The Personal Property Appraisers Post

By Todd W. Sigety, ISA CAPP

I debated on where to post this topic and related article.  I thought perhaps first the Appraiser Workshops blog, but quickly decided I wanted to include more commentary rather than a brief review and link to the article.  Because of that, the more appropriate forum was the Appraisers Post.


Last week the Washington Post ran a very good article on an area builder who dismantled a 1797 home (see image at left), moved it 150 miles and completely restored it as a second home.  In doing so the owner spent over $700,000.00 on moving and restoring the 3,400 square foot home. The article discusses the owners connection to preserving old homes, and how old building techniques were used along with other methods to preserve the integrity of the home.

My issue is not necessarily with the article or the content in it, but with the images of the interior and what they reveal.

(To Read the Rest of the article click the Read More Link below)


The Washington Post  Homes article states:

Glass says the distinctive design of the house could be re-created only by using the same materials and rebuilding the structure in the same way that it had originally been built. Before the house was dismantled and moved, he made detailed architectural drawings of every room. He took complete measurements of the interior and exterior. And he meticulously labeled every piece of lumber, every floorboard and every piece of wainscoting so they could be replaced in the same spot. Glass even replicated the late-18th-century construction methods by rebuilding the mortise-and-tenon framing, which holds the structure together using pegs instead of nails.

"This house has a lot of quirks," Glass says as he points to the chimneys and original attic window that are slightly off-center and the front hall stairs that were built in front of a window, blocking a portion of the top panes. "But I love stuff like that." He found the quirkiness and random imperfections so appealing, in fact, that he kept them all in place during the restoration.

Glass also kept all of the original woodwork, including the wainscoting, mantelpieces, doors, staircases and railings, doing nothing more than cleaning it mainly with water and trisodium phosphate to maintain the weathered paint and the warm patina it acquired from 200 years of age. "We buffed, oiled and waxed the floors, keeping the original marks and dents," he says.

All good so far, but you are probably wondering what is my point, and where and what is the disconnect. In my opinion the disconnect comes with the images of the interior decorations of the 1797 home.  It is not filled with antiques, or folk art, or even new colonial revival furniture.  No, the house looks like it has been furnished out of Pottery Barn.  I would like to note I have no problem with Pottery Barn furniture, and no disrespect is intended.  My issue and concern for the antique trade comes from the large divide between the love of the old house such as the buffed, oiled and waxed old floors and keeping the old woodwork to the lack of interest in appropriate period furnishings.

This is just my opinion, but I would have liked to have seen at least a few pieces of antique furniture in this old home. This is why the antique trade is floundering, and here is a very good example of a home owner with a love of old houses and the past, with  an interior decorating scheme without any old decorations to complement the age and history of the building.

I understand a second home is supposed to be comfortable, but the interior decorations appear completely devoid of anything with age (although one image shows the top of something that might be a rustic antique).  There are some oriental rugs, but all that rests upon them is new furniture with a more modern design aesthetic. What a perfect setting for some great folk art (a weather vane would look fantastic along with some quilts or textiles), or some great Shenandoah Valley antique furniture rich in history and local interest.  It is available from both dealers and auction houses in the area.

The slowdown in traditional antique furniture has been debated for some time, and many feel as if the beginning of the current trend started years ago.  Part of it has to do with changing lifestyles and a new informality in entertaining, as well as a desire to completely and quickly furnish a home, and not necessarily on building collections over the years.

The Washington Post article did not mention if an interior decorator was involved in the interior design and furnishing of the home, as the focus was the older house.  But it really bothers me when there is such an appropriate destination for fine and traditional antiques, and find the interior decorating scheme devoid of anything with age. When there is such an opportunity and linkage to the past as a perfect setting for antiques, and then find them lacking, it is truly disconcerting. The lack of antiques in this setting is truly a missed opportunity and does show a disconnect. If antiques are not welcome in this home, with this owner, then where?

To read the Washington Post article and see additional images, click HERE.