Demetra's Page

When I was in Boston last month, I walked the Freedom Trail and marveled at the countless architectural gems I stumbled upon around seemingly every corner of that history-steeped city. Today I found out that I can help fund preservation efforts at one of them. Thanks to the Partners in Preservation program, a joint effort by American Express and The National Trust, 25 historic sites are eligible for grants of up to $100,000 to fund preservation efforts. Members of the public get one online vote… Continue

It’s not often that I take my kid to the movies and leave the theater with a full-blown case of old-house envy. But such was my experience after venturing with my seven-year-old to see Coraline last weekend. For those not in the know, the movie boasts spectacular 3-D special effects; they make the house that serves as the story’s backdrop spring readily and realistically to life. And what a house it is--a dazzling Queen Anne complete with turret, wraparound porch, cotton-candy-pink paint,… Continue

If you think homeschooling refers only to parents teaching their children, think again. In Portland, Oregon, some homeschooling of my favorite variety—the kind that has the best interests of historic houses at heart—will be taking place via an innovative holiday open house. The in-progress fire restoration of a 1937 Tudor is being opened up to the community to help answer questions about fire safety, home repairs and design, era appropriate materials and fixtures, researching house history—you n… Continue

I know you all probably like that last page of Old-House Journal—the one that features horrendous examples of what not to do to your historic home. I also know, of course, that you’re way too savvy to ever butcher your own houses like the examples we’ve shown through the years, but I’m guessing you see similar house horror stories just about everywhere you go. Changed rooflines. Thoughtless porch enclosures. ‘Updated’ façades. Additions that overpower the original house. And we won’t even get in… Continue

Anybody see the real estate section in Saturday’s Washington Post? There was an interesting article about the voyage of a Lustron house. Not familiar with Lustrons? They were porcelain enameled prefab houses pitched as the answer to the housing crisis after WWII. These little dynamos (average size 1,000 square feet) arrived in boxes on the back of a truck, and were billed as do-it-yourself assembly jobs. While that may or may not have been true for the average homeowner, the houses were fairly p… Continue