Old-House Journal July/August 2009

Editor’s Note
Now that summer’s in full swing and we’re all enjoying the great outdoors, what better time to get focused on projects that punch up curb appeal? At my house, my favorite outdoor area is the brick walkway leading to my front door, and I remember well the project that installed it there. It was five years ago, I was pregnant “out to there” with my son (he was born in August), and each time I bent to peruse the bricks and direct my husband on where to place them, I almost fell over. But the wobbly director’s dance was worth it; the resulting walk, which we laid in a modified basketweave pattern, has spiked our yard’s appeal. In this issue, we cover several exterior projects sure to spark new ideas for adding historic notes to your landscape.

Our look at an engineer’s innovative solutions for re-creating his porch’s elaborate balustrade can jump-start creative thinking on similarly exacting carpentry projects. If you have a decrepit outbuilding on your property, you’ll want to bone up on author Susan E. Schnare’s guidance for restoring (or designing anew) appropriate garden sheds. Owners of colonial-era homes won’t want to miss the great advice on plants and hardscaping features for early houses.

We also look at an important topic in this issue’s Insider—an era-appropriate, handicap-accessible addition. The story has applications not only for people with a special-needs child, like the family in our article, but also for those intending to age with their homes. And back to the subject of walkways, we didn’t forget those in this issue, either. Our step-by-step installation of a sandstone walkway in Rochester, New York, details a process very similar to the one used at my house, but for the material (stone versus brick). Yet both of these surfaces are perfectly appropriate for a range of old houses, depending on the look you’re after and the scope of your project.

Demetra Aposporos, Editor-in-Chief of Old-House Journal

In This Issue: