Cheap Old Houses: An Unconventional Guide to Loving and Restoring a Forgotten Home

With hundreds of beautiful photographs, the founders of the HGTV show and Instagram Cheap Old Houses features the stories of how fixer-upper homes were acquired and lovingly restored as well as inspiration for buying and preserving an historic house. Illustrations.
"From the founders of the addictive Instagram handle and HGTV show Cheap Old Houses comes a lookbook of beautiful, affordable homes and a resource for anyone who's ever dreamed of buying and restoring an historic house. More than once, I've lost my heartto an old house. And many times over, I've seen others do the same exact thing. I'm not surprised anymore when someone professes love for a home that has been overlooked or shirked, and watch them chase these feelings of adoration straight into homeownership. Save this house! Welcome to the magical world of Cheap Old Houses, where the new American dream comes with zero mortgage and an alternative lifestyle fit for a storybook. Elizabeth and Ethan Finklestein have scoured the country to capture real homesbought for under $150,000--some for as little as $25,000 to $50,000--and the stories of how they were acquired and lovingly restored. Within these beautifully photographed pages, you'll discover monster Victorian mansions, Italianate-style farmhouses, Federal manors, off-the-beaten-path cabins, and even old schools and churches turned into residences. Peppering the home love stories is valuable insight from Elizabeth, who shares her perspective as a historical preservationist on her favorite details to look out for, from pocket doors to plaster walls to mansard roofs"--
From the founders of the HGTV show and Instagram Cheap Old Houses comes a stunning collection of beautiful, affordable homes and inspiration for buying and restoring an historic house.Welcome to the magical world of Cheap Old Houses, where the new American dream comes with zero mortgage and an affordable lifestyle fit for a storybook. Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein have scoured the country to find homes in desperate need of saving—including a $45,000 Victorian in Mississippi, a $25,000 mansion in Indiana, an $82,000 recreational camp in Maine, and more. Cheap Old Houses features the stories of how these homes were acquired and lovingly restored.Within these pages, you’ll discover sprawling Victorian mansions, Italianate-style farmhouses, off-the-beaten-path cabins, and even old churches turned into residences. You’ll meet a couple who camped out on their back porch while they made their 6,000-square foot manor livable, and homeowners who found a free bungalow and moved it seventy miles to their property. Additionally, Elizabeth, a historical preservationist, gives information on the details to preserve in historic houses, from pocket doors that might be hiding in the walls to badly cracked plaster walls that are worth repairing and butler’s pantries that are once again more desirable for storing dishes and small appliances.With hundreds of beautiful photographs capturing these homes in all their glory, you’ll be inspired to find “the one”—a fixer upper to rescue that will rescue you right back.