Historic House Blog

If you’re selling a historic home, particularly a prominent one built in the 17th, 18th or 19th century, there may be a treasure trove of floorplans, architectural drawings, and photographs for your home online at the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).  HABS began in 1933 as a program to find meaningful work for thousands of [...]

As a REALTOR specializing in historic homes sales, one of the most common questions I received from buyers or other agents about my old house listings was, “Are you allowed to make any changes to the house?” 
The regulation (or lack thereof) of historic houses is probably one of the most misunderstood issues surrounding antique properties, especially those [...]

On the eve of President-elect Obama’s historic inauguration, we turn our attention to perhaps the most historic home in the country- the White House. If a Realtor were to write up a classified ad, it might read something like “Well-Maintained 16 bedroom, 35 bath colonial on 18 acres in the heart of the downtown historic [...]

When I was growing up, I don’t know how many times I accidentally left the front door open on a cold fall day & heard the age-old scolding, “Close the door!  Were you born in a barn?”  Well, if you were born in this barn (left), that would probably be something to brag about. (Don’t believe me? –see more photos here).   Offered [...]

Edgar Allan Poe, that master of the macabre and inventor of the detective-fiction genre, has a birthday coming up on Monday. It’s his 200th and many organizations are celebrating the Poe bicentennial. The International Edgar Allan Poe Society is building a community centered around the Edgar Allan Poe 200 site. Boston College is sponsoring ”The Raven Returns [...]

I think I actually chuckled aloud when I first stumbled upon the illustration on the right.  I was searching online for good photos to illustrate this post, and I came across this image on the website for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.  It pretty much boils a fanlight down to its most basic representation, simply & clearly, doesn’t it?  And it perfectly [...]

Seven towers, 40 rooms, 54000 square feet, 14 bedrooms, 36 fireplaces- Everything about the Searles-Hopkins Castle is monumentally impressive. Set on 90 acres in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and featuring 1000′ of water frontage on the Housatonic, the castle has long been a treasured Berkshire landmark. Designed by McKim, Mead & White, and thought to be [...]

A few years ago, over my morning coffee, I noticed an interesting new listing in my Connecticut MLS.  Developers were offering for sale a “gutted to the studs” circa 1802 Colonial on less than 2 acres (photo, left).  The agent added that the apparent rehab project was “part of a $500,000 subdivision,” an obvious effort to brag up the [...]

As selling houses gets to be more and more of a challenge, owners and agents are turning to more creative means of marketing property. One strategy that crops up whenever the market turns is a house raffle. Lotteries have been successful for centuries, drawing participants in with dreams of a low investment and a huge payoff. House raffles are no different. Most [...]

When you consider the concept of historic houses, perhaps gangsters are not the type of people that pop into your head.  We generally associate “historic” properties with grand architecture, or rustic post-and-beam homes, or perhaps even an old farmhouse that has withstood the storms of a century.  Yet there can be no doubt that the simple, two-story, working-class property that [...]