Living With Old Houses

Provides advice for adding additions to older homes, considering balance, transition, public versus private space, and materials; and including photographs, floor plans, and illustrations.

From an unrestored masterpiece such as the Aiken-Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina, to a farmhouse in upstate New York, inhabited only by a bird nesting in the bathroom sink, Old Houses profiles 20 houses whose peeling paint, faded fabrics, and antique furniture impart a surprising elegance and beauty. An unusual volume, this book will appeal to historians, restoration specialists, and style-conscious homeowners lookingfor new ideas form examples of the past. Over 250 full-color photographs.

- Each of the 12 houses will be featured in national and international press to announce the book- In the UK, the media includes Tatler, House & Garden, Country Life, The English Home, and Telegraph Luxury Online- In the US, the media includes Town & Country, Architectural Digest Online, The AD Aesthete Podcast, Air Mail, and DeparturesThis book is a sumptuously produced journey around 12 privately-owned country houses, asking what it is like to live in such places today. What role do they play in the 21st century? For many years after the Second World War, the country house was struggling. Now a new generation of young owners, often with children, has taken over. They're finding innovative ways to live in these ancient, fragile and poetic places. While they treasure the history and beauty of the houses, they're also adapting and enhancing them for a modern era. Old Homes, New Life is a behind-the-scenes account of today's aristocracy, as they reinvent the country house way of life. Each family does this in its own way, maintaining the tradition of individualism, even eccentricity, which is so much associated with country houses. Dylan Thomas's superb yet intimate photographs capture both the inhabitants of these houses and the spaces they occupy - from State dining to family kitchen, walled garden to attic. This feast for the eyes is accompanied by an equally mouth-watering text by Clive Aslet, based on interviews with family members and his long experience of the subject through his years as editor of Country Life. The result is an exclusive tour of a dozen spectacular homes.

“Unnerving.” —People “Unsettling...unlocks its mysteries slowly.” —The New York Times Book Review “A dark, twisty, and richly atmospheric exploration of the power of imagination” —Ruth Ware, author of The Woman in Cabin 10 “Beautifully written and told with a watchmaker’s precision” (Stephen King), Mirrorland is a thrilling psychological suspense novel about twin sisters, the man they both love, the house that has always haunted them, and the childhood stories they can’t leave behind. Cat lives in Los Angeles, far from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As kids, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs, full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days, Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband, Ross. But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which hasn’t changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues: a treasure hunt that leads them back to Mirrorland, where the truth lies waiting... A brilliantly crafted story that “feels like the love child of Gillian Flynn and Stephen King” (Greer Hendricks, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about love, betrayal, revenge—and the price of freedom.

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

From the founders of the HGTV show and Instagram Cheap Old Houses comes a stunning collection of beautiful, affordable homes and inspiration for buying and restoring an historic house. Welcome to the magical world of Cheap Old Houses, where the new American dream comes with zero mortgage and an affordable lifestyle fit for a storybook. Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein have scoured the country to find homes in desperate need of saving—including a $45,000 Victorian in Mississippi, a $25,000 mansion in Indiana, an $82,000 recreational camp in Maine, and more. Cheap Old Houses features the stories of how these homes were acquired and lovingly restored. Within these pages, you’ll discover sprawling Victorian mansions, Italianate-style farmhouses, off-the-beaten-path cabins, and even old churches turned into residences. You’ll meet a couple who camped out on their back porch while they made their 6,000-square foot manor livable, and homeowners who found a free bungalow and moved it seventy miles to their property. Additionally, Elizabeth, a historical preservationist, gives information on the details to preserve in historic houses, from pocket doors that might be hiding in the walls to badly cracked plaster walls that are worth repairing and butler’s pantries that are once again more desirable for storing dishes and small appliances. With hundreds of beautiful photographs capturing these homes in all their glory, you’ll be inspired to find “the one”—a fixer upper to rescue that will rescue you right back.

-Demonstrates how key architects across Britain and Ireland are blending contemporary design practices with traditional vernacular buildings -Features stunning full-color photography throughout, informative descriptions and detailed floor plans -Will appeal to all architects, landscape designers, urban planners, developer-clients, and educators -Features an array of award-winning and highly commended projects including Bureau de Change's Folds House, winner of a 2016 Times Best Homes Award; Coppin Dockeray's Antsy Plum, winner of the 2016 South West RIBA Award; Tsuruta Architects' House of Trace, winner of RIBA's 2016 Stephen Lawrence Prize; Cassion Castle Architects' Oak Lane House, winner of the Daily Telegraph's Home Buildings Awards Best Residential Design 2016; and Broadstone's Tireighter Cairn, winner of the Single House Building category at the 2017 Building and Architect of the Year Awards House design in Britain and Ireland is guided by climate, landscape and local resources just as much as the centuries-old traditions that have influenced architectural shape and form. Today's best-known and emerging architects interpret their briefs with imaginative flair: they are transforming houses for the next generation of families by blending their renewed vigor for a local aesthetic with new materials and trends. Many of the new houses featured in British & Irish Modern reflect the architect's focus on redefining local expectations for form by beautifully juxtaposing the traditional with contemporary structures, thus forging a new vernacular. Architects across this region are wholeheartedly seeking opportunities to re-use existing structures in myriad ways, resulting in surprising and remarkably unique renditions of old houses and buildings made new. Shown in stunning, full-color photographic detail are hundreds of pages of new and renovated houses, cottages and even converted barns nestled in misty rural valleys, including new and retrofitted modern inner-city terraces and townhouses that make the best use of available space. Houses are selected for levels of comfort, use of materials, and dramatic expression of traditional and contemporary architecture, as well as houses that capitalize on longer and warmer summers imposed by changing weather patterns in this corner of the globe. Houses are designed with indoor spaces and intimate courtyards for play and recreation that draw in light and shield from the extreme weather elements yet maintain an eye on sustainability and affordability. British & Irish Modern reveals a rich array of works that showcase how architecture in Britain and Ireland today has much to teach the world about creative, high-caliber design, innovative application of materials, and cautious but clever reliance on resources.

Queens, New York, boasts a rich history that includes dozens of poorly publicized but historically impressive houses. A mix of farmsteads, mansions, seaside escapes, and architecturally significant community dwellings, these homes were owned by America's forefathers, nouveau riche industrialists, Wall Street tycoons, and prominent African American entertainers from the Jazz Age. Rufus King, a senator and the youngest signer of the US Constitution, operated a large family farm in Jamaica, while piano manufacturer extraordinaire William Steinway lived in a 27-room, granite and bluestone Italianate villa in Astoria. Local musicians include Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lena Horne. Through more than 200 photographs, Historic Houses of Queens explores the borough's most notable residences--their architecture, owners, surrounding neighborhoods, peculiarities, and even their fates as some vanished due to financial problems or fires.

"Plain talk for restorers, from soup to nuts (and bolts). Here's thorough, practical advice that's sensitive to both history and budget".--The Old House Journal.