Let the house change you.
A high -touch historic design business like mine has an upper limit of about 15 houses per year. For a long time I've been asking myself how to help more people steward their own home. This is my answer.You bought an old house on purpose. You felt something when you walked in — the texture, the light, the bones of a place that has already outlasted everyone who worried about it.
And now you have the keys, a contractor’s number, and approximately one thousand decisions to make.
This is not just a renovation guide. Anyone can tell you how to change your house.
This is a prescription for people who want to get it right — slowly, honestly, and without losing what made the house worth saving in the first place.
This is how you let the house change you.
INSIDE YOU’LL FIND…
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What’s actually worth worrying about in an old house, and what absolutely isn’t.
(Spoiler: most of what’s scaring you right now falls into the second category.)
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How to sequence decisions so you protect the bones before you touch the beauty, and how to tell the difference between what you need and what you've been told you need.
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So you can finally understand what you have, why it was built that way, and what makes it worth preserving.
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Walk every room before you talk to a single contractor. Know what to protect before anyone talks you out of it.
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Specific to historic homes, because the rules are different here.
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Printable, signable, and worth having before your next site meeting.
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Paints, plumbing, tile, hardware, salvage. The sources I actually use and trust.
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So you can walk into any conversation and know exactly what you're talking about.
Now
Available
This guide is for you if:
You bought an old house because you felt something when you walked in — and now you’re not sure you made the right call.
You know you don’t want an open-concept kitchen, a shiplap accent wall, or a bathroom that looks like a hotel — but you can't always articulate why, and you’d love some backup.
You want to hire good people and manage them well — but you need to know enough to hold your ground.
You're not trying to flip it. You’re trying to love it. For a long time.
are you ready to take the historicratic oath?
One guide. Every stage of the restoration.
[Get the Rx → Monday June 8, Early Bird]
The only rule: look before you reach. Your house has been waiting a hundred years. It can wait one more afternoon.
A prescription for preserving the soul of an old house.
Restoration Rx is a field guide for understanding what makes a house feel historic, which details are worth saving, and what not to touch before you renovate.
Anyone can tell you how to change your house. This is how you let the house change you.
