Preserving Your Home’s Original Style during a Renovation

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For owners of vintage homes, renovations come at a price--and a responsibility. These homeowners often see their roles as stewards of history, ensuring future The architectural integrity of this English Tudor has been maintained through every renovation. Credit: Laurie Bloom generations will be handed down the same beauties they’ve been entrusted with. And that means taking steps to safeguard their home’s irreplaceable characteristics. In retrofitting their residences with 21st creature comforts, their priority is to carry out alterations without compromising the authenticity of the architecture. “Certain people have a strong sense that the best of American architecture has gone, and they’re trying to preserve what was very distinctive and beautiful,” says Lawrence Motta, senior estimator for Matarozzi/Pelsinger Builders, a San Francisco-based residential building company that’s restored dozens of Victorian, Edwardian and turn-of-the-20th century buildings. Remaining Faithful Laurie Bloom, of Brightwaters, N.Y., lovingly calls her 1910 Tudor style home a “money pit." In the decade she and partner Len Thon have owned the home, the couple has made a deliberate effort to stay “true to the architectural character of the house,” she says. They’ve done that by ensuring every element is faithful to the period. Some of the projects they’ve carried out include replacing windows with custom mullioned casements; swapping modern lighting for period chandeliers, sconces and pendants; and returning the kitchen to its century-old roots. Their commitment to the architecture extends throughout the property with three rock walls, vast flowerbeds and numerous evergreens in keeping with the English Tudor design. ”Extensive planning went into the design and materials selection to ensure that it looked appropriate to the house,” says Bloom. For the patio, it took visits to four stone yards just to find the right bricks that didn’t look “shiny and new.” That’s not to say they sacrificed comforts. They installed central air conditioning and in-ground sprinklers. Still, Bloom says, “We’ve taken a great deal of time to work through the decisions associated with each project, carefully emphasizing that the goal is to make it look like it has always been here. That’s been my mantra, and I think it has served us well.” Determining Value While the Bloom-Thon Tudor has historical significance, not all aging homes do. Old doesn’t always mean valuable. According to Dean Bennett, president of Dean Bennett Design and Construction in Colorado, “Just because it was a style of its day doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a style looked upon favorably, a style that is well-built or worth saving.” Some homeowners get so emotionally invested they wind up spending more to preserve details of questionable quality than they would have had they demolished and started from scratch. In some cases, the decision is not the homeowner’s alone. In different municipalities, historical review boards dictate the style, paint colors and changes that can be made to the façade, so it’s important to make town hall your first stop. The next step is to research the architectural style of your home and catalog the interior and exterior details.

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