Old House Journal

Find guidance on buying, renovating, budgeting, and decorating. It’s all about keeping the character while upgrading for modern comfort and your own style. For prospective and recent homebuyers -- whether your house is Victorian or Mid-century Modern. Inside: • Kitchen/bath renos • When to DIY (and not!) • Inspiring house tours • Using vintage lighting • Pantry ideas • Modern farmhouses • Curb appeal upgrades • Choosing paint colors • Picket fence styles • Repairing floorboards • How to wallpaper … and lots more

Contributors in this issue • OHJ COMES TO YOU FROM PEOPLE who are active participants in restoration work and the building arts. Others are design historians and accomplished architectural photographers. Many have been writing or taking photos for us for years; their names are familiar. Some pop in and out for a special story. Here are a few you’ll see in this issue of OHJ.

Old House Journal

Winter, Enlivened • Calming tones mixed with color accents create a warm backdrop from parlor to kitchen.

Lighting of the 1920s • Styles Colonial Revival to Hollywood Glamour.

Cape Cod Cottages • A type eventually built nationwide, its style variants were popular from the 1700s well into the 20th century.

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DESIGN

the American farmhouse • MORE A BUILDING TYPE THAN A STYLE, THE FARMHOUSE REPRESENTS AN INFORMAL TRADITION. UNDERSTANDING ITS HALLMARKS PROVIDES GUIDANCE, WHETHER YOU’RE DESIGNING A NEW HOME OR RENOVATING AN OLD CLASSIC.

Dignity by Design • In a guest-house addition, accessibility shines like porcelain in the ADA-compliant bathroom.

RESTORE

furnace to heat pump retrofit • With proper load calculations, equipment selection, installation, and commissioning, you may be able to save energy and money while cutting emissions from fossil fuels.

three approaches to HEAT PUMP RETROFITS

TOOLS + MATERIALS

Glazing a Wood Window • Materials and processes are tried and true. With a little practice, you’ll get a feel for this simple job and you’ll pick up speed.

Make Old Walls Smooth & Sound • Cracks, peeling paint, and bad patches disappear with a wide roll of adhesive mesh and two thin coats of joint compound.

INSPIRE

A ROMANCE WITH OPULENCE • Initially stupefied by the level of decay in the Arzt House, serial restorer Joy Christensen vowed to rescue it, breaking her promise to never again take on such a challenge. It was worth it.

UNIQUE COUNTRY VICTORIAN • Even with its arresting exterior and handsome woodwork, it was “the house that no one wanted” until this family decided it should be theirs.

Cottage comfort • Simplicity and a cozy warmth are evident in this center-chimney Cape built in 1955 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Resources

Un-muddling!