Welcome to Old House Living!

Enjoy reading illustrated historic design articles, and learn about different aspects of decoration and construction for heritage houses – or your traditional neighborhood. From William Morris wallpapers to Arts & Crafts fireplaces, a wide range of information is presented for owners of Old Houses. New articles will be presented at intervals for your reading pleasure.

Articles in Old House Living

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New! The Six Fireplaces of ‘Jolimont’
It is not often that an opportunity to study six fireplaces in one home is presented to us. To explore and understand what the combination of personal taste and availability of construction materials was – at one particular period in time – is a rare occurrence.

Curtains for Early Victorian Homes 1845 – 1880
Curtains in the early Victorian period were just becoming household items that regular people could pay attention to in their homes.

Residential Stained Glass Windows
Stained glass windows add an incredible richness to a residential interior, and they also enhance the visual interest of the exterior of a building.

Victorian Decorative Tile Flooring – Encaustic tiles – Part 3
Encaustic tiles were usually used as the decorative tiles within a floor that primarily used geometric tiles as the main tile covering.

Victorian Decorative Tile Flooring – Geometric Tiled Floors – Part 2
Geometric tiles are like jigsaw puzzles for floors.

Victorian Decorative Tile Flooring – Mosaic Tiling – Part 1
There are three main types of historic tile flooring used in the Victorian period.

Summer Architecture – 1910 -1913
Old House Living is often at its best in Summer! Windows can be open, porches can be used, and gardens enjoyed. In this article we look at two summer structures: A Classic Porch from 1910, and a 1913 Tent Cabin from Pasadena.

Hanging Pictures in Old Houses
The technology of hanging pictures has changed greatly over the years. Depending on when your home was built, the method of hanging pictures will vary.

Wallpaper and Historic Homes
Wallpaper is synonymous with heritage homes. Old photographs show a wealth of pattern peeking out from behind paintings, showing a rich background for stiff family portraits, and generally giving another-world atmosphere redolent of an earlier age.

William Morris Wallpaper and Fabric Designs
William Morris was the father of the Arts & Crafts movement in England and America. His designs for wallpaper and fabric are as popular as they ever were.