Thinking about renovating your historic home?

Kitchen design by Heidi Caillier

Believe it or not, the best thing you can do is actually live in your home first, even if it’s less than perfect. When we first bought our historic home, I took photos of every single room in its current condition. I had an entire doc of what changes I wanted to make for each room, in addition to a Pinterest board to go along with it. A year later, when I finally got around to some of the rooms, all I could do was laugh — those changes were not at ALL what I wanted to do now that I’d lived there for a while.

— our advice —

Take your time when thinking through updates. If possible, live in your house at least 6 months before making any big decisions.

The next thing to consider when making changes in your historic home is to consider its past. One of the things I did while the electrical was being replaced in our house was research the history of it. I read the neighborhood context docs provided by the city and learned about how our neighborhood evolved over time. I found old newspaper articles, Sanborn Maps, and other information online through the SF Public Library and learned that the house was a dairy farm owned by a family named Solari up until the 1950s. I even found an undated photo of the Solari family’s cows roaming on Kite Hill in Eureka Valley (which apparently used to be called Solari Hill because this was a common occurrence).

I now have a stronger tie to this house and context for deciding how to implement changes based on this information. I love knowing that this place was built by a Swiss family and has deep European roots. And I love that it probably also uses European construction methods since it was built by the Solari family’s own hands. There isn’t another place like ours, so I feel responsible for not making too many drastic changes here.

— our advice —

Learn about your home’s past and let it guide you for how to move forward with any changes.

Design by Nick Spain

Another thing to consider is how fast trends fall away. At Leola, we (and perhaps you!) can identify at a glance which renovations are from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s… it’s pretty much a decade-by-decade playbook, and the incongruity with the age of the home makes a former trend stick out like a sore thumb. Personally, I often find myself looking to British publications/companies for inspiration, as they look at what already exists and work with their house instead of fighting against its history.

We see so many properties being irreversibly altered with the removal of character-defining details that have survived for 100+ years. The opening of their beautiful plaster walls for open floor plans (which have become an annoyance during the work-from-home era). Replacing wood flooring with something that won’t last even a fourth of the time the original ones have. Replacing original windows with ill-fitting vinyl options that cannot be repaired unlike the original ones. All of these things perpetuate material waste, increased cost of repair, and the idea that modernizations need to cost you a ton of time and money.

Plus, the materials used and certain construction methods in a historic house are far superior to what is commonly used today in new or retrofit construction. For example, those cracked plaster walls folks want to replace with sheetrock? Those hairline cracks are easy to repair and additionally, plaster walls are only being installed in custom-built, high end homes today by artisans. They’re actually great sound and temperature insulators, are naturally mold-resistant (though it can grow on paint that covers them), and are stunning!

— our advice —

Leverage what exists already to create a home that is uniquely yours and that will enhance your home’s appeal and longevity instead of making it appear trendy for a short amount of time. It can be modernized, glamorous, hip, or whatever other adjective and still lean into its historic identity.

Playing to the architectural history of your home and leveraging what exists helps you create timeless decisions and avoid trends that will look dated in sometimes just a few years. This helps you save time, money, stress, and is just better for our planet! We repeat this often: The greenest thing is what already exists. You can have it all with thoughtful planning. And if you want some guides, this is why we created Leola 🙂

— Jennifer