How to Build a New House That Looks Old

Browse a magazine or home design guide and you’ll notice a trend: Everything old is new again: furnishings, lighting fixtures, kitchen and bath appliances. Many houses built today are dead ringers for architectural styles of the past. If Art Deco, Victorian, Retro-50’s or Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie period fascinates you, don’t feel you have to settle for a cookie cutter home, If your funds and fantasy merge, get exactly what you want. Just don’t expect a price tag that matches the selling price of the original one. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• House plans and blueprints
• Permits and licenses
• Retro-look appliances and fixtures
• Antique or reproduction furniture
• Vintage art and accessories

Instructions

1. Use the vast resources available to homeowners to thoroughly research the era you wish to replicate in your old/new house design. Visit collectibles shows, antique and thrift shops, libraries and vintage home websites to amass a collection of photographs that best represent the authentic look of the house style you plan to duplicate.

2. Obtain house plans and blueprints by finding architects, contractors and builders specializing in retro-house building. Select one to prepare custom-made blueprints based on your research and their expertise. Alternately, investigate pre-designed floor plans and room layouts to the save money and time you would spend on an original architectural design.

3. Visit your town’s zoning board to make certain that your retro-style house design fits within guidelines many communities establish to constrain homeowners from building a house that’s too far outside the norm. Set a building budget, making refinements in your home’s design based on finances, property limitations and material availability. Work with your builder or architect to obtain the permits, licenses and documentation required before you can break ground.

4. Work with a decorator or knowledgeable consultant to pick a palette of colors that best represents the era on which your new home is modeled. Opt for dramatic black and white for Art Deco architecture, candy colors on gingerbread trim to capture Victorian sensibilities, earthy rust, taupe and sand for organic homes in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright and lively turquoise, silver and red if your home pays homage to the 1950's.

5. Purchase retro-look appliances and fixtures. Peruse appliance and fixture collections manufactured by top brand name kitchen and bathroom outfitters to replicate quirky fittings like pull-chain toilets, stove tops set into clay, brick kitchen hearths or 1930’s replicas of refrigerators and lighting fixtures. Take your search a step further by perusing antique networks for “the real thing,” refurbished appliances and fixtures restored to their original brilliance and retrofitted with modern wiring and finishes so they’re internally up-to-date.

6. Furnish your home with antique or reproduction furniture that continues your home's theme. Mix new, old-style pieces with refurbished, recovered and re-purposed items, from drapes and curtains to couches and chandeliers.

7. Add vintage art and accessories from the era that inspired your home and you’ll enjoy a living experience offers the best of yesterday and today.

References

• Antique Home: Vintage House Plans

Resources

• Old House Interiors Design Center: Design Center Sourcebook
• AntiqueAppliances.com