s/o integrity of old homes

[susieq]

So I really dont understand why, if someones taste is so ultra modern, they would even consider a home with that exterior. I can understand loving the home and modernizing it in keeping with the homes original architecture but those are two extremes of each other.

[emoflamingo]

Yeah, your crying icon is right. I love both the interior (well, parts of it) and the exterior but they are so different. They do not belong together.

[stephm0188]

Oh, no. No no no no no.

[heygrey]

i love that interior, but they totally ruined a cool old house. bad renovation for sure.

[pitterwoo]

the exterior view is great, and the inside is totally in another reality

[McGavin]

Oh boy, that kitchen especially. There is zero connect with the exterior and interior.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Integrity- bah. We have no idea what the interior looked like before. Maybe it was all fire damaged, rotted, gutted...

My issue with the new interior is the lack of detail, especially at the ceiling level. Take all the furniture out of it and it is a boring box.

[sailorgray]

 I love it - the interior and exterior.  I grew up in an 1850's farmhouse and am all for preserving the old charm, but the current owners obviously care about the house and took time to make it what they want and that's really all that matters.  I much prefer that over an old home that is left falling down and unloved.  I am in the boat that you should make your house what you want and not what others think should be done to it.

[niknik]

I understand what you are saying but I kinda love it. I think it's slightly over decorated but it's kinda amazing. They did keep the integrity of the outside and they made it their home. It may not appeal to everybody but it's going to appeal to the person looking for a modern home.

Plus who knows, the inside might have been trashed or infested or had a fire and was not salvageable. I hate houses that have fake or new to look old "charm" 

[thatgirl2478]

It's jarring - the disconnect between the interior & exterior. I don't particularly care for the inside because it just seems like they took a bunch of currently popular design elements and tossed them in the house.

Plus, they made it SO specific to their taste that there's not much anyone else can do to make it theirs without tearing out a bunch of work.

I don't necessarily think that you have to keep 100% with the integrity of the house or design so blandly that anyone would love it, but there is something to say for continuity of design....

[sillygoosegirl]

I'm not a fan of the ultra modern style, but I don't think it's a problem either. They preserved the integrity of the outside of the house, which I'm sure was important to the neighbors. The inside has a new integrity now, and I think that's fine. I'm pretty sure more people want to look at the outside of cool old houses than want to actually live in one that has been renovated in a period-appropriate way.

[imojoebunny]

This is pretty common around here. The area fell into a steep decline in the 60's and 70's. Homes were chopped all up I to apartments. When people with opportunity started to move back in, little charm was left inside. I like it, but I wouldn't want to live in it. Our house was gutted for the most part about 15 years ago, but they put it back more in the craftsman style and only changed the layout a little to tie in with the addition. We saw some really weird renovations where they added on to the back of the house super modern, but left the main part of the house as it was. Those were weird.

[TBM]

Feb 23, 2013 11:22:30 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

 Our house was gutted for the most part about 15 years ago, but they put it back more in the craftsman style and only changed the layout a little to tie in with the addition.

This is what I like to see.  IMO, even a little bit of detail and a nod to what the house once was can go a long way.

I have seen some pretty modern interiors on old homes, derelict old buildings that had been gutted, that managed to keep enough of the original (or add in salvaged detail), to give a nod to the history without making the interior any less modern and updated.  That little sense of connection with the history of the building added interest and warmth, and the juxtaposition of old and new somehow actually made more sense of the modern part.

[heliocentric]

It doesn't bother me. I live in a house built in 1929 and some features don't work so well with modern life or are challenging to restore. For example, we have big moulding, but it's in rough shape (painted over chips, nail holes and other damage). We can't sand because it's lead paint. So we deal with it looking bad, pay a ton to replace it or rip it out. I can see how someone might choose the latter.
I can also understand someone who wants a more modern look buying an old home because they like the neighborhood or the price even if it's not their ideal taste.
Plus, we have no idea what it looked like before.

[pitterwoo]

Feb 23, 2013 11:51:21 GMT -5 heliocentric said:

It doesn't bother me. I live in a house built in 1929 and some features don't work so well with modern life or are challenging to restore. For example, we have big moulding, but it's in rough shape (painted over chips, nail holes and other damage). We can't sand because it's lead paint. So we deal with it looking bad, pay a ton to replace it or rip it out. I can see how someone might choose the latter.
I can also understand someone who wants a more modern look buying an old home because they like the neighborhood or the price even if it's not their ideal taste.
Plus, we have no idea what it looked like before.

We've dealt with a lot of lead paint in our home too.  It's not that big a deal if you take precautions, imo.  If you have kids, especially young ones then I can definitely see not wanting to disturb it.  We've also had blood tests and never came back high for lead so our methods while not perfect seem to have been fine.

I don't disagree that there are times when restoring isn't worth it and not the best course of action, but it's one of my pet peeves that people are made to feel that there's nothing they can do with these aspects of their homes.

[starlily]

Feb 23, 2013 9:32:15 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

 I love it - the interior and exterior.  I grew up in an 1850's farmhouse and am all for preserving the old charm, but the current owners obviously care about the house and took time to make it what they want and that's really all that matters.  I much prefer that over an old home that is left falling down and unloved.  I am in the boat that you should make your house what you want and not what others think should be done to it.

Agreed. I just can't get worked up about stuff like this.