Fix-up an older home.

Old home. I require projects or I go nuts -especially this time of year. If I had the perfect house.. it would be imperfect.

I would like an older home with lots of history, character, architectural details; of course, updated with insulation & new windows. Something in an old neighborhood, with sidewalks; something that won't stand out like I'm trying to make a statement. I like to be friends with the neighbors.

I have moved into a newer home and that didn't go well because I wanted to change everything anyways and there were plenty of defects that needed repaired fairly quickly b/c of how quickly and crappy it was built. I currently live in our 2nd old home and there is always way more work then you expect, costing way more then you could imagine. I'm quite tired of it.

Next time I own a home I am going for the build it from scratch the way I like it and NEVER MOVING AGAIN!

I live in Austria and my dream would be to buy one of these old farmhouses there, renovate it and combine it with a few modern design ideas like floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Also I think it's very interesting and also challenging to integrate some of the old, characteristical substance and features (like beams etc.) into a new design.
What I love most about these old houses (some of them are up to 800 years old!) is that they all have a history and mostly were passed on from generation to generation.
Another feature I really love is the countryside around them. Most farmhouses are built in a few cilometer's distance away from each other which gives you that gorgeous open space and great view. Also, there is space for a big garden and most farmhouses already have a beautiful old orchard (the best place to spend hot summer days!).

I think that buying an old house and renovating it can be very challenging, but at the same time very exciting.

New homes get old, design-wise (until they eventually become old homes). Old homes already are, and we have fun tweaking them to make them interesting. Give me an old house, any day.

(I feel the same way about men, too.)

Reality dream: older, existing home. Dream bubble (forgetting costs and environmental concerns): new contemporary.

@Denver - I totally agree. One of the reasons my husband and I saved for so many years to buy a house was exactly so that we could have projects. If you're handy, getting to put those abilities to use makes you happy.

I've lived in both older homes and newer homes, and I think I'd rather buy a contemporary home that had a lot of architectural details I enjoy from older homes, but didn't have the problems. When I think about the kind of home I'd be buying, the question becomes, "what if you were to run out of money?" If you lost your job, and had no more money coming in, would you rather be in an older fixer upper that needed a new roof or a newer home without all the problems right off the bat? You have to replace a leaking or broken roof - you don't have to replace the paint if you don't have the assets. If I moved into a new house and the very next day, I lost my job, I think I'd have to focus on saving every penny for the long term and I certainly would be hardpressed to have to shell out the money for a new roof because I bought the fixer upper. Shelter is one of the first things on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The quality of shelter is just as important as the existance of shelter.

Mmm find an older fixer-upper and get a good architect to work with me on a modern addition/renovation. Do want.

renovated 200 year old "servant quarters" home in New Orleans

rebuilt and added second story 40 year old floating home in Portland

designed and built new home from scratch in Longview TX

gut remodeled 40's bungalow in Shreveport, LA

stealth remodeled rabbit warren hillside apartment in Santa Barbara

currently renovating 50's waterfront home in SW Florida and building out tiny pied-à-terre in Portland

What I learned from all of this was that you should try it all! Every one was fun, maddening, poverty-inducing, highly educational and character building. Maybe do the extreme renovation on the older home when you are very young and don't know any better. That's when you can accomplish the impossible. Good luck!

we bought an older home (c. 1905) and love it . Lots of great details, rock solid. Comparing notes with friends and family, unless you have a quite new home (build in last 10 years).

oh, and pouf, newer windows aren't always best. This Old House sez well maintained wood frame windows storms are as good as most replacement windows out there. Get out your caulk gun and some glazing -- it's way cheaper.

If your going to add onto an older home you must do it right away when you move in. We learned this the hard way buying an older home and paying off the mortgage in ten years with the intention of adding onto the back when we could afford an equity loan. The neighbors became jealous and by then were familiar enough with us to voice their strong opposistion throwing eggs at our car, screaming and behaving like nasty 12 year old girls. We went from getting pricing from contractors to moving out of our home and starting all over again in another neighborhood where we remodeled right away and haven't had any trouble with neighbors. Chicagos Sauganash neighborhood = bad Andersonville = good

Building a modern house from scratch is my choice.

Old houses are expensive, and time consuming, and frustrating, and a pain in the a*s. But so many of them are also breathtakingly beautiful. Not only that, they're a piece of our history! I would save them all if I could. So while it sounds wonderful to build a shiny new house that's all me, I think I'll always feel a loyal to the old, worn, and in need of rescue. And like Denver 80203, I'm not happy unless I have a project. Oh the time I would have in my day with just one less project......

I would never buy anything under 50 yrs old. New homes have no soul, in my opinion.

We live at a small airport and built our home (I mean really built it - ourselves, no contractor) to "fit in" hanger style using lots of corrugated metal. It was something we could do and afford. It took us just over four years and we loved every minute of it and would do it all again in a heartbeat. We took on the Nike spirit - Just do IT!

I was in this very same boat 6 months ago and went with option A but also considered the other two. Option A represents the most bang for your buck i think. Older homes were just built better and made better use of space and I didn't want to pay for space I knew I wouldn't use. I ended up with a 1947 cape cod that already had some upgrades done and a nice lot. This made the most sense since the house could actually use some new ideas. Option is just really tricky since the property in an urban or suburban area can be quite pricey itself and then you have to have more money up front along with plans of what you want to build in order to get the loan.

Having lived in brand new construction, when we bought a house, we opted for a Victorian, thinking we'd restore it. A little while down the road, we discovered that there is a reason why styles and design changes: Victorians might be charming, but they emphasized various aspects of a house that didn't reflect modern living, like roomier kitchens.

11 years later, our house caught fire. We lost over 80% of the original dwelling and had to completely gut and rebuild. Of course everything was to going to be built to code, using modern fixtures and materials. The house still reflects some of it's Victorian roots, but has the better aspects of modern day life. The entire project took 10 months, not a short amount of time, and in reflection, were it not for the fire, I don't think we'd have ever considered a gut rehab. Next time, we'll buy a little newer, or spend a little more for a house that's already been renovated.

As first time home buyers four years ago, we bought a 100-year old character home that had seen better days. Our home has soul and history you won't find in a new home. It's been a lot of work fixing it up, but so worth every penny and hour spent scraping and painting. New just isn't me. We also buy a lot of second hand furniture.

I'd build a new house from scratch, incorporating salvaged pieces. It could be frustrating, and I daydream about remodeling, but at the same time, I'm not someone who wants constant upkeep with their house, so...

I like the charm of older houses, but they are pretty hard to comme by here. When we were looking for a house last year we visited a lot of 30-50 year old houses, but most of them had been badly renovated and did not have any charm, so we finally settled on a new house (built in 1997).

Our dream would have been to build our house (probably a mix of contemporary style and old style) but it's almost impossible to find a piece of land for a resonnable price near the city.

That actually describes me very well. Tough call if you have them at the same price. I'd love to design my own home for maximum functionality. I could have everything I want in a home- huge kitchen, open floorplan, home theater- without wasted spaces. But I love old home character, so I'd love to use lots of salvaged pieces, reclaimed flooring, molding etc to make it feel it's been around awhile.

i'll take that blue house right now pls

Kinda depends -
Here in San Francisco, I'd rather purchase an old home and renovate as getting a permit to build anything new is gonna take 5 years (besides which, there arent' any empty lots to be had)

However if I were to go to Southern California, it would be much simpler to build from scratch - either on an unbuilt site or on a tear-down.

EIther way, I'd recycle as much of the materials as I could - Seems a waste to toss decent lumber into a landfill.

One thing I'd never do is choose a recently built house and try to make it my own.

I love older homes, like PhoebeArt said new homes don't have a soul. However I love the outdoor fire place in the modern house picture.

Having dealt with the endless problems of older homes, and having tweaked newer homes to my taste, I would absolutely build from scratch. You can copy a Victorian down to just about any detail (except knob-and-tube wiring but why would you??), or you can get as modern as the Jetson's sky home. Why wouldn't you build from scratch if the cost were sixes?

We bought a 100 year home, and have no regrets. Yes, you want to have money on hand for emergency renos, and yes, there are likely things you'll want to change (like an already badly reno'd kitchen), but that's all right. You pay so much less up front so you can work to make the place your own while keeping the original character of the home.

That said, we found it tough to find a nice place that we wouldn't need to completely gut, and in the end, we really just lucked out. So many old homes have been 'updated'. Fifty years ago. Or they've had additions done that clearly don't match the rest of the house. Or the last owner had fifty cats.

BUT. If our house burnt down tomorrow, and we had to start from scratch, I wouldn't attempt to recreate the old look. Our lot is very narrow, so I'd be building up, and it would be as contemporary and eco-friendly as I could manage.

"i'll take that blue house right now pls"

I completely agree -
When I saw that photo in This Old House magazine, I thought that was the perfect color combo for me if I had a Colonial.

We built our own and it was hard because while we wanted something modern that we loved now, we also realized it would have to be something we still loved in 30 years. Building from scratch is no easy task and we knew we weren't likely to do it again.

I couldn't build my own home. I know it would probably be more energy efficient right off the bat, but for me there would be too many unknowns.
Ideally, I'd start with a smaller, older home and work from there. Take out all the features that don't work for the modern era, green up the house wherever possible and live in a place with built-in charm and history.

I would want an older home that I could fix up. Some time WAY down the line I think I will want to build my own house, but not now.

As for my reasons - this would be our first house. I don't know enough about what I want to build from scratch. I would like to live in a tried-and-true place where I can experiment first. As cattysr says, building a home is no easy task - I want to do it once and get it right.

My home was built in 1892, it has been a labor of love.

http://portlandsunshine.blogspot.com/2010/01/at-again.html

I think we'll be here for a long time (forever?!) - but i certainly daydream of something new and modern as well.

The internet is so small...I know (and LOVE) the old house in this post so well...someone should do a house tour of this home, it is incredible inside and out

http://portlandsunshine.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-know-this-old-house.html

"The internet is so small...I know (and LOVE) the old house in this post so well...someone should do a house tour of this home, it is incredible inside and out"

Well, portlandsunshine? Hook us up! :)

wow I just saw this SAME post on Young House Love a few days ago.

Here's the link:

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/05/burning-question-new-vs-old/

We bought an 1890's bastardised victorian home in the city, Chicago, it had been thru a fire in the 1970's which gave us the benifit of drywall and stud walls and made for an easy remodel. The few plaster and wood lath walls we removed made us appreciate that. There was no better feeling than giving it new life.

We like old homes even tho ours is new in floor plan and ammenites it still has the support columns carved from tree trunks and massive 14" x 8" horrizontal beams ...

Old homes rule !!

My house was built in 1896. The problem with old homes is that prior renovations may have been done poorly, creating more renovation issues (eight layers of flooring, poorly insulated walls, lazy workmanship). Nonetheless, we have a solidly built house with an original slate roof and lots of character. We're comfortable with making changes slowly, and have been renovating the rooms in our home for the past five years, since we first moved in. It is exciting to dream up new improvements and fulfilling to see those projects come together. Caveat - old homes are for handy people, or deep pockets. All of the renovations have been done primarily by my husband, who is a jack of all trades.

Old homes are beautiful, but with all that brick and tile roof with NO eaves, in Australia, that means they are stinking hot in summer. And in winter, there are freezing with constant draughts and no insulation.
Project homes on the other hand have no soul. It is true. They are also introspective, centred around the TV.
Ideally I want to live in an architect designed home that has great connection with the outside with indoor/outdoor rooms and takes full advantage of the sun and coastal breezes.
But thats just a dream at the moment.

mrswu, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking when I saw this post. Is AT that hard up for new material?