In the 1960s and 1970s, everything old was out and everything new was in. Magnificent structures that cannot be replicated today, such as the original Penn Station, with its classical Greco-Roman colonnades, were demolished and the land prepped for the more modern construction of the day, which took on many different forms.
For the most part, the modern buildings that replaced those intricately-designed structures were not pleasing to the eye; in fact, many of them reminded you of someone playing a piano and hitting all the wrong notes. They were not very attractive, but up they went anyway.
Today people are realizing what a great mistake it was to destroy all those amazing architectural gems, as opposed to renovating and refurbishing them, retaining all the old detailing and historical magnificence built by craftsmanship which is irreplaceable today.
Here in the Five Towns, we can relate, albeit in a smaller fashion. In the 1970s and 1980s, those beautiful homes that were built in the previous century were viewed as “white elephants.” Potential home buyers looking to purchase a house would run as fast as they could from those homes, seeing them only as a money pit waiting to gobble them up.
Today, of course, we have seen a complete turnaround in home buyers looking to purchase historical homes and restore them to their original elegance. Buyers are actually hiring home restoration specialists and having them work on the intricate detailing that is typically involved in restoring these homes.
Restoration work does not come cheap. It is expensive and must be done by highly-specialized craftsmen who are familiar with working with the various woods and other specialized materials that were used to build homes in the 1800s and are no longer in use, or in many cases, not available for purchase today.
One of the more interesting topics to come up recently is the trend towards restoration of the old windows found in these old homes. The one rule of thumb used to be that old windows were out and good replacement thermal windows were in, with an eye towards saving energy as well as a desire to get rid of the old wooden frames as well as the old glass window panes.
Today you will find all kinds of self-help tutorials on how to refurbish your old home, as well as encouragement from restoration specialists trumpeting the benefits of retaining these old windows and restoring them to modern use. I understand that there was even an energy bill in the Senate that would provide tax benefits to homeowners for renovating old windows and making them energy efficient.
If you decide to refurbish your old windows, take the time to look online for some suggestions as to how to restore them properly. Although painting the wood is quite simple, you should also check the old paint to see if it contains lead, and if so, to make sure it is carefully and properly removed by a contractor who knows how to do this. They should also take care to remove all the old caulk and repair any spots that have become old with age.
Which reminds me of the old line: “They just don’t make them like they used to anymore!” n
Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, commercial and management real estate services in the 5 towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area . She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to anessa@avcrealty.com.
