How to Renovate & Keep the Original Character of a Historic Home

Purchasing a historic home requires more than just the “fix and flip” mentality, especially if you want to honor the home's history. True, a quick fix may seem appealing, but over time, any issues that were covered up will resurface. And a historic home usually has A LOT.

This is why Steve and I refer to what we do as renovating for resale. Not flipping. 

For example, in our 1940s Fixer Upper, we took the home down to the studs and renovated it from top to bottom. This was no cosmetic fix — we took over a year to complete this project. Now, the house is practically a new build, with updated plumbing, electrical, walls, insulation, and everything in between. 

In this renovation, we also made an effort to keep, and add in, the original characteristics of this 1940s home. Yes, it took work, but the results were well with it. If you’re looking to renovate and modernize your historic home while keeping its charm, here’s what we suggest…

Track Down What the Original Home Looked Like 

We were fortunate to meet the original owners' son during the purchase of the property. He was open to sharing a lot about the home and the neighborhood with us. Since the same family had owned the house from the time it was built in 1949 until we bought it in 2021, the former owners had a wealth of knowledge about the home and the neighborhood. 

In addition, many of the surrounding long-term homeowners still live in the area and shared stories with us, too. We were lucky enough to stay in touch with the family as the project progressed — and we invited them to return to see our finished transformation!

If you can get your hands on the stories, the memories, and maybe even a photo of the original home, you’ll be in great shape to keep that spirit alive.

A look at the original 1940s home

Identify Historic Elements You’d Like to Keep 

The next step is to identify what you want to keep and what can go. With our historic fixer upper, we wanted to keep the quaint, compact cottage character. The original home was a solid, modest structure built by the military to house families near NAS Pensacola (Naval Air Station) after WWII. 

But the reality is that we live very differently now, with a more straightforward floor plan and a more modern open concept. In this case, we opted to keep the cottage character on the exterior and expand several spaces on the interior to accommodate modern-day living, like the kitchen, bathrooms, and flow from room to room.

Address Potential Challenges & Building Codes

Before you dive into making changes, you absolutely need a professional opinion to address challenges and help bring the property up to code. 

If you want to tackle a historic home renovation, get a well-done inspection, and if possible, get a skilled contractor to walk the property with you before you even buy it. While this will be an additional investment, it will be money well spent and future headaches saved.

To give you some perspective, our fixer upper had been sitting vacant, and before that, it was occupied by an older family member who could not maintain the property. As a result, there was insect infestation (yuck!), areas of dry rot, and other challenges that honestly, if not addressed when we did, would have made this house a knockdown.

Fortunately, Steve has renovated many older homes of this vintage and condition in older, established neighborhoods in Atlanta. So understanding the structure and the original materials of a house like this was not new to him. He was excited from day one about this challenge and, as usual, had the vision to make it come true. Get somebody like this on your team, and it will be well worth it!

Update the Overall Functionality

The first thing to consider when renovating a historic home is its flow and functionality. Whether you’ll be living in the home or selling it, you need to consider how the home will be used in the 21st century. We simply don’t use our homes the same way we did 60 years ago. 

For example, the floor plan before (left) was cramped and compartmentalized, a common characteristic of older homes. The final iteration of our new floor plan (right) is now an open concept space with easy flow between the kitchen and living room. This makes for a more social space and is especially useful for families with young children, who want to be able to cook and watch the little ones.

As we have expressed before, planning is a massive part of any project. A good design and renovation team can help you set excellent plans that will pay off in the long run.

Although the floorplan had to change, we focused on using finishes that reflected a cottage—classic, not fussy or elaborate. We also wanted the lighting and flooring to compliment the cottage feeling with wood floors, clean (not oversized) light fixtures, and original elements where possible. Speaking of original elements…

Keep & Repurpose Elements with Character

Another way to maintain the character of the home is to replicate what was there before and/or repurpose parts of the home into other areas. This maintains the overall feel of the space while making it feel fresh at the same time. For example…

The most notable historic feature is the tongue and groove paneling in the back room (left image). We kept it on the interior wall and the ceiling to maintain the cottage character. Unfortunately, we could not keep it on the exterior wall due to the extensive reframing required to shore up the structure. 

Pictured on the right, Steve refashioned the built-in oak bookcases to create a step from the main house into the sunroom. It is perfect for this use — oak is sturdy for a step tread, and the stain highlights the grain. (Check them out here.)

Replicate What Needs to Be New

In many cases, you won’t be able to salvage what’s there or repurpose those materials to other parts of the home. When this is the case, your best bet is to replicate the style. 

For the exterior, we removed the old vinyl siding and revealed the original wood siding. It would have been great to restore them, but the years of paint layers and the overall condition of the wood made it nearly impossible. Instead, we added a house wrap for insulation and installed new vinyl siding. This choice allowed us to preserve the cute cottage look… and the new owners will thank us for the low maintenance!

Before (left) & After (right)

Pro Tip: Often, new materials that look like older versions are better than the original anyway. New materials often have higher quality, optimized efficiency, and are often more cost-effective than restoration.

Are you in the Pensacola area and ready to renovate your historic home and preserve its charm? We’d love to help. Book a complimentary discovery call to share more about your project and see if we’re a good fit for you. 

Warmly,
Sarah (& Steve)