Living in a house that was built about 100 years ago can always entail admiring charming architectural details, savoring rich historical stories, and also praising sturdy, natural building materials. Owning a 1920s house, unfortunately, can also mean you have to deal with 100 years of rot, repair needs, regrettable past renovations, and other less-than-pleasant aspects of older house ownership.
Here is one big piece of real estate news from Southampton! The Linden Estate, which is an iconic and historic home in New York, has been listed for $75 million. Several estate agents including Tim Davis of Corcoran are also listing the property of nearly 10-acre on the location 160 Ox Pasture Road, which is a coveted Estate Section in the village of Southampton.
This shingle-style house has got the following:
- A red-tile gambrel roof
- Wrap-around porches
- Leaded-glass windows
- 12 full bathrooms
- 12 principal bedrooms
- 3 half bathrooms
- The paneled library has a fireplace
- Ornamental plaster ceiling
- Separate staff quarters
- A living room has a coffered ceiling on 3 floors totaling more than about 18,000 square feet.
Every old house may not be the same. Also, the need of every family may not be the same. Let us try to know what a family learned after living in such a house of 1920 after remodeling it. Their advice for any future buyers of such old building is the following:
- You must do a very thorough checking of the structure of the building before purchasing
- Beware of the old electrical wiring as they can be pretty unsafe
- Beware of old pipelines and most of them must have worn out
- Before buying you must do proper research about the history of the building and first get inspired by its past story
- Try to preserve the basic character of the house as far as possible
- Try to keep as much possible all original details of the house
- Discard if there are any poorly constructed renovations
- It is possible to add modernity within the inside of the house
- Try to maximize insulation wherever you can
- Make use of local/state incentive programs for making your home more energy-efficient.
- Bigger may not always be better
- Knockdown any walls if you need to
- Avoid allowing the exterior to inform your preference on the interior
- Build something new if necessary
- Use natural materials for giving it a certain character of the building when it was built
- Because you have got an old house, it does not mean that it has to look old
- Get creative with windows
- Update any tired appliances but try to keep pieces with character
- Remember the homes built during the 1920s may lack storage space
- Modern furniture can offer a great look in more historical spaces.
If you have the necessary love for a past history then you will enjoy living in such houses and it is not for everybody. Therefore, before buying such an old house make up your mind first.