Journal
Working with an existing structure vs. starting over.
What you keep, what you lose, and how to tell which is which.
What an old house gives you
Position on the lot. Mature trees. A nonconforming setback that a new house could not have. Rooms with a scale that new construction rarely affords. In Edina, a street of houses that belong together. These are the assets, and they are often invisible in a listing.
What it costs you
Low ceilings that cannot be raised without rebuilding the second floor. A foundation that is not square or not deep enough. Wiring and plumbing that must be replaced to the stud. Insulation that was never there. A renovation that touches all of these is a new house wearing an old shell, and it should be priced as one.
The inspection that matters
Before we recommend either path we open the house up: a few spots in the drywall, the attic, the crawlspace, the rim joist. We pull the survey and the setback rules. An afternoon of looking saves a year of regret.
Our rule
Keep what is better than what you could build, and replace what is not. A stone chimney, a wide stair, a sleeping porch: keep. A 1970s truss roof with seven-foot ceilings: start over. The answer is almost always a mix, and the drawings show you exactly where the line is.
Start where you are.
Tell us about the place you keep coming back to in your mind. The one you already love. Or the one that doesn’t exist yet. We’ll tell you what we see, what we don’t, and what only you can decide next.