and old house thought and a rant

[Eperot]

That picture with the left apron sink there is great.

The real tragedy is that everyone feels a kitchen must be redone every ten years these days. So every time someone buys a house with a totally decent kitchen they automatically feel it must be gutted and started again in whatever style happens to be en vogue.

As for fixtures, it's true. a lot of companies make "classic" period fixtures that are more of a modern interpretation than an actual reproducton. And purists are the only ones who know enough to discern the difference. Purists being rare as hen's teeth.

Eric

[phil]

JRC those doors look amazing. I think they were done by a cabinetmaker because just the doors alone are almost 100 pieces of material. of course who knows, the builder could have had many skills.

I have a pantry cabinet that I found under my porch and scooted into the basement to use as a tool cabinet. Its free standing and no plywood. the doors are basically slats nailed together but It wasn't poorly made. Maybe it belongs in the kitchen of my house, who knows?

My bathroom vanity is old, might be original. It isn't fine quality and someone fitted plywood doors but they could have been changed. Its freakishly low. The frame doesn't have any plywood My pantry is built similar. flat boards, but it looks like it was made in place and without a lot of attention to detail.

In general one could state that Carpenters used nails. Joiners didn't like using nails. It's just a general statement and of course there are exceptions but there were cabinetmakers that refused to use nails and that was something to do with pride of workmanship. You'll never find nails in quality furniture.

[vvzz]

You hit the nail on the head. The sheep following the TV shows and sites like Houzz are doing a lot of damage to the vintage or historical homes, all in the interest of being trendy. Houses (I refuse to call them homes) these days look like the Lowe's and/or Home Depot displays

The whole trendiness is really sad. I already see those mid 2000s "tuscan' style trophy kitchens on craigslist quite often. Same goes for granite counters. I really have no problem with granite or any other material - but it's such a waste to see it removed after 10 years,

[JRC]

JRC those doors look amazing. I think they were done by a cabinetmaker because just the doors alone are almost 100 pieces of material. of course who knows, the builder could have had many skills.

If I were to guess, I'd say the builder just bought the doors, and built the cabinet enclosure and shelves themselves.

You hit the nail on the head. The sheep following the TV shows and sites like Houzz are doing a lot of damage to the vintage or historical homes, all in the interest of being trendy. Houses (I refuse to call them homes) these days look like the Lowe's and/or Home Depot displays

The whole trendiness is really sad. I already see those mid 2000s "tuscan' style trophy kitchens on craigslist quite often. Same goes for granite counters. I really have no problem with granite or any other material - but it's such a waste to see it removed after 10 years,

On another forum, City-Data.com, (I know at least a few members here are also over there) I've seen threads where posters almost seemed to be offended when they see a "used" 20 year old house listed for sale, and the owners had committed the sin of never having made any updates.

[1918ColonialRevival]

The whole trendiness is really sad. I already see those mid 2000s "tuscan' style trophy kitchens on craigslist quite often. Same goes for granite counters. I really have no problem with granite or any other material - but it's such a waste to see it removed after 10 years,

Funny you should mention that. At most of the architectural salvage companies I frequent, I'm seeing more and more mid/late 2000s kitchen cabinets showing up. Seems like there's never hardly anything kitchen related at any of them older than the early 1990s now.

It's amazing how "trendy" becomes "dated" in about 5-10 years' time.

[vvzz]

I've seen threads where posters almost seemed to be offended when they see a "used" 20 year old house listed for sale, and the owners had committed the sin of never having made any updates.

Ha, its like people on home improvement forums saying they have an 'old' house. As in from 1970s!!!
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the whole concept of 'updating' is so foreign to me. The problem I take with that is that it's almost never to improve quality, but most often just slapping whatever the trendiest(and of course low maintenance) material is nowadays. Like those wood pattern tiles or luxury vinyl.

[1850Farmer]

I don't understand what you're talking about, my new kitchen looks just like any other C1845 farmhouse kitchen...

[Nicholas]

I am not even sure my house had a kitchen until 1940. I know it didn't have a bathroom until then, but what I suspect is that the bath used to be the kitchen, until there was a kitchen addition built.

I wish I knew what either one of them looked like, apparently things were redone in 2003 by an "investment company". Eventually I want to try and make it look a little retro.

[phil]

the term "open concept" has caused a lot of damage to older homes, and the silly home repair dramas cause those with absolutely no building knowledge to hire contractors to do stupid things. I got lucky that they didn't do a lot of damage but they did manage to put a toilet, vanity and washer/dryer in a makeshift closet.
Early on, contractors lifted one side of the roof and extended the kitchen and built stairs up to the attic and down to the basement. I think originally the only way downstairs was to go outside. I wouldn't attempt to reverse that reno but the toilet in the closet was just silly.

[Powermuffin]

In our 1908 home, the kitchen was originally completely unfitted. It was a small cottage and had a small kitchen with 4 doorways! When we pulled up the flooring, which had been installed over the original wood, we could see the exact layout of the kitchen when it was built. We could see the plumbing pipes for the sink, the place where the stove sat, and the outline of a free-standing cabinet. Unfortunately, nothing was left of that and a big trap door to the cellar was cut in front of the sink. Sometime in the 1920's or so, cabinets were built in on the wall where the trap door is. The only other original feature is the window above the sink. We kept those when we reconfigured the kitchen. It is difficult to decide how to redo a kitchen that has very little original detail. We used a lot of recycled materials, and tried establish some character. The kitchen is much more functional now and the changes we made are not regrettable. That is the best we could hope for.
Diane