpful for you, but you need an architect that wrote the book or was able to. Advice repeated from other post:

Seek out residential historic districts near you and research what architects have worked in the area. Researching in commercial historic districts may be helpful also. Expand your definition of "near" until you find an architect that will be a good fit for your project.

Appropriate salvaged material may be difficult to find and labor intensive to work with. Details will be very important and the materials you use may be able to be new but probably not found at a big box store.

If you want to build a home that would have been on your land 21 years before the city was founded, you've narrowed your selection.

And do you really want to reproduce historically accurate slave quarters?

Hi @Morgan B! I came across your post in searching something similar on “how to make a new old home.” Would love to hear about how your build went and if there are any particular elements you used to achieve this!

Have you considered scaling back your thoughts on this?

I had a house built in 1994 but LOVED the 1930,s era. just for fun we turned our great room into a 1930 likeness with kitchen accents, antiques, and by being creative and hiding the tv behind some curio cabinets. Just doing stuff like that to get the look we were after. It came out pretty good and had the look we were after.

I am at work and lack the pictures to show you now, but it was managable in both suze and money. We also had a comfortable house to live in, the modern conveniences just were not readily apparent at first.

We even went a little further, bought my wife some authentic clothes from the 1930,s (sil green dress, Mary Jane shoes, a book on 1930 hairstyles, etc) and did a photo shoot throughout the house. When we had the photos blown up to display as art, the person thought they were of our grandparents and not us in 2020 in a 1994 house.

The point here is, with some creativity, less can be more sometimes.

In the 1990,s I was in MN where developers in Plymouth, MN tried to make a New England Village. Growing up in Maine to me it looked like a Hollywood set of an old new england village. Some things are just impossible to recreate.