maintaining your historic home

Coffee Break RECAP: July Questions and Answers Edition

COFFEE BREAK RECAP – This month’s “coffee break” video recap focuses on various questions and answers related to historic buildings, preservation and restoration. Watch below.   VIDEO SUMMARY: Focus: Questions and answers Questions: What is an appropriate Colonial fireplace design? How do you tackle mold on siding? Does an asymmetrical façade/porch on a duplex imply that …

Coffee Break RECAP: July Questions and Answers Edition Read More »

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Historic Home

FALL MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR HISTORIC HOME – Fall is here. This brings Halloween fun, Thanksgiving, fall abundance, and cooler weather. It also signals the transition to winter and harsh conditions for our homes. We have often repeated, maintenance is essential for a home, especially an old or historical one. Read on for your fall maintenance …

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Historic Home Read More »

AGING IN PLACE: Growing Older in Your (Historic) Home

 AGING IN PLACE IN A HISTORIC HOME – Aging in place generally comes with necessary change to your home, but this is even truer of situations involving a historic home. As with many adaptive reuse projects, one must determine the balance between maintaining historic fabric and making adaptations suitable for aging.  Photo by Boston Public …

AGING IN PLACE: Growing Older in Your (Historic) Home Read More »

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Briana Grosicki of PlaceEconomics

Briana Grosicki, associate principal of PlaceEconomics based in Washington, D.C., joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss the economic benefits of preservation. We covered multiple topics, including: Briana’s background, including growing up regularly visiting local battlefields in Virginia, volunteering with her main street district as a teen, to working with Donovan Rypkema  Briana’s additional roles …

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Briana Grosicki of PlaceEconomics Read More »

Coffee Break RECAP: Existing Building Codes

COFFEE BREAK RECAP – This month’s “coffee break” video recap focuses on how to navigate the existing building code and uniform construction code within your historic building project in Pennsylvania. Watch below.   VIDEO SUMMARY: Focus: Exemptions (Existing Building Code) and things liable to the Uniform Construction Code, depending on the parameters of a historic …

Coffee Break RECAP: Existing Building Codes Read More »

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Bill Morrow of Langhorne Carpet Company

Bill Morrow, president of Langhorne Carpet Company in Penndel, PA, joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss the company’s history and current operations. We covered multiple topics, including: Bill’s family’s background in the carpet-making business, founding Langhorne Carpet Company in 1930 Henry Ford’s connection to the mill The company’s basis on heritage and tradition – …

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Bill Morrow of Langhorne Carpet Company Read More »

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring the Meyers of White Chimneys

Jack and Jessica Meyer – father-daughter owners of  White Chimneys in Gap (Lancaster County), PA – joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss their property’s history and their business. We covered multiple topics, including: The Meyers’ realization of their historic preservation values through the purchase and renovation of White Chimneys over the past 15 years …

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring the Meyers of White Chimneys Read More »

Coffee Break RECAP: Rising Sea Levels and Historic Buildings

COFFEE BREAK RECAPS – Periodically, we will be bringing you recapitulations of our live “coffee break” videos, where Danielle and Jonathan address questions related to preservation and provide answers or brainstorm solutions. These recap posts will include additional information and resources. This month’s recap focuses on rising sea levels’ impacts on historic buildings and possible solutions. …

Coffee Break RECAP: Rising Sea Levels and Historic Buildings Read More »

Kitchens: A Study in Innovation

KITCHENS – today, these rooms are so essential to what most people see in a desirable home, that they can be one of the main determinants of whether or not to buy a particular house. These rooms generally serve not only as showplaces, but also as a central socializing spot. However, this was not always …

Kitchens: A Study in Innovation Read More »

Bathrooms: A Necessary (Room) Discussion

BATHROOMS – or whatever you call them, as they have many names – are a necessary part of our lives, but we often take them for granted. Bathrooms did not always exist as a dedicated room, and the conglomeration of fixtures and practices that occur in these rooms today, as well as the design of …

Bathrooms: A Necessary (Room) Discussion Read More »