There are many methods to protect historic properties. Here's a quick primer.
National Register of Historic Places: The National Register- contrary to popular belief- does not provide that much protection to historic houses. NR listed houses can be altered or demolished at will by their owners unless they are protected by one of the tools listed below. The only protection that NR listing provides is that if federal or state funds are involved in a project (such as widening a road) and NR properties will be affected, the project must be reviewed to see if there are ways to minimize or eliminate any negative impact.
State Register: Most states have state registers of historic properties. The protection that this provides varies by state. Most building codes, including ours in Massachusetts, exempt national or state listed properties from having to meet the building code in its entirety. For example, when renovating a state register-listed property, the inspector may waive the requirement to replace a non-compliant set of stairs.
The other benefit of being listed on either the National or a state register is that the property is eligible for historic tax credits.
Local Historic Districts (LHDs) are one of the most effective tools used to preserve the appearance of historic buildings and landscapes. Massachusetts and most other states have enabling legislation allowing local communities to create LHDs. Typically if someone wants to renovate a property in an LHD, the LHD commission has the authority to review any proposed changes that would be visible from a public way. So if an owner wants to replace the original windows or build an addition,those changes would be subject to review prior to the owner receiving a building permit.
The tools listed above are all "public" tools in that they involve governmental bodies. One private tool is the easement or deed restriction. This means that a legal interest in the property is donated to either a private preservation organization or a public entity. This easement requires that the present owner and all future owners of the protect the property as per the terms of the easement.
Many communities also have demolition delay by-laws which allow the local historic commission to review any building permit applications involving demolition of historic properties. While these by-laws can't prevent demolition (courts have determined that this would constitute a "taking") they can be used to find other solutions. Sometimes a buyer steps forward who is willing to move the building. Sometimes the owner is convinced that demolition is not the best choice.
For more information on any of these tools check with the National Truse for Historic Preservation or your state historic preservation office.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
I wanted to take an opportunity to explain our approach to managing renovation and addition projects. Residential construction is a challenging business but we've learned a lot in the twenty years since we started the company. That experience has led us to conclude that the best way to set up our projects on an open book, "cost-plus" basis. You're probably wondering exactly what this means.
The process starts when someone approaches us to discuss a project. If they already have an architect and a set of plans, that's great. If no architect is involved (and we feel that the project will require one) we recommend an architect that we feel is right for the job.
In any event, once there are plans and written specifications, we'll make a site visit to familiarize ourselves with the project. We then solicit quotes from our team of subcontractors: plumbers, electricians, painters, plasters, roofers, etc. We use a spreadsheet template to fill in the anticipated labor, materials, and subcontractor costs.
Here's where our process differs from that of many other contractors. Instead of writing a proposal with a lump sum, fixed price, we show our estimate spreadsheet to the homeowners. We want them to see where their money is going. They see exactly what we will be paying for materials and subcontractors. They also see the overhead and profit that we've built into the price.
But up above I mentioned that we work under a Cost-Plus basis. What's that mean? That means that the actual price paid by the clients is determined by the actual costs that we incur. So, for example, the clients pay us for the actual time it takes to complete the project, not a guess made before the job starts. That means that we don't have to"pad" our price to cover a worst-case situation. We provide a realistic estimate of the labor involved. If things go well, our clients pay less than the budget figure. If a lot of changes are made the project may take longer and cost more.
In practice, about 75-80% of the project cost is fixed at the start because we have firm quotes from our subs and suppliers. The other 20-25% is the cost of our own labor. All in all, our original budget is typically within 5-10% of the final construction cost (not counting client driven extras). Interestingly, this about the same as the average "fixed price" job.
Our clients like the transparency of this system. They receive regular cost reports and always know exactly where they stand. They know that they are paying for the actual work performed- not an inflated price intended to protect the contractor. Because historic old houses are unpredictable, we feel that this system provides the fairest approach for both us, the contractor, and our clients.
If you have any questions or comments about this approach, please drop us a line.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
Kitchen design is a very personal thing, especially when it comes to old houses. Some people want the kitchen to match the period look of their house while others don't mind having a more modern looking space.
Personally, I lean towards the first group. I've seen many nice old house renovations spoiled (IMHO) by undistinguished kitchens that will look dated in a few years. It can be jarring to walk through a beautiful period renovation and then walk into a kitchen that looks the same as every other kitchen. Much better to design a more timeless kitchen that complements the architecture of the house and gives a nod to the fact that 18th and 19th century kitchens looked nothing like 20th/early 21st century kitchens.
Of course, when I talk about period feeling I'm not talking about authenticity. None of us wants to hand pump water to the sink or store our food in an icebox (never mind do our cooking in a fireplace). So we're going after a look that somehow evokes the flavor of the period while still providing a kitchen that's useful and fun to work in.
We're going to use my own kitchen as the case study. My house (shown in more detail here) was built around 1830. We carried out an extensive renovation and expansion eight years ago. The kitchen is located in a part of the house that was rebuilt from the ground up but that we wanted to blend with the rest of the house.
1. No long runs of cabinets. Long, uninterrupted runs of matching cabinets and counters are probably the primary distinguishing feature of the modern kitchen. Back in day, of course, kitchen "cabinets" were typically free-standing pieces of furniture. Sideboards, cupboards, hutches and the like were brought together regardless of style, color, or materials. That was the look that I was going after in my kitchen, as you see here.
Here we have three different pieces (four if you include the corner cabinet). One is painted, the other two are natural (in fact, these were made from wood we salvaged during demolition of one part of the house). These were designed to resemble free-standing pieces although they are built in.
Instead of a long, uninterrupted length of counter, there are three separate sections here: two soapstone and one wood. Together there is plenty of prep space.
2. No inside corners. Almost all kitchens have banks of cabinets that have 90 degree inside corners. These are so common that most people don't even think about this detail. Of course, when kitchens were comprised of separate pieces, there were no inside corners. Take a look at how this subtle omission yields a different feeling than found in most kitchens today.
3. Mix and match. We've already touched on the fact that the cabinets in our kitchen are not all the same. Some are painted dark green, some are natural. The cabinets surrounding the fireplace are painted a different color; the gray/green of the rest of the woodwork in the room. Also, these have raised panel doors while the other cabinets have flat panels. It can be risky to do this. Done poorly, the room will lack cohesion and will look too busy. But done well and it can help achieve a really special place.
4. Appliances. We decided that to pull off a 19th century feeling in our kitchen, we wanted to minimize the visual impact of the appliances. The obvious answer for the fridge would be to get a built-in unit meant to accept cabinet panels. Two issues there: first those units (Sub Zeros and the like) are very expensive. Second, even with the cabinet panels they typically have a large stainless grille on display.
So instead we took a standard white bottom freezer fridge and mounted cabinet panels to it for a more built in look. We first mounted the panel to the fridge door with drawer slides so that the cabinet door and fridge door could slide open together. Later, we found some plastic slides from Hafele hardware designed specifically for this application.
To hide the double oven (to the left of the fireplace) we over-sized the cabinet and then installed retractable doors. These doors stay open when the oven is being used and until it cools off.
The dishwasher is an integrated Fisher Paykel, so we simply built cabinet panels to help blend that in.
We tucked the toaster oven and microwave into the pantry (the door to the right of the dishwasher above) to keep those out of sight. Finally, we opted for a fairly discreet gas cooktop and hid the hood into the cabinet above.
I recognize that most people won't go to these extremes to make a new kitchen look old. In fact, if you look at some of the other kitchens we've renovated you'll see a wide range in style and appearance. But hopefully this will provide some ideas to those of you about to embark on a kitchen renovation in an old house.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
Last time we did a survey of the Greek Revival houses in my town of Medway, Mass. There are some great examples of the style in town, ranging from humble to high style. Now let's take a look at the potential pitfalls of altering the original siding and trim details.
It's pretty clear to me that the average home builder in the 18th and 19th centuries had a much better grasp of the basics of architectural styles than their modern day counterparts. Architectural styles had rules. Carpenters did not simply make things up as they went along. They used either pattern books or local examples to guide them as they built up cornices, columns, and other architectural elements. A quick look at some of Asher Benjamin's pattern books will reveal some of the rules used by the master carpenters to produce their millwork.
As a result these old places are still pleasing to the eye all these years later. The proportions are "right". On the new houses of today moldings of different styles are mixed and matched randomly. Windows are often out of scale with the facade; either too big or too small. You'd be hard pressed to find a carpenter who could tell you the difference between an architrave and a capital.
So let's look at what happens when ill-informed alterations are made to historic houses. First we'll look at a fairly intact Greek Revival here in town.
As we discussed in the last post, this house is based on the Greek temple form. The triangular gable (also called the pediment) is supported by the wide, horizontal band of trim (the architrave) which, in turn, is visually supported by the wide "columns" (which are represented by the wide cornerboards, called pilasters). The pilasters have capitals at the top, just as true columns do.
Visually it all makes sense. There is a logic to it. The wide pilasters look as if they can carry the weight of the architrave and pediment above. It's simple yet quite elegant.
So let's look at what happens when this sense of order and proportion is disrupted (with apologies in advance if I offend any of the homeowners).
Our first test case is the house below. A quick look will reveal two changes. First, the wide horizontal trim band (called the architrave, remember?) made up of several boards in the original has been replaced with a single board so that it is now much narrower. It feels less substantial and out of proportion with the pediment above. The second floor window trim no longer touches the trim boards above so the composition feels less unified.
Even more troubling is the fact that the pilasters have been replaced with simple cornerboards. Gone is the detail of the recessed panels on the pilasters. Gone are the capitals. And because the cornerboards are so narrow gone, too, is the sense of proportion. These narrow cornerboards seem incapable of supporting the visual weight of the pediment above- they look like they may crumple at any time- so the whole effect is much less pleasing to the eye (and it doesn't help that the shutters have been removed either). Still a nice looking house, but not as cohesive as our original example.
Our next example has been altered even more. First, the triangular pediment looks less substantial because the wide trim boards that once followed the slope of the roof were removed when the clapboards were replaced with shingles (take a look at the two houses above to see what I mean). Second, there are absolutely no pilasters or cornerboards. These, too, they were removed when the siding was replaced. There is nothing to visually support the pediment and roof. Next, of course, is the siding. I've seen few, if any, Greek Revivals that look better with shingles than the original clapboards. With no cornerboards, no shutters, and shingles instead of clapboards, this house looks a little naked compared to our original example.
Our next case displays the unfortunate result when a nice historic house is covered with vinyl siding and aluminum trim. The installers were intent on covering everything in sight. Look at how bad the horizontal architrave looks when treated with siding. It loses its decorative function, which is to visually support the roof. Fortunately, it looks like most of the trim is probably still under the vinyl and metal wrapping so this house could be more easily restored to its former glory than some of the other examples.
Our final example has been maintained and preserved to a larger extent than the three previous examples. In fact, apart from the porch addition, it would rival our original example. The porch (not original, but not bad) obscures the front door surround and also visually interrupts the pilasters, so that they no longer appear (at least from the street) to reach the foundation. All in all, though, this is a well preserved example.
This row of Greek Revivals illustrates why it's important to consider the intentions of the original builder and/or designer before undertaking renovations of historic house. If your house has been altered by a previous owner, don't despair. Study the houses in your neighborhood. Check the historic society for old photos of your house (we found a great 19th century photo of our place). There are a lot of great resources to help you figure out what your house may have looked like.
Not sure where to turn? Give us a call. We've been restoring and renovating historic houses in and around Massachusetts for over 20 years. We'd love to discuss your house.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
One of the things that I appreciate about historic houses is the thought that the builders put into the ornamentation. They seemed to have an almost innate understanding of the use of proportion and, of course, a deeper understanding of the architectural orders than today's builders who either slap a bunch of decorative trim on their houses arbitrarily or, at the other end of the spectrum, have almost no ornamentation.
To iilustrate this, let's look at one particular style: the Greek Revival. For four decades (roughly 1820-1860) the Greek Revival style dominated both domestic and institutional architecture. In the north, the style was reflected by gable-fronted houses designed to recall the temple form of ancient Greece.
Here's the inspiration:
Local examples of thus style included the Boston Custom House, shown below before it became a much taller building. The style became popular for banks, government buildings, and on college campuses.
While there were high style Greek Revival houses, most of the domestic versions were much more modest. Here in New England after two centuries in which the gables faced sideways, by the 1820s thousands of houses were built with the gable facing the street in order that the temple-like design could be emphasized. The rest of the photos in this article feature Greek Revival houses from just one town: Medway, Mass.
As you can see, this is a simplified version of the temple form. It features a triangular pediment "resting" on a wide band called the entablature (comprised, if you're interested, of the frieze and the architrave) which, in a real temple, was where the beam that carried ceiling joists would have sat. The entablature, in turn, is visually supported by the columns which in this example are represented by the wide pilasters at the front corners.
It's likely that the local builders bought pattern books, such as those done by architect/builder Asher Benjamin. These books would have provided detailed drawings detailing how to build everything from the windows, shutters and pilasters on the outside, and doors, mantles, and stairs inside.
There are quite a few larger and grander examples of the style in Medway. For example the photo below shows one of a pair of identical homes on Main Street. Note its similarity to the original Greek temple form.
Here's an even more elaborate example that features a wealth of classic Greek ornamentation such as the wreath window and the fretwork on the cupola. Instead of free standing columns, we see large pilasters on each gable wall. Also note the flush board siding seen in the detail photos. This is a common feature on Greek Revivals.
Here are a few more examples here in Medway. First a large farmhouse, again showing pilasters instead of true columns on the main house and a wrap around porch. The second is a shot of my own Greek Revival, with a colonade on three sides of the house.
Greek Revival houses tend to be brighter inside than the Georgian and Federal houses that preceded them due to larger windows; note the triple-hung, floor to ceiling windows in the two photos above.
In the next article we'll take a look a row of 5-6 identical Greek Revivals in town and how changes to the siding and trim on some of them has really detracted from the original look and feel.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
The selection of exterior paint colors for historic houses is, admittedly, a very subjective topic. Color schemes that please some people might give their neighbors nightmares. As subjective and personal issue as this topic is, however, it is clear to me that some color schemes enhance the look of an old house while others can make a house look either too bland or clownishly over the top.
Some basic knowledge is helpful. Until the Industrial Revolution, most paints were mixed in small batches using naturally found earth pigments. Paint colors, therefore, tended to reflect these pigments: red oxide, yellow ocher, lamp black, red and white lead, etc. Common exterior colors were reds, yellows, and greens. I think that the colors from Old Village Paints represent 18th and 19th century paint colors fairly well. White was most often reserved as a trim color in the 18th century. Around 1820 or so it became a more popular body color. Greek Revivals, in particular, were often painted white - or had white trim and a body color such as straw yellow or a gray or tan meant to suggest stone. It should be noted, however, that the "white" that was used back then was more of an off white, not the super whites available these days.
Even after paints started being mass produced in the second half of the 19th century, exterior colors still favored earth tones such as ochres, various shades of green, browns, and deep reds. Roger Moss' book on historic colors captures this well. New colors were being introduced during this period, too, so the options were much greater
There are two common mistakes with exterior paint colors that I see. The first is to paint a house that would have had many colors just one color, usually white. Take a look at the two houses below (which sit side by side in a Boston suburb). The one painted all white really obscures the wonderful detail that was so important in this period. The multi-color scheme expresses the architectural detail. In point of fact, however, neither scheme is historically accurate. These houses would likely have had dark trim colors against medium body colors. Light (or white) trim colors were not commonly used until the 20th century.
Here's another case, this time with side by side Eastlake style houses in the town of Hudson, MA probably dating to the 1870s.. During this period color would have been used to pick out some of the architectural detail. Again you notice how the version painted in white- while a beautiful house- fails to do justice to the great carpentry.
The other common mistake is to make any late 19th century house look like a "Painted Lady". The books by that name are responsible for garish bright paint schemes from sea to shining sea. While purples, pinks, and aquas may please some people, in my opinion they look out of place, especially here in New England. Yes, some vibrant colors were used in the late 19th century, but earth tones still were the predominant palette.
Instead of this paint scheme ....
....for my money, I'd take either of these schemes any day:
Or this beautiful palette ...
Sometimes historic paint colors were used to suggest other materials, in particular to suggest that a wooden house was actually built of stone. I once worked on an 18th century house in western Massachusetts that had rusticated board siding (this is wood planks made to resemble blocks of stone by carving fake mortar joints into the wood). They used a reddish brown paint designed to look like the local brownstone and they actually added some brownstone dust into the paint. For the "joints" they used a white paint. George Washington used this same technique on Mount Vernon.
Of course the good thing about paint schemes is that- unlike getting rid of a house's original windows- they are not permanent. An inappropriate scheme can be painted over by a future owner.
There are two main options when it comes to selecting historic paint schemes:
1. Use the original colors. This requires an experienced paint consultant who can analyze the original colors by looking at paint samples taken from the house under a microscope. This is not inexpensive, but for some owners, the result justifies the expense. Paint analysis can also be used to determine the colors used in later renovations. For example, if an 18th century house was renovated in the Italianate period, an experienced consultant can sometimes determine what the Italianate colors were.
2. Use period appropriate colors. This can be done by either finding some good books and following the guidelines therein, or hiring a historic color specialist. Many of these consultants will work from a distance: you pay a feee, send them some photos of your house, and they provide some period appropriate color schemes. Some preservation organizations have commissioned lines of period-appropriate colors. These include The National Trust and Colonial Williamsburg. Here in Massachusetts, the Cambridge Historical Commission has published a guide to historically appropriate colors.
Some paint companies and websites offer online tools that allow you to upload a photo of your house and "try on" different colors on a computer monitor.
One more note: many historic houses in America had windows (and exterior shutters) that were painted dark. Black and green were the two most common colors in the 19th century. Painting your window sash a dark color will enhance the look of almost any historic house, while painting them white tends to detract from the look. Here's a window on my 1831 Greek Revival, below. The sash and shutters are painted Black Forest Green. Note the straw yellow body and the white trim.
Not sure where to turn? We've been renovating and restoring historic houses, barns, and churches for almost twenty years. We'd be glad to point you in the right direction, so give us a call or drop us a line.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
While we're primarily known as historic renovation contractors, we've broken ground on a new timber frame house on a picturesque horse farm west of Boston. From time to time I'll be updating you on our progress. It should be a pretty interesting project. For one, we're using a precast foundation, instead of the standard poured in place technique. Pre-cast foundations are catching on, and for good reason. It can be a challenge to form and pour a foundation during the winter months in New England. With this system (we're using a company called Superior Walls) there's no need to worry about how the cold weather will impact the foundation.
The panels were made in a factory in Pennsylvania and shipped to our site:
They were placed into position by a crane and bolted together. The seams are sealed with a caulking specially developed for this purpose.
There are a number of other benefits to this system. First, it makes for a very energy efficient foundation. There is a continuous layer of rigid foam insulation and when that is augmented by insulation placed in between the concrete "studs" you achieve a rating of R-30 which is phenomenal for a foundation. Second, finishing the basement space- as we'll be doing on this project- is very simple. Your drywall can be screwed directly to the metal bands embedded in the concrete studs.
The house itself is being made by BensonWood timber framers of New Hampshire. They'll be installing the shell and our crew will be finishing both the interior and exterior.The first floor was installed in panels yesterday, as you see below. Check back in the months to come for more about this project.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
As an old house renovation contractor I am often approached by homeowners who want to replace their old windows. Sometimes this is the first item on their list when they buy an old house. They reason that the old, drafty windows are inefficient and hard to use and- quite honestly- often they are correct. But is trading in the old windows for new ones the best option? I don't think so and I'll tell you why.
First, is the aesthetic argument. It is hard to overstate the contribution that windows make to the look of the house. Original, historic windows have the right proportions for the house and often have a delicacy that new windows lack. A contributing factor, too, is the character of the old glass with its waves and bubbles. Muntins (the slender pieces of wood between panes of glass) have profiles that are true to the period and style of the home. Georgian windows have a different profile, for example, than Greek Revival windows. Modern double glazed windows typically have fairly wide muntins that don't look right in most old houses. Whether you have an 18th century house or one that's only a few decades old, if you go with a replacement window your profile options are limited.
Also new windows come with spring balances or other mechanisms for holding the windows up. Many of the larger companies have improved the look of the balances and jamb liners, but still a lot of new windows have cheap looking vinyl jamb liners, like the one pictured below.
Second, keeping your old windows and restoring them is the green thing to do. Why throw the old windows into a landfill when they could be restored and given a new life? It's much more environmentally friendly to keep the old windows.
Third, the energy efficiency of restored and weather-stripped windows- when combined with a decent storm window- is usually pretty close to that of a typical replacement window.
Fourth, simple economics. The payback period for new replacement windows- the number of years it will take to recoup the expense of the windows through the energy savings- can be as long as 40-60 years becuase the energy savings per window is so small. It usually doesn't make sense economically to replace old windows.The payback period for weather-stripping and storm windows is much less.
Finally, new windows are much less reliable and less repairable than old windows. My house, for example, still has the original window sash from 1831. That's almost 180 years of service life and they're still going strong! Modern replacement sash, on the other hand will not last anything close to that long. Most insulated glass will fail in less than 25 years because the seal between sheets of glass will fail and the glass will fog up. Modern sash are not easy to repair. When one breaks it is often necessary to buy a replacement sash. What happens when replacement parts are no longer available? Historic windows have parts that are readily available and most handy homeowners can replace sash cords, fix a broken pane, or install weatherstripping.
Not convinced? Check out the Weatherization Guide put together by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. There's a lot more information there, including some case studies comparing the economics of restoration vs. replacement.
If you decide to keep your old windows you may wonder what to do next. If you're handy and feel up to doing the work yourself, there are a lot of resources on the web. A quick Google search on "window restoration tutorials" or "window restoration videos" will turn up some really helpful resources. If you decide to hire someone to do the work, ask your state historic commission if they can recommend an experienced window restoration company.
We're currently restoring the windows on a ca. 1870 house in Brookline, MA. As you can see in the photo below, we've removed the sash to strip the paint, repair broken glass, reglaze, prime and paint the sash. The sash will be re-installed but not before we weatherstrip the jambs with v-shaped bronze weatherstripping.
If you leave in or around Massachusetts, give us a call. One of our
restoration carpenters is a window restoration specialist. He's
restored windows for us on houses of every period. We can
also provide wood or metal storm windows and screens.
What have you done with your old windows? Let us know what you think.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
As a renovation and restoration contractor here in Massachusetts, I have built a lot of additions on to historic houses. Contrary to the philosophy of some preservationists, who feel that new additions should read as new additions and not pretend to be old, my philosophy is that additions are much more pleasing when they complement the architectural style of the original house.
In previous posts we discussed some of the concepts involved with designing appropriate looking additions for historic houses. Additions should not overwhelm or compete with the original structure, not should they looked tacked on. So in those posts we talked about ensuring that the roof placement of additions is correct and that the trim on the addition is sympathetic to that on the original structure.
In this post we'll look at the issue of massing. How large is the addition compared to the existing house? If it's as large or larger, it will best when broken down into smaller components, rather than one large mass. In the photo below, you see almost 5000 square feet of new space added to an 18th century house of about 2200 square feet. But because the addition was designed as a series of smaller shapes, it is less overwhelming to the original. Everything to the left of the chimney is new.
In the photo below, everything between the main house to the left and the attached barn to the right is new space. Originally there was a one story ell connecting the two. Notice how the roof line of the addition is broken and brought down much lower in the right-hand part of the addition, as if these two sections were built at different points in time. This decreases the visual mass of the addition and helps to blend the new space bettwe with the old. Imagine if the second floor roofline were carried all the way across to the barn- the addition would have overwhelmed the original house. (To see the completed house, check it out in our portfolio).
Conversely, tiny little additions look odd when tacked on to larger houses, as illustrated in the photo below. Of course, it doesn't help that the addition has almost no architectural detail!
There must be a more gradual transition in size. This is why the traditional Big House-Little House-Back House-Barn structure of old New England farmhouses is so appealing to the eye. These houses look organic and natural. There is a clear visual hierarchy of importance among the sections of the house.
Our advice? Work with an architect. Most builders, even those that bill themselves as design-build firms, have not mastered the subtleties of designing additions. And I say this as a contractor. Are there exceptions? Of course, but I believe that your odds of getting the results you want are higher when you work with an architect who has a track record of designing additions.
Also, it's really helpful to use models to help you visualize your proposed addition. Either physical models or virtual models, like the one below, obtained in most CAD programs can help you understand how the new addition relates to the existing house. If you're working with an architect, ask them to generate some 3D perspective drawings of the project or- even better- see if their software allows for 3D "flyovers". If you're not working with an architect yet, and you're in the Greater Boston area, let us know. We would be happy to recommend some architects that we think do a nice job designing additions on old houses.
(model courtesy of Latady Design, Bedford, MA)
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
We're involved in a project about 30 miles west of Boston, MA in which the clients have decided to build a new house. Therefore, their current house needs to be removed from the site. The house was built around 1750-1775. It's actually in very good condition and still has much of its original material: the post and beam frame (of course), doors, windows, flooring, wainscotting, fireplace surrounds, etc.
It was originally a two over two which means that it had two rooms on each floor. At some point in the late 18th/early 19th century the house was about doubled in size.
We would love to save the house from demolition. The house could be dismantled and re-assembled on a new site. The house is about 2600 square feet and of course additions could be added to it. It would make a wonderful house: lots of character and, because it would need to be rebuilt- it would have modern mechanical systems, wiring, and insulation.
The dismantling process involves carefully documenting the house through photos and drawings, labeling the components andthen taking it apart piece by piece.
If you are interested in taking on such a project- or know someone who may be- please let us know. Here's a look at a previous dismantling project that we did.
Landmark Services Inc has been restoring and renovating historic houses in Massachusetts for almost 20 years. Put our team of craftsman to work on your historic New England house!
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Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.