# Why Old Buildings Should be Respected

- Link: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/john-ruskin/
- Published: 2015-12-23T11:04:46-05:00
- Author: Ken Roginski

Do your guests ever question why you are so concerned with restoring your house 
back to the past?

Do they ever laugh at what you think of as your labor of love?

Why don’t you like the latest trends of home improvement? Vinyl siding makes maintenance
go away as your house rots beneath.

You never sit on your porch so why not enclose it?

[John Ruskin ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruskin), a Victorian era critic,
wrote on many subjects including architecture. In 1849 he wrote [“The Seven Lamps of Architecture”. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Lamps_of_Architecture)

The ‘lamps’ of the title are Ruskin’s principles of architecture, which he later
enlarged upon in the three other volumns.

[⌊John Ruskin⌉⌊John Ruskin⌉[

John Ruskin 1863

In his writings there is an excerpt that explains the importance of preserving old
buildings. This is a very powerful statement.

I’ve been told some homeowner’s frame this excerpt for display by their front door
to help their guests understand their motivation for preserving their home.

 

>  **“. . . Old buildings are not ours. They belong, partly to those who built them,
> and partly to the generations of mankind who are to follow us. The dead still 
> have their right in them:**
> **That which they labored for . . . [we have no right to obliterate ](https://www.oldhouseguy.com/cottage-additions/).”“
> What we ourselves have built, we are at liberty to throw down. But what other 
> men gave their strength, and wealth, and life to accomplish, their right over 
> it does not pass away with their death . . .”**
> _**by John Ruskin 1849, “The Seven Lamps of Architecture” chapter 6**_

The above is a famous quote that is part of a larger piece.

**Click the link, not the image, for a suitable for framing, printer friendly copy,
of the above quote from**  [The Seven Lamps of Architecture ](https://www.oldhouseguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/john-ruskin.pdf).

[⌊john ruskin⌉⌊john ruskin⌉[

John Ruskin quote. Click the link above not this image.

[⌊music stand⌉⌊music stand⌉[

On this 1860’s music stand is the geneology of my house and to the right is the 
quote by John Ruskin on display.

The above is geared for homeowners and their ability to take something beautiful
and destroy it. The following is for builders. They should take pride in their work.

## John Ruskin to Builders and Architects.

>  **. . . Therefore, when we build, let us think that we build for ever. Let it
> not be for present delight, nor for present use alone; let it be such work as 
> our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone on stone,
> that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands
> have touched them, and that men will say as they look upon the labor and wrought
> substance of them, “See! this our fathers did for us.” **
> **For, indeed, the greatest glory of a building is not in its stones, or in its
> gold. Its glory is in its Age.**
> _**by John Ruskin 1849, “The Seven Lamps of Architecture” chapter 6**_
>  

As the above excerpt is for homeowner’s, the is for the builder to hang and read
every day in hope that all the bad architecture we see today will soon end.

This can be [john-ruskin-builders ](https://www.oldhouseguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/john-ruskin-builders.pdf)
and architect friends in hope they will do good by design.

See the video below for an overview of John Ruskin.

[⌊john ruskin builders⌉⌊john ruskin builders⌉[

## About John Ruskin