Historic House Blog

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, which makes tomorrow his 200th birthday. Historic organizations in Washington, DC, his home state of Illinois, his birth state of Kentucky, and across the country are preparing celebrations for this bicentennial. You can check out the complete events calendar, along with all of the Lincoln info and [...]

I stumbled upon an interesting website today — http://www.historicalbricks.com .  It is the website of Gavin Historical Bricks - “The Nation’s Largest Supplier of Antique Brick & Stone.”   This company supplies large amounts of bricks for both historic restoration projects and new constuction projects (where the builder is trying to achieve historic look & feel).   And [...]

Many states are starting to digitize their historic map collections and make them available online. Old maps are invaluable for researchers of course, but they also make for great additions to any property marketing package. Having some idea of the history of the neighborhood, and of the local context of a house for sale, gives the marketing effort a [...]

One thing I was never very good at was identifying the different types of wood floors in historic houses.  Was that old, reddish plank floor pine?  Chestnut?  Cherry?  Stained oak?  Looking at pictures online can help you get a knack for identifying types of wood, a skill that is impressive to sellers as well as buyers.  It [...]

A Home for All - A New, Cheap, Convenient & Superior Mode of Building - That’s the way Orson Squire Fowler described his architectural invention in 1848. Fowler had designed the octagon house- an eight sided home that he claimed used space more efficiently by eliminating the need for hallways. The octagon minimized surface area which helped prevent [...]

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 [...]

One of the most important parts of any real estate purchase is the home inspection. A home inspector will give the house a thorough going-over and report on any problems he or she finds.  A home inspection may identify the need for major repairs, as well as the need for maintenance to keep a house in good [...]

     The Library of Congress sponsors an amazing website full of resources useful to the historic home enthusiast. It’s called the American Memory Project and it’s filled with millions of scanned documents, advertising, maps, diagrams, films, photos, and more from the Library’s collection. One fascinating section is the Panoramic Map Collection- it’s loaded with aerial [...]