2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building?
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago?
4: Have you ever moved into a new home?
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live?
My answers:
1: How old is the home you live in? About 40 years old.
2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building? To be historic, something important had to have happened there.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? I am not troubled by this, Alexandria City Hall is removing the 1970s additions to a building dating to the 1800s.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? Three times.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? The Fairfax Family mansion was where the front parking lot is, George Washington had dinner there a week before he died.
Please share you answers in the comments.
1: How old is the home you live in? According to city records this house was built in 1927.
ReplyDelete2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building?
For the historic building I would use the criteria that the National Trust for Historic Preservation uses - at least 50 years old, retains its original physical integrity (unaltered character-defining features), and meets established criteria for historical or cultural significance. For an old building I would say about 20 years or so when systems require replacement or reinvestment (e.g. replacing roofs, HVAC systems, electrical system upgrades).
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? This is nuanced and should be carefully considered on a case by case basis. If the additions are about to fail or endanger fire and life safety, cut them loose! If they are sound and can be renovated they should be retained on the basis that the addition tells a story about the community (hopes, dreams, design fashions of the times, and monuments to political egos). From a resource perspective, the latent heat of fabrication is a sunk energy cost. Unfortunately, just being butt-ugly is an insufficient reason to tear something down.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? We moved into a new home when I was 10 years old.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? Probably the Stanford Mansion downtown.
Will Jay
Very details answers, you know a lot about the topic.
Delete1: How old is the home you live in?
ReplyDeleteI don’t know but it appears on a map of the area produced in the early 1700’s. It probably began as a simple farm dwelling before that.
2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building?
The people who lived there, its purpose or its beauty. Châteaux and old mills are both historic.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago?
Not if they add to the history of the place, e.g. an extension that functioned as something interesting.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home?
Only newish, characterless, military housing as a child in the 1950’s.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live?
There are four châteaux within 3km, in every direction, most dating back to the 11the century. Three are private residences, also functioning as holiday accommodation or occasional events venues, a way to make ends meet, one is a public monument and museum.
A lot of history within a long dog walk from home.
Delete1. My home is 28 years old, and I've lived here for 26 years.
ReplyDelete2. That's a hard one. Can I suggest you kind of know it when you see it.
3. Yes, rip down the fifty year old additions.
4. Once in my teens into the new house my father built.
5. Perhaps the Boer War (c1900) memorial about five minutes walk away, more recently called the South African war memorial. I did not see the need to change the name and fortunately it wasn't on the memorial itself.
That is what Potter Stewart said about pornography, that is a hard one, you know it when you see it.
Delete1: How old is the home you live in? Built in 1925
ReplyDelete2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building? The historic building will have a place in history because of past events and it is likely to be older than a mere old building.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? It depends on the particular building and on the extent and purpose of the restoration.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? No.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? Three miles away are the ruins of Sheffield Manor where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned. Ten miles south is Chatsworth House - home of the Dukes of Devonshire and three miles west is the Elizabethan North Lees Hall, famously visited by Charlotte Bronte before she wrote "Jane Eyre".
I have never lived in an older home.
Delete1: How old is the home you live in? 43 years
ReplyDelete2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building? For me, old means it been around for many years; historic means something significant happened there.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? That depends on many things.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? Yes. As a child and in San Francisco.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? I’m surrounded.
So much history around you.
Delete1. 106 years old.
ReplyDelete2. Shouldn't historic mean something historic happened there?
3. I think as long as they are identified as "not original to the property" it's fine.
4. Twice. Once when I was 3. Once when I was 6.
5. I dunno. President Garfield's gravesite?
I just had a flash of what a modern Garfield memorial could look like.
Delete1: How old is the home you live in? It is somewhere between55 and 75 years old. The houses in our neighborhood were built for workers at the DuPont plant that opened in 1951.
ReplyDelete2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building? Old is just old; historic has a special meaning and tie to the past.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? I like the idea of restoring a building back to its origins.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? As a child my parents bought a brand new house when they moved to California from Mississippi.
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? Minutes away ... the entire city of Camden is filled with historic sites. Many Revolutionary war battles fought here and it's the oldest inland city in South Carolina, established in 1789.
I need to come visit someday.
Delete1. My current apartment block is about 25 years old.
ReplyDelete2. "Historic" means the building was the site of someone or something of significant importance to our culture. "Old" just means any old shack.
3. It depends what time period the restoration is aimed at restoring. Any additions not present then, should be torn down for complete accuracy. Unless those additions in and of themselves also have independent historical significance beyond that time period.
4. I have never lived in a brand new home.
5. The closest historic site to me now is probably the Alberta Legislature which is about 6 blocks away. Unless you're a rabid Edmonton Oilers fan, in which case it's Rogers Place Arena which is about 4 blocks away.
Lots of options within walking distance, at least in summer.
Delete1.50 years old this year
ReplyDelete2. I agree with you on this one.
3. It depends on the current use of the building.
4. 3 times
5. I can walk to Nike Park which was a Nike missile site back in the Cold War days (existed from1955 to 1974). Does that count? We have lots of historical sites noted in Naperville.
Definitely history
Delete1: How old is the home you live in? 36 years
ReplyDelete2: For you, what is the difference between an old building and a historic building? Old buildings were built before 1900 and historic is anything architectural important or important because of who occupied it.
3: When restoring a historic building, should we tear down the additions that were made 50 years ago? Not necessarily.
4: Have you ever moved into a new home? Yes
5: What is the closest "historic" site to where you live? The Arizona Biltmore Hotel
A great hotel
Delete1. About 100 years old.
ReplyDelete2. A historic building needs to be distinct in some way, either because of events that took place there or because the architecture merits it.
3. If they aren't needed and "restoration" is the goal, then sure.
4. As an infant with my parents! Otherwise, no.
5. Maybe the old Decca Records building, where the Moody Blues (and many other acts) recorded. (And the Beatles once auditioned, though they didn't get signed by that label.) It's just a short walk away.
I glad I am not the person who rejected the Beatles
Delete