Join Old House Journal as we celebrate all month long with exclusive online content on all things restoration and preservation, giveaways, and a live webinar.
To follow along with us during Historic Preservation Month, be sure to check back here and on our social media sites all month long as we continue to share the message of “Saving Our Heritage One House at a Time” with the participation of our like-minded sponsors.
Look for more content throughout Historic Preservation Month in May.
The Art of Preservation
During National Historic Preservation Month, in May, OHJ steps up our outreach through social media. Exclusive web content is aimed at DIYers as well as armchair preservationists. We’re just one voice, as the National Trust leads the way along with preservation groups, historical societies, museum houses, and related businesses to celebrate our country’s diverse and unique heritage. We’re joined in our information blast by sponsors Aeratis, Crown Point Cabinetry, Stickley, and Unico—companies committed to keeping old houses attractive and livable, so necessary for their continued preservation.
At the national level, the focus often is on civic projects, Main Street revitalization, and Congressional help with tax relief. We, of course, concentrate on individual homeowners, who deserve credit for decades of privately financed work on millions of old houses. That goes a long way toward preserving not only buildings, but also neighborhoods and towns. Since its first issue in 1973, OHJ’s coverage of DIY conservation and repair, historical design, and period-inspired interiors has fostered a steady but unrelenting praise of old houses. Old houses are embodied energy, which makes conserving them environmentally sound. They may contain materials no longer available, including dense old-growth wood. Old houses are a record of the past, there for any resident or passerby to enjoy. Old houses give their occupants an opportunity to live with history, and their continuity helps maintain the local sense of place.
The fruits of preservation are on display in new features: about an 18th-century house on Nantucket, a vernacular raised cottage on Tybee Island, and a near-original mountain camp.
This spring, enjoy a stroll through a historic district. Visit your local house museums or stay at a historic hotel! Find out what’s happening in your own town. Go to the websites of your State Historic Preservation Office or the National Trust (savingplaces.org) for more information.
~ Patricia Poore, Editorial Director of Old House Journal
Case Studies of Residential Preservation
- A Nantucket Original
- Nantucket Garden
- A Rustic Catskills House Preserved
- Keeping It Simple in a Tybee Island Cottage
- Restoring Postwar Homes
- Design feature: Preservation at Home
Do-It-Yourself Web Exclusives
- Do This, Not That! Our Ray Tschoepe, contractor and professional conservator, shares helpful illustrations that show how to do common jobs the right way – – and avoid pitfalls!
- Old House DIYer: We’ve selected reader-recommended articles that lay out the steps required to renew tile grout, refinish cabinets, repair a metal ceiling, and more.
- Our Favorite Remuddlings: From Old-House Journal’s perennially favorite page: a lighthearted look at when it all goes wrong. Be prepared to laugh (and cry).
Sponsor Exclusives
- The Kitchen: Heart of the Home, More Than Ever
- How Stickley Builds Mission Furniture for a Lifetime
- Historically Accurate Options for Porches (PDF)
- Mini Duct Systems: Invisible Energy Savings (PDF)
Preservation Help for Homeowners
- State Historic Preservation Offices
- Incentives for Old-House Preservation
- How to Research Your Home’s Past
- Easements Explained
Giveaways (Enter today to win!)
- Whether you’re needing somewhere to turn for repairing, rehabilitating, updating, or decorating your homes in classic style, or you have a new home built with the integrity of yesterday and the modern innovations of today and are looking for inspiration—no matter the case, there is a giveaway for you!
- Year-Long Print Subscription to Old House Journal
- 10 Issues of New Old House 2020
- 5 Issues of the 2021 Design Center Sourcebook
- 10 Issues of the 2022 Arts and Crafts Homes Resource Guide
- 5 copies of the book “Restoring Your Historic House”
Winners will be announced no later than June 10, 2022.
Thank you to our Historic Preservation Month sponsors:
