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

Victorian Glory • Revel in furnishings from the gilded era of the Queen.

Mid-Century Rising • Boasting architectural integrity and solid construction, these modernist houses of the 1950s are coveted.

STATELY CHEER • Festive yet admirably curated, this room in a historic New York City apartment is set for celebration of the winter holidays.

DESIGN

how to choose COLORS

WORK IT OUT ON THE WHEEL • THE COLOR WHEEL IS A CHART THAT REPRESENTS THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HUES.

Character with Modesty • With remarkable attention to detail, the owner created a period kitchen that’s both functional and perfect for the 1925 house.

RESTORE

what to expect from an AUDIT • A PROFESSIONAL AUDITOR BRINGS US TWO REAL-WORLD CASES

AVOID 10 ENERGY RETROFIT MISTAKES

TOOLS + MATERIALS • BE PREPARED

Twelve Restoration Blunders to Avoid • Don’t let poor planning and unrealistic expectations destroy a great old house.

ASK OHJ

Routing a Door for Hinges • Here’s a simple way to create an inexpensive jig that lets you cut hinge mortises for multiple doors.

Weather-stripping Sash

INSPIRE

a farmhouse called hanford castle • Back in 1890, clean air and simple living were the goals of Edwin and Carrie Hanford and their five children, who’d left crowded Chicago for Oakesdale, a small farming community in the heart of eastern Washington’s Palouse countryside. Here amidst softly rolling hills covered by wheat fields, they created a 230-acre farm to grow apples, pears, and plums. In 1896, they built a Victorian “castle” on a promontory overlooking the property. The Hanford family descendants continued to live here for the next century. Terri Gravelle and Paul Matthews purchased it in 1989.

RESTORING the grandeur • A PEDESTRIAN RENOVATION IN THE 1990S OBSCURED THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THIS 1912 COLONIAL REVIVAL HOUSE. USING AN APPROPRIATE CLASSICAL VOCABULARY, ARCHITECT FRANK SHIRLEY MADE IT STATELY AND LIVABLE.

Un-muddling!