The homeowner, a former florist and self-taught gardener, has been romancing her family’s 150-acre property in New York State for many years. At Uplands Farm, the main block of the house is a Victorian manse: robust, with severe lines and a tall mansard roof. Rooms inside were dark, so she added wings at either side with plenty of windows, and an expansive porch. She designed a jewel box-shaped conservatory to add more light and to serve as a bright spot for hosting dinner parties.
To soften the house, the owner went against the prevailing trend of the 1980s, which touted shrubbery and foundation plantings. “I didn’t want the house to lose identity with its history,” she says. That meant flowers in a garden sprinkled with raised beds and borders. She added “destinations,” including a pool pavilion and many benches, both on porches and in the garden: wicker, scallop-back wood, and iron. Still, she was careful to retain the agricultural flavor of the place, keeping things casual rather than grandiose. — Tovah Martin
Esta historia es de la edición September 2020 de Old House Journal.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 2020 de Old House Journal.
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Navigating the Lumberyard - Here's some lumber lingo you should know before you venture into a lumberyard.
Here's some lumber lingo you should know before you venture into a lumberyard. Almost everyone fixing an old house will end up at a lumberyard-whether it's a local supplier or the organized aisles of a big-box home-improvement store.
a farmhouse renewed
Sensitive renovations and restoration work preserved a house that dates to 1799.
AN OVERVIEW OF METAL ROOFING
METAL ROOFS ARE RESURGENT, FOR GOOD REASONS.
ENDURING BEAUTY IN WALLS of STONE
Now back in the family who had been here since 1830, the old farmhouse is again ready for generations to come. Additions dating to 1840 and the 1950s were preserved.
ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS COME TO LIFE
Owners and their designer celebrate the unique features of a 1912 Arts & Crafts Tudor.
For a Wet Basement Wall
If there's problem common to old houses, it's a wet basement. I'm not talking about occasional flooding, but rather a basement that apparently seeps or leaks after even a rain shower or during snowmelt. Several approaches are available; sustainable solutions will get to the root of the problem.
Patching a Plaster Wall
Fix a hole in the wall with a few common tools and some drywall supplies. Practice your technique!
Roofing & Siding
Make note of these historical and unusual materials for the building envelope.
The Riddle of the water
When water incursion happens, the roof isn't necessarily the culprit. Maybe snaking a drain line, or clearing debris from a clogged gutter, temporarily will stem a leak. But a recurring problem usually means other forces are at work. It takes persistence-and a team with the right skills and patience—to identify the source and apply a solution.
Light-filled Craftsman Redo
For a dark kitchen in a 1914 Illinois house, the trick was anchoring white expanses with woodsy warmth.
