Historic House Blog

A saltbox is a one-and-a-half or two story house that has been expanded with a one-story addition, also called a “lean-to,” in the rear of the house. The addition most often houses a kitchen, or “keeping room” in the center, and two small rooms on either end- one a “buttery” or pantry for storage, and the [...]

If the historic property or estate-type property you are selling has columns– whether across the entire facade or just a small porch or portico– it  enhances your marketing of the property to elaborate on their style.  So what kind of columns does your listing have?  The 3 basic styles are the Grecian orders of Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric.  You [...]

Several years ago, I listed for sale a circa 1920 Craftsman bungalow in Mansfield, Connecticut, and I suspected that it may have been a “Sears home” (see the house, left), or at least some kind of mail order house.  I have been fascinated with Sears homes ever since.  For those who don’t know, “Sears house” is a generic [...]

“Quoins: Pronounced “coins,” like the pennies that jangle in your pocket – which is a bit ironic, since these architectural elements are supposed to imply substance, strength, architectural stability, and perhaps even wealth.  Usually found at the corners of multi-story buildings, quoins are stone or wood bands of “rectangles” that look like “blocks,” usually in a wide-short-wide-short pattern.  (Click [...]