The Tide Is Turning

This is a guest piece from our friend John David Bray of Landford Thompson Furniture and Interiors, please visit their website and Facebook  to see some of their amazing work! The featured photo is a home in Ball Ground that they restored.

-Molly

As a period designer and preservationist of over two decades, I am thrilled to report the tide is turning in the assault on period homes.

I call it an assault because that is precisely what it is. The traditional enemies of the old house, fire and demolition, have been joined in recent years by a third foe. One far more insidious because it comes in the guise of helpful entertainment. Right in our living room.

It’s the Home Improvement show.

Over the last decade, interchangeably perky and dramatic hosts have pushed such trends as; open concept, the kitchen is the new family room, the man cave, the she shed, en suite living, bathrooms like Camay commercials and the garage-mahal.

AND PEOPLE LISTENED!!!

Many truly wonderful period homes have had original, solid wood kitchen cabinets mercilessly ripped out in favor of mind-boggling Ikea products. I have seen wonderful claw foot bathroom tubs, built to last forever, tossed out for shower stalls larger than most closets. Worst of all, logical floor plans and room arrangements have been disregarded for open concept design with as much charm, hospitality and coziness as a gymnasium.

Trends come and go. Most good designers disregard them in favor of classic style that holds its value and aesthetic over time. Todays open concept design is on par with the mullet haircut. Or, Shawn Cassidy wings.

The pendulum has begun to swing in the other direction. Quality is making a comeback. Specific rooms with specific needs are being utilized again. Preservation and restoration are proving to be cost effective in the long run.

These places do matter. I will end this rant with a quote I found floating on the interwebs.

“Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after ten years, power is the old stone building that stands for centuries.”