At Old Home Rescue, we work on hundreds of projects every single year. While most of these are repair projects, some of the work we do require major restorations. This often leads us wanting to return the home back to its original state but items like windows, siding, porches and trim have been removed and/or replaced. However, how do we know how to repair these items for a historic home? How do we decide how something should be restored? How do we find out what route we should take?
In this blog, we will discuss four books we find to be foundational to fully comprehending old home renovations. They are all focused on helping you not only understand the type of home you have, but also the character defining features and why these features should be preserved. These books should be a mandatory read before a sledge hammer is ever swung!
Virginia McAlester’s “A Field Guide to America Homes”
The first book we want to cover in our must-have book series for restoring any historic home is “A Field Guide to America Homes.” This book will cover one of the most crucial parts when you’re looking into doing a renovation, as it covers how to identify and understand America’s domestic architecture. You wouldn’t want to renovate, restore or add to the home unless you know the type of house you have.
Using this book as a guide can help you find inspiration on how to add on appropriately and how to restore elements that may be missing from your old home. Each style of architecture is illustrated with key design features that include roof, windows and cladding with regional differences. This is super beneficial as it will help you make sure that your home doesn’t turn into a hodgepodge house that doesn’t meet the time period.
This book is available on Amazon and can be picked up for under $25! This is a must to keep the integrity of your home!
Marinee Custato’s “Get Your House Right”
The second book we’d like to recommend suggests architectural elements to use and the ones to avoid. Covering all the features that make up a great design in a home, this book should be used, not only for restoring a home, but also for building your own house too!
The key features that make up a well designed home are all fully written out with beautifully detailed illustrations that show what you’ll want to “use” and what you’ll want to “avoid.” This will give you great insight as to what is appropriate for your windows, doors, porches, entryways, roofs and more!
This book can be purchased off Amazon for under $20! A must have for knowing the dos and don’ts of restoring or building a home!
Scott Hanson’s “Restoring Your Historic Home”
The next book we’d like to suggest is fairly new! Published in 2019, this book will cover hundreds of DIY projects on how to manage the restoration of your house. With step-by-step photos, illustrations, charts and decision-making guides; it can help you from the very beginning on identifying the type of house you have. It can also help you understand how to get the right documents and how to work with local bureaucrats to get the permits you’ll need to restore your house.
Using this book as a guide, homeowners can overcome one of the biggest challenges they have with contractors and supplies. By having a great understanding and knowing the language of what your project demands are, you’ll be able to communicate clearly with contractors and know what exact supplies you are after and your expectations!
Found on Amazon for under $33, this book is super beneficial for any homeowner!
Certified Local Government (CLG) Historic Preservation Handbook
The last book we want to urge you to add to the collection is completely free and can help you save thousands of dollars! These handbooks will be valuable to you if you are planning projects which may alter the exterior of the property and therefore impact the overall character and integrity of a historic district. These handbooks are typically created by cities and funded in part by a grant from the certified local government program.
The handbooks typically start with going through the history of your city's development and then cover some defining characteristics of your neighborhood. A map of the historic districts may be included, which can be really handy as a homeowner. Knowing if you’ll be purchasing a house in a historic district or if you’ll need to go through any type of certificate of appropriateness for renovations is crucial information for anyone. You want to make sure you are following the rules and guidelines that are intact.
Unapproved alterations can prevent building permits, reduce value, lead to a fine or prevent the receiving of a mortgage. These books will let you know what’s expected in your cities historically preserved neighborhoods to prevent any unapproved alterations. It also will answer your “can I do that” questions!
These handbooks are often available on your city's historic preservation link on their website. You can also go to the office of your Certified Local Government or you can request for them to mail you one.
Have a question or want to suggest a book to the community? Leave a comment below!