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Mistakes Using Fancy Cut Decorative Shingles

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The use of fancy cut decorative shingles exploded with Queen Anne Victorian architecture. Although used in many locations, one of the most popular areas of use for these shingles was in the gable. The house to the right looks really great with these fancy cut decorative shingles in a colorful pattern but as nice as [...]

Historic House Vandalized with Plastic Siding etc.

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BEFORE: Beautiful historic house before being vandalized with plastic siding. AFTER: All the charm and character of this historic house are now gone. This quaint Freehold NJ  Main Street home was built sometime before 1901. It features original two-over-two windows with heavy designed window hoods on all sides of the house, real working shutters on [...]

Circa Magazine Interviews Old House Guy

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Circa Magazine is an online magazine featuring lots of great information and stories for the old house owner and lover. Elizabeth Finkelstein is the founder and published an interview about the restoration of my 1910 home. Check it out here: A Victorian Time Capsule in Freehold New Jersey  and don’t forget to check out the […]

Old House Restoration or Remuddling?

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The newspapers said this is an old house restoration. Obviously they have no idea what they were writing about. This house received a Restoration Award by the Freehold NJ Historic Preservation Commission. A board of supposedly "qualified" people issued this award.  Let's look a bit further and see what a mess was created. What is [...]

Modern Architects and Historic Preservation

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Caution - your historic building can end up like this! There are architects that are Historic Preservation Architects and Architects that are not.  There is a big difference and an important one, especially if you have an older building. If you have an old building and you value its historic style and features but need [...]