Preservation Meets Today’s Tastes & Modern Lifestyle
Honoring preservation isn’t the same as historical restoration and it doesn’t call for living in a museum interior. Simply put, preservation means taking it easy on the house (something you may wish previous owners had done). It means getting to know the house and its history before making irreversible changes; it means not destroying the good work of the past.
The work at hand may involve a mix of approaches (e.g., restoration of the façade, rehabilitation of walls using plaster patching and drywall, renovation of the kitchen). Throughout the project, having a preservation mindset is good because it helps avoid destruction of rare materials and magnificent craftsmanship as well cultural history.
Old houses contain lessons: Aren’t pocket doors proof that an open plan sometimes needs to be closed? Changing taste is the enemy of preservation. Carved Eastlake mantels were discarded as “too fussy” and endless original bits thrown away for being “old-fashioned” or the “wrong” color. Better to repair rather than replace; eventually, after generations of replacement, a house is no longer original and probably no longer coherent.
A house represents a particular time and style. The mid-20th-century fad for turning Victorians into faux Colonials, for example, didn’t work out. Stripping off gingerbread trim and painting out the textures only succeeded in making these houses ugly “white elephants” that would prove very expensive to restore.
We must be careful about how much we change because there is a tipping point. Most of us fell in love with an old house—not a new house made of old materials. The 1973 Presidential proclamation establishing what was then Preservation Week (now Month) read: “As the pace of change accelerates in the world around us, Americans more than ever need a lively awareness of our roots and origins in the past on which to base our sense of identity in the present and our directions for the future.” It’s a lofty statement if a bit abstract.
No need to erase original features in a quest for comfort and personal preference … and you may find that period design provides inspiration. Everyday reasons, too, argue for building preservation:
- Old-growth hardwood, sound- and fire-resistant three-coat plaster, fine craftsmanship, and surviving folk graining represent intrinsic value and for that reason are worth saving.
- In an unremodeled house, many elements represent the intention of the original design. A new owner might be forgiven for tearing out something that seems sullied or feels anachronistic. But what does it tell us about original proportions or style? Cleaned up, that very item—the mantel, an overpainted stained-glass window—may be a focal point.
- Old houses have a context in the streetscape and for the neighborhood. Despite the difficulty and expense, that knowledge may lead owners to restore their Victorian porch, a public amenity. The same owners might prefer a white interior furnished by West Elm, a decision that doesn’t undo their preservation of architectural elements.
- Before a house became historic, it was merely vintage and, before that, used. Preservation even of houses built after 1945 assures that they last long enough to represent a moment in building history.
Patricia Poore is Editor-in-chief of Old House Journal and Arts & Crafts Homes, as well as editorial director at Active Interest Media’s Home Group, overseeing New Old House, Traditional Building, and special-interest publications.
Poore joined Old House Journal when it was a Brooklyn-brownstoner newsletter in the late 1970s. She became owner and publisher and, except for the years 2002–2013, has been its editor. Poore founded the magazines Old-House Interiors (1995–2013) and Early Homes (2004–2017); their content is now available online and folded into Old-House Journal’s wider coverage. Poore also created GARBAGE magazine (1989–1994), the first unaffiliated environmental consumer magazine.
Poore has participated, hands-on, in several restorations, including her own homes: a 1911 brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a 1904 Tudor–Shingle Style house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she brought up her boys and their wonderful dogs.
