Wall Street Journal

Sept 29, 2024

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What happens to historic homes 100 to 200 years after they are built?

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“It’s harder and harder for us to get our historic homes bought by people who want to try to keep it as it was,” says Norris. “We were grateful they took on the home.”

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This 1734 home was lucky to find a very specific type of buyer, one who has the energy, knowledge, patience and money to restore a historic home. The older a home gets the more behind it is from building innovations (ex: energy efficient walls and windows) and modern living needs (ex: built for aging).

 

Keeping with the style of the existing home is not enough. Historic Architects, will need to research the specifics and give an opinion on the design your architect is proposing. Back and forth. Back and forth.

 

This is why it takes so much more money and so long to remodel historic homes and why so many historic buyers give up and sell...no improvements achieved despite their best intentions.

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So are there generally less buyers for historic homes? Yes! And more so over time due to:

- usage limitations

- extended time and cost needed to upgrade because of historic committee reviews for proposed changes

- the risk and frustrations of history-loving owners when sensible upgrades to support modern living needs aren't approved

 

Less buyers means lower resale prices.

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I'm sure there were some log-cabin homes that were the best in their class at the time! But most people today wouldn't want to live in one!