New Here and in the "People Who Love" older homes

[OLDisBETTER]

Hello! While I would love to say we are able to restore our 1922 (with 1976 addition) home, I can't because it had been remodeled and added onto so many times, it had completely lost it's original pieces in the process, except for a faint sense of it from the exterior. We plan on keeping a similar footprint, but will be basically starting over and building it back in a simplistic farmstead Folk Victorian style on a limited budget. I'm excited to join this group and learn from others about what authentic details look like and try to replicate them as much as we can with our project. Looking forward to getting into the forums!

[Gothichome]

Welcome to the District, there certainly is a lot going on here. The view from the front has no hint of the additions in the back. Are those dormers original to the home? I see the deck is being repaired, issues with matting it to the house? And by the way nice full gardens.

[OLDisBETTER]

Ha! Yes, agreed! The dormer in the back of the house may be original, but the dormer towards the front of the house is not original. The deck was removed in preparation for our remodel. Here is a work-in-progress sketch of what we are thinking. Our windows are pretty big--all the windows near porch are 42"x78" and to put it into perspective, the front door is 42" wide 96" high. But, the home is situated in a darker corner of the yard and we want let in as much light as we can!

[phil]

I dont think the handrail will meet code, If you care about that is another thing , the inspector might.. It doesn't look dangerous or anything and your code will be different from here. If you go three steps and dont get that height too high then maybe you dont need a handrail there at all. There may be a bunch of rules around handrail heights and weather it is climb-able. might be best to know because that might change the look you are after. a lot of old houses had smaller windows , glass in picture window sizes was expensive or hard to get back then so normally old homes dont have great big windows and to install them might be a deflection away from restoration and towards a new style renovation. New renovations might need to meet window width requirements for fireman access. If its restoration then the sizes may be grandfathered. same with things like low porch railings which were a characteristic of older homes. if yiou repair then you can keep it original but if you pull a permit and change the house a lot then the inspector will include other things like railing heights and make them meet present code.
A lot of people here wont try to get you enthused about installing new windows and would perhaps encourage you to find and restore old windows with wavy glass panes in an attempt to keep the house more original looking. a lot of old houses were robed of their original character elements through new windows and things like removing chimneys or knocking down walls to put the kitchen in the living room. lots of old houses had all the trim or even floors painted so many go to great lengths to remove paint and restore or replace the woodwork and basically undo some of the renovations that were not well thought out.

common advice is to live in it a year and think these things through as in that time you will often learn more about the house and it's history and this may result in some changes from your first ideas.
adding that many windows will be removing a lot of structure that is basically holding up the roof so you are going to need to consult with an engineer. It may be possible to use metal beams and whatnot but You cant' really just eliminate that wall and replace it with windows or it will affect the structure. The engineer may want then to go into 2x6 walls or something and that makes the windows have really deep openings. on the inside I don't know if you would then want to put furniture along a wall with windows behind it so it might affect or limit where you can place your furniture.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Welcome!

Believe it or not, I can still see a 1920s cottage underneath of all those additions and changes. Will be interesting to see what you're able to do with it. As an old house veteran, the only thing I can say is don't expect it to come together overnight unless the budget is unlimited. Work on what you can, when you can and make it a goal to accomplish large tasks as a series of small ones. That way there's a sense of accomplishment along the way and less chance of frustration. Good luck with the project!

[Lily left the valley]

Pitching in a belated welcome.

Looking forward to hearing how your progress (or regress in this case) is going.