New Life For Old Houses

Provides advice for adding additions to older homes, considering balance, transition, public versus private space, and materials; and including photographs, floor plans, and illustrations.

- Each of the 12 houses will be featured in national and international press to announce the book- In the UK, the media includes Tatler, House & Garden, Country Life, The English Home, and Telegraph Luxury Online- In the US, the media includes Town & Country, Architectural Digest Online, The AD Aesthete Podcast, Air Mail, and DeparturesThis book is a sumptuously produced journey around 12 privately-owned country houses, asking what it is like to live in such places today. What role do they play in the 21st century? For many years after the Second World War, the country house was struggling. Now a new generation of young owners, often with children, has taken over. They're finding innovative ways to live in these ancient, fragile and poetic places. While they treasure the history and beauty of the houses, they're also adapting and enhancing them for a modern era. Old Homes, New Life is a behind-the-scenes account of today's aristocracy, as they reinvent the country house way of life. Each family does this in its own way, maintaining the tradition of individualism, even eccentricity, which is so much associated with country houses. Dylan Thomas's superb yet intimate photographs capture both the inhabitants of these houses and the spaces they occupy - from State dining to family kitchen, walled garden to attic. This feast for the eyes is accompanied by an equally mouth-watering text by Clive Aslet, based on interviews with family members and his long experience of the subject through his years as editor of Country Life. The result is an exclusive tour of a dozen spectacular homes.

Through hundreds of inspiring photos and engaging text, the author describes what gives traditional homes their enduring appeal, and illustrates the creative work of builders who are forging the movement toward building new homes that capture old-home sensibility.

Old houses are charming, but owning one can be a labor of love. Expert carpenter and house "doctor" Christopher Evers equates old homes with ailing patients, describing how you can successfully "treat" your old house and make it good as new. With over 300 clear, line illustrations, Evers provides a practical guide to repairing, renovating, and preserving your old house--basement to attic--so you can enjoy it for years to come. Evers gives detailed instructions on the "anatomy" of old homes as well as how to fix a variety of problems, including: Repairing old plumbing fixtures Replacing shingles on the roof Straightening the house’s frame Rewiring old electrical systems Removing old wallpaper Protecting against termites and other harmful pests Adding insulation for better energy efficiency Fixing old eaves Reinstalling windows and doors And more! A classic in old-home repair, The Old-House Doctor is an invaluable, and timeless, guide for keeping your old home in tip-top shape, while meeting your modern needs.

"Plain talk for restorers, from soup to nuts (and bolts). Here's thorough, practical advice that's sensitive to both history and budget".--The Old House Journal.

“Unnerving.” —People “Unsettling...unlocks its mysteries slowly.” —The New York Times Book Review “A dark, twisty, and richly atmospheric exploration of the power of imagination” —Ruth Ware, author of The Woman in Cabin 10 “Beautifully written and told with a watchmaker’s precision” (Stephen King), Mirrorland is a thrilling psychological suspense novel about twin sisters, the man they both love, the house that has always haunted them, and the childhood stories they can’t leave behind. Cat lives in Los Angeles, far from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As kids, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs, full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days, Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband, Ross. But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which hasn’t changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues: a treasure hunt that leads them back to Mirrorland, where the truth lies waiting... A brilliantly crafted story that “feels like the love child of Gillian Flynn and Stephen King” (Greer Hendricks, #1 New York Times bestselling author), Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about love, betrayal, revenge—and the price of freedom.

‘I was born on 25th May, 1938, in the front bedroom of a house in Orton Road, a house on the outer edges of Raffles, a council estate. I was a lucky girl.’ So begins Margaret Forster’s journey through the houses she’s lived in, from that sparkling new council house, to her beloved London home of today. This is not a book about bricks and mortar though. This is a book about what houses are to us, the effect they have on the way we live our lives and the changing nature of our homes: from blacking grates and outside privies; to cities dominated by bedsits and lodgings; to the houses of today converted back into single dwellings. Finally, it is a gently insistent, personal inquiry into the meaning of home.

Over three hundred photographs and diagrams provide examples for remodeling older homes.