stone houses - Old House Journal Magazine

stone houses

Products of the Week

crown point kitchen

Kitchen Cabinetry

Crown Point Cabinetry offers custom cabinets for period style kitchens, baths, offices, laundry rooms, home bars and more. Styles include Shaker, Arts & Crafts, Early American, Victorian and Transitional.

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Radiators, Grilles & Registers

Established in England, Castrads manufactures custom-built, custom-finished radiators as well as controls and fittings that are suitable for both steam and hydronic heating systems.

Indow Windows

Storm Windows & Interior Panels

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upholstered wing chairs, shaker design

Interiors & Decor

Restoration of this stone house has taken decades of respectful work by its owner, a designer who is inspired by Shaker design.

"Country rubble” stone veneer

Our editors highlight new and classic articles about this well-loved old-house building material: stone.

New oak beams replaced those that caved in with the roof. Pendants are antique factory lights with mercury glass; vintage 1950s dining chairs are by Kipp Stewart. Porches were added.

The site was perfect, and the bones of stone maintained a rugged beauty. It was time to bring life back to the ruined shell, with help.

Complete with a berm and nestled into its sloping site, the Brown House mirrors 18th-century Chester County homesteads that were added to over time. Mixed materials were used in constructing stone, log, and wood-framed sections.

Historic Neighborhoods

An authentic stone house vernacular is still strong at this community of new old houses in Pennsylvania.

In the kitchen, simple white-painted cabinets were installed around the barn’s posts and beams.

This 4,000-square-foot barn is part of a historic three-building complex that includes an 1816 stone house and an 1851 schoolhouse.

With its stones remortared, Stiltington has regained its former dignity on what two centuries ago was Virginia's western frontier.

Recognizing ageless structure beneath vines and crumbling mortar, Bob and Macon Hilton turned a 1790s estate on Virginia's western frontier into a family retreat.

In the dining room, an early 19th-century cherry drop-leaf table with Hepplewhite-style legs is accompanied by a set of eight rush-seated Queen Anne vase-back transitional side chairs, ca. 1810.

The restoration of a beautifully reclaimed Dutch-English house in New York's historic Hudson River Valley.

Peter Zimmerman Farmhouse

This old house turned new is all about allowing signs of former renovations to stand, designing rooms more around family life and treasured possessions than formality, and letting most of the 10 acres revert to its natural state.

The Ohio house was built of local sandstone.

This unusual house is a vernacular variation of New England Greek Revival style.

The house once again has a sheet-metal roof. Windows and doors are at least a century old, though not original.

A young couple with a passion for restoration bring back an old stone house in Quebec.

Ceiling fans on the porch provide cool breezes during the long Texas summers.

Ignacio Salas-Humara relies on Old World traditions to design a German stone farmhouse in Texas.

Authentic details of this house in Haverford, Pennsylvania, include the graceful staircase. The tall-case clock was made by Daniel Christ of Kutztown ca. 1790.

Built near Philadelphia during the height of the Colonial Revival, a stone house becomes more authentic with talented owners.

Caleb Pusey House, stone house

Northeastern Historic Sites

A look into the rich history of Eastern Pennsylvania's stone houses and buildings.

Rough-hewn beams and muted, colonial-inspired green create a classic kitchen feel in this Pennsylvania farmhouse.

Old-House Kitchens

Period Architecture Ltd. designs a gourmet kitchen with revolutionary flair.

The English-style stone house is a work of art and craftsmanship.

Period Architecture Ltd. revives an old farmstead in Pennsylvania to perfection, taking cues from the existing stone structure.

18th-century farmhouse

A Pennsylvania couple turns back the clock on their 18th-century farmhouse by removing multiple layers of misguided updates.

Improperly keyed quoins and years of inappropriate repairs had caused major cracking (visible above) on the corners of this cobblestone house in upstate New York. Stonemason Marty Naber restored the walls by removing old mortar and caulk and replacing it with new lime-based mortar.

Repairs & How To

A seamless, long-lasting repair for cobblestone walls requires a little background on historic methods and materials.

The 1725 John Chad House has traditional pent eaves between the stories.

Historic Neighborhoods

The landscape of southeastern Pennsylvania is dotted with stone and brick farmhouses that look like they’ve been there forever. Given the area’s history, that’s not surprising. These houses reflect a building tradition that started in the late 17th century and remains very much alive today.

Changes to the roofline are subtle; the cottage looks much as it did in the early 1900s.

Arts & Crafts Houses

This makeover of a Pasadena cottage, built and rebuilt on an old stone foundation, kept its original character.

Peter Zimmerman Architects designed this stone house following the vernacular style of the region—Pennsylvania Dutch. Salvaged stone and brick were used in the construction of the building.

Stone house in Texas with German influences

A big place like Texas can accommodate a variety of architectural styles. The Monte Vista District of San Antonio, for example, features house styles that range from Queen Anne to Prairie to Spanish Colonial Revival. It was from one such character-drenched house that a particular couple decided to move 10 years ago.

In the kitchen, an 18th-century English swing-leg table is surrounded by Pennsylvania plank-seat chairs. The crock nearest the center box on the mantel was made by a member of the Van Deusen family.

Architect Peter Zimmerman created a series of additions that blend with the original eighteenth-century stone structure.

How do you add on a new addition to an old stone farmhouse?

It's easy to imagine this small rustic house as it was over a century ago.

Chad Floyd of Centerbrook Architects resurrects an 18th-century dwelling in New York's bucolic countryside.