Welcome
Are you looking to restore an old house or building to more closely resemble its original period and beauty? Or are you needing to make some changes, but are not sure how to do so in way that doesn't take the art out of the architecture.
Restoring History is here to help you with this and more. Our website is new and our blog has just started, however we think you will find it be a helpful resource that grows every month with insightful articles, awesome links, and preservation alerts. All this and more will be found on our blog. And if you have any questions, just give us a call. Karla is a professional restoration consultant that has experience working on projects ranging Victorian era to 50’s Mid-century Modern. And in every case, we have found that preservation and restoration can unlock the doors to timeless beauty.
Why? Period homes and buildings should be preserved and restored because they are irreplaceable sources of timeless beauty. And because doing so conserves energy and resources that are often wasted by remodeling, or replacing, vintage structures which are generally superior in both quality and design to what is produced today.
Despite the many advances that have been made in technology, today’s houses and buildings often lack the art in architecture that is common in vintage structures, and the craftsmanship and quality materials necessary to last, or even be valued, by future generations. Vintage structures are a form of living history, telling our cultural story, and as such they have a soul and belong not just to us, but to future generations as well.
This is what we believe at Restoring History, and why we are committed to providing educational resources and consulting on the many aspects of preserving and restoring period homes.
Yours truly,
Karla Pearlstein & Aaron Boonshoft
Restoring History, LLC.
Tel: (503) 452-7772
BLOG.RESTORINGHISTORY.COM
Sig and Jack's Kitchen: Completed In Period Style!
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, May 20, 2012
In this image, we see the kitchen. The pantry pullouts are behind the rolling ladder. The rolling ladder provides access to the storage space high above. The ladder easily rolls side to side, or can be removed and stored out of the way.
The built in refrigerator was designed to look like an icebox. It has two freezer drawers below, with a double door refrigerator above. The door to the basement is on the far right of the refrigerator.
Sig loves to bake, thus she chose to use a vintage stove with two ovens. She had two contemporary stoves in her kitchen before the remodel. However, this vintage stove provided her with the capacity she needed without taking up so much space and with much more style.
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Sig and Jack's Kitchen: Pantry Perfect
Sig and Jack’s new pantry space is clearly more reflective of the period of their house. Since there was no original or historically significant building fabric left, the new pantry was designed to contain all the modern amenities, but reflect the period of the home. The dishwasher, appliance garage, and microwave are all readily available, and yet cleverly concealed from sight. This image shows the pantry looking from the dining room into the kitchen area.
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Sig and Jack's Kitchen: Restoration Plans
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, November 9, 2011
These drawings show the conceptual plans as illustrated by Matthew Roman, of Roman Design LLC. Matthew and I often work together on the designs for historic kitchens, exchanging ideas and researching information to create designs reflective of a specific period. Because Sig and Jacks kitchen had a butlers pantry between the kitchen and the dining room, the cabinetry was designed to be reflective of what such a space might have looked like, based on research on known cabinetry designs in similar homes within the early 1900s. Yet hidden within this butlers pantry are such modern ameneties as a dishwasher, and space for larger appliances such as the microwave. All modern amenities are convenient, but hidden out of sight.
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Sig and Jack's Kitchen: Further Along the Journey
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, October 9, 2011
Photos on the Left: (upper left)The kitchen is seen without the large sink. As they say, marriage is the art of compromise. Jack wanted the doorway to be cleared, and Sig liked the big old sink. So it was recommended that a smaller version of the big sink be used in the same location. Sig was open to the idea and the hunt was on. Sig was able to locate a smaller version of the big sink, and it worked like a charm. Jack got an unimpeded doorway, and Sig still could enjoy a beautiful sink in the same location.
Sig and Jack's Kitchen: 1909 Craftsman Pre-Restoration
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, September 25, 2011
Sig and Jack live in a beautiful 1909 Craftsman Bungalow. Unfortunately, previous owners of the home had done unspeakable remuddles to the house. Sig and Jack have restored most of the damaged rooms in their home. But the kitchen was especially challenging. The Butler’s Pantry had been stripped of it’s original cabinetry, and stock 70’s cabinets were installed. A metal garden window replaced the original wooden window, and the space provided very dysfunctional storage for Sig’s dishware.
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Why Preservation Matters?: Introducing Louise Burgess
Blog entry by Louise Burgess, Restoring History, August 10, 2011
"The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own
we have no soul of our own civilization." - Frank Lloyd Wright
"It takes energy to construct a new building.
It saves energy to preserve and old one."
Image Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation
Why should we preserve the architecture of the past?
Why will its preservation matter to our future?
The idea to preserve buildings, communities and landscapes isn’t a new one though it is a growing. It also is a topic that has so many facets it would be impossible to do justice to the scope of historic preservation in one blog. What we do want to do is to create a forum that invites all aspects of historic preservation into one usable tool. A resource for homeowners, people in the building trades and realtors to come for ideas and the tools they need to maintain a buildings historic character. That is what we aim for this blog to become. Please join in on our conversations and share why preservation matters to you.
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David and Tiffany’s Kitchen: Ready to Serve
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, December 29, 2010
In our previous blog entry, “David and Tiffany’s Kitchen: Restoring an Original”, we saw an amazing original kitchen. Now, with a preservation sensitive restoration, the kitchen’s beauty is even
more apparent. David and Tiffany chose not to destroy their historic kitchen, and instead worked with it. The pictures above show the transformation that took place under their fine
stewardship. ...
David and Tiffany’s Kitchen: Restoring an Original
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, December 28, 2010
David and Tiffany lived in a wonderful Victorian with an amazing staircase, plaster medallions, and large windows. But as their family grew, it became necessary to look for a larger home. They
came across a 1921 English Cottage style home that fit their space needs. It had plenty of room for each of their children to have a room of their own, spacious rooms on the main floor, plenty of
built in cabinets, a sun porch, a beautiful master bedroom, and a finished attic space for family activities. ...
Nate and Molly's Kitchen: Sinks, and Floors, and Lighting, oh-my!
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, March 9, 2010
The kitchen sink was in really poor shape. Molly and I discussed the possibility of finding a replacement that was in better shape, but we both felt it would be too disruptive to the historic tile to attempt to replace the sink. Instead, Nate and Molly opted to have their sink refinished by Stanley Tub. The sink lost it's dull, stained, worn appearance and once again looks bright white. Molly understands that this finish is not as tough as the original porcelain, it is more like an auto body paint and may need to be touched up or even redone in time. When using a refinished sink, it's important to use a sink mat or kitchen towel to put dishes on when you sit them in the sink, and use Bon Ami Cleanser, never an abrasive cleanser or Brillo pad to clean the sink.
Nate and Molly's Kitchen: In the Beginning... 1920's meets 1970's
Blog entry by Karla Pearlstein, Restoring History, Feb 11, 2010
Nate and Molly have a wonderful 1905 home. They consider themselves stewards of this wonderful historic resource, and wish to honor the interesting story that this home has to tell. Initially, they did not know what their options were other than what is so commonly heard throughout the media.... which is "rip it all out to the studs and put in the latest kitchen style... Make it personal to you!" This approach to kitchens runs counter to the preservation ethic of conserving historic building fabric (50 years or older). It creates a state of "cognitive dissonance" with the rest of a historic building, unnecessarily puts huge amounts of building materials in the waste stream, and costs homeowners tens of thousands of dollars unnecessarily. Historic kitchens can be repaired with creative solutions to contend with contemporary demands.