Older and historic homes

Older houses hide things. We plan for what is behind the walls and under the floors, and we build so the house still looks like itself when we leave.

Built to fit the house

Behind an historic home on Church Street in Ashland, we built a guest house designed to read as a smaller version of the house at the street: hipped roof and hipped dormer, turned porch columns, exposed rafter tails, and the same window proportions and colors. It won the 2015 Ashland Historic Preservation Award for Most Historically Compatible Addition.

We have also taken projects through Ashland’s historic district review, and restored the Phoenix Grange.

A record of the house as it stands

You get measured drawings of the house exactly as it stands today. In an older home, where nothing matches the original plans and often no plans exist, that alone is worth having.

We scan the house before we touch it, again while the walls are open, and again when we finish. Years from now you can find a pipe, a wire or a stud without opening drywall.

Original doors and windows

We rehabilitate original doors and windows instead of replacing them where they are worth keeping. That is often the difference between a house that still looks like itself and one that does not.

Lead paint

We hold the Oregon CCB Certified Lead-Based Paint Renovation (LBPR) Contractor License, which Oregon requires to bid or work on any home built before 1978. We contain the work area, clean to standard, and keep the dust out of the rest of your house.

Asbestos

An accredited third party does the testing. A separate licensed company does the removal. The testers then return to do the clearance testing. Keeping those three roles in different hands is how you know the answer you get is honest. We coordinate all of it and keep you out of the middle.

Laser paint removal

We strip old paint and finish off wood without sanding away the surface or rounding the detail. It is remarkable on the right material. It is not the right tool for lead paint, and it will not lift a water-based stain that has soaked into the wood. We will tell you which one you have before you spend money on it.

The design for an older home is drawn the same way as any other project, in 3D, before anything is built. See how design works.