So we are still considering moving, and my wife stumbled on a home from the late 1800s that actually ticks every single box for our family. We have some unique requirements such as extra living spaces for other family members and have been looking for a while and never found anything that matched perfectly.

I am guessing owning a home this old would be a nightmare. It appears to have been remodeled in the last ten years and it is gorgeous. But I am guessing homeowners insurance would eat our lunch. Anyone have any experience with something like this?

I never lived in anything that old, but I did have a house from the 20s for a while. If plumbing and power have been updated and the foundation is somewhat solid or pier and beam, I wouldn't run from it. It'll be more work, of course.

How big is it?

Its about 3500 square feet. Pier and beam foundation which I have never dealt with.

Good point on the electrical - I have a friend who had an older home and they had to rewire the whole house. It looks more modern in the pictures but who the heck knows!

If the house is in a jurisdiction that requires permits for work to be done, go look at the entire permitting history to get an idea of what was done (or at least reported). If you can't get permitting records but can determine who did the renovation work, contact them to see if they will share any records with you. Any as-built drawings you can get ahold of will be very beneficial.

Electrical is definitely one of those things you'll want to make sure has been redone. The last thing you want is some knob & tube or aluminum wiring in your house. I would also make sure to have a good foundation inspection done because the piers are most likely not deep piers like modern construction. They are probably a couple feet down max, which means you'll have some seasonal movement in the house.

Ryan the Temp said:

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It looks more modern in the pictures but who the heck knows!

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When I bought my house, all the receptacles were your typical three-prong, grounded15A duplex receptacles. At first glance it all seemed just fine, until we discovered the entire house was still 14ga knob & tube with no ground. That's right - NOTHING in the house was grounded. It was by the grace of God the house never burned down.

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As an EE, this is the stuff of nightmares. Thats crazy!

Rule Number 32 said:

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Ryan the Temp said:

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It looks more modern in the pictures but who the heck knows!

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When I bought my house, all the receptacles were your typical three-prong, grounded15A duplex receptacles. At first glance it all seemed just fine, until we discovered the entire house was still 14ga knob & tube with no ground. That's right - NOTHING in the house was grounded. It was by the grace of God the house never burned down.

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As an EE, this is the stuff of nightmares. Thats crazy!

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It was turrible. When I rewired the house I went from 10 circuits to 24.

Had a 1920s old house. A major issue with these old houses is that they typically have mold issues when insulated and air conditioned. The main problem is the fact that these old houses were designed to breath and have the windows open. The air communication between old shiplap and beadboard ceilings is a disaster in terms of moisture. Cold air conditioned air seeps back through the ceiling and walls and hits hot humid air and then you have condensation = mold.

Thank you all for the input. I never would have thought about that.

We are looking at another home that was built in 2006 but did not have AC until 2025. They have a whole home attic fan. I wonder if it would have the same issues

I can help with some real life questions if you want. To just spew out everything would take pages to posts. Our house was built in the mid to late 1800's, and it has an addition that is much newer.

It has wood stoves, 18" limestone walls, and while it has modern electrical, our knob and tube, and oil lamp systems are still intact in the attic, but only as vestigial technology. I have pine and cypress floors, no subfloor, piers are literally cypress stumps, windows are single hung with original glass that is wavy and beaded, and they rattle when the wind blows if you don't shim them with a business card and put a towel at the crack to you don't get too much draft. You really really have to get comfortable with saying "it's charming" and you need to accept imperfection, and make concessions on stuff. The best advice I ever got from the Alsatians restoration folks that restore them is "don't try to fix or level anything. It was not perfect when it was built, and you'll create bigger problems." A marble placed on any given square foot of flooring could roll in any direction depending on where it is.

Insurance is not any more expensive unless you have it registered as antique. Now, if you are in town, then you may have a whole other slew of things to deal with that I don't and I can't probably comment on that.

AC and heat run 24/7 during peak winter and peak summer times when my porch is 112. I do most all of my own work just because it's hard to find pros that know how to deal with old houses since they aren't built the same. The only thing I did not handle myself was repointing the entire house since the plaster was removed decades ago.

But no matter what, if you are coming from a slab and modern build, it will take some getting used to and if you are not comfortable being uncomfortable some times, then it may not be for you. My house stays at about 78-80 in the summer. But I will say, during snowmageddon, this place shined for a week without electricity. We like it but I'm handy and it's sustained our family's ranchers and farmers for over a century so I suppose we'll survive the same.

All of this said, there is a HUGE variation in old houses like these even if the same vintage, so, yours may not have any of this "charm". You'll need to decide for yourself.

Is it located in a "historical district"? If so there may be local rules and regulations as to what you can and can't do to or with the property.

Rattler12 said:

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Is it located in a "historical district"? If so there may be local rules and regulations as to what you can and can't do to or with the property.

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This. Make sure, because if it is a disaster, you can't even tear it down and build something else. Pier and beam helps, but I would go into it expecting to spend double what you bought it for over the years. Of course all houses are expensive.

It's in downtown Brenham but I don't think it's classified as a historical home from what I can tell.

Thankfully I think my wife got over her obsession with this house. Maybe. I think it would be a fun little adventure, but I do not have time to deal with issues that much I don't think.

Rule Number 32 said:

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It's in downtown Brenham but I don't think it's classified as a historical home from what I can tell.

Thankfully I think my wife got over her obsession with this house. Maybe. I think it would be a fun little adventure, but I do not have time to deal with issues that much I don't think.

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If it's the house I think it is, the reno looks to have been done professionally and is not a "flipper special." A thorough inspection from the ground up would probably give you a very good idea of what issues you can expect down the line.

I bought a 1927 3 years ago. It was redone and I'd say that should put you on just as much alert as one that is fully original.

I'd absolutely pull permits. The good news is you are far enough from the redo, that immediate things done improperly during the remodel will have shown by now or in the inspection.

We ran into the issue where there just isn't as much expertise on older homes, but no contractor will say they cannot do properly. Ex. We have the thin wood novelty siding, and it was installed improperly and began detaching from the house over time.

Older homes are beautiful, but doors won't work a lot, heating/cooling can be inconsistent, wood floors can widen during winters, and more regular foundation work.

Thanks for the input. Ryan - it's the one with the two apartments in the back. It looks like the redo was done well. It's got a nicer kitchen than we have now and we just redid ours last year!

We may try to book a time to go see it. It would certainly be a bit of an adventure.

My experience with an older home was that when something went wrong, very few current models of things just fit. A lot of retrofitting had to take place.

That being said, I'd take a creaky old pier and beam house over the alternative every day of the week. I actually like the draftiness in the winter. The A/C blowing in the summer feels like real relief when the house isn't completely isolated from the outdoors.

Enjoy! Grandparents of mine owned a real old home in Brenham for a long time and I loved it. Still have memories of the yard, the old bathtub, and just a feeling of place that isn't easily replicated.

100+ year old homes are a whole different world. They are visually charming, usually built like a fortress, and have many unique characteristics; big foyers, grand staircases, large moldings, high ceilings, thick doors, fairly sound proof, etc. But like many have said; drafty, little or no insulation, difficulty running HVAC, electrical nightmare, matching windows, etc.

But it doesn't stop there with just the guts of the house. The first 20 years of my career (cabinets) was working in turn-of-the-(other) century homes in northern NJ. Unless a GC gutted the room, and furred out, squaring and leveling every stud and joist (floor and ceiling), it was a cabinet and molding nightmare. We regularly had to have knives custom made to match existing moldings. Find wood (chestnut, quartered white oak, etc) that matched existing. Graduate to a wizard level in making new wood look old. While it was all expensive in a way, we hardly made money in the beginning. Every job was a different way of doing things.

Reno costs on that age home were typically 3x that of new construction, where usual reno work was 'only' 2x the cost of new. And it usually took twice as long.

Tough to beat an old house when it comes to the look and a certain 'feel'. But man, it is pricey.

It IS worth it IF not going broke ALWAYS to preserve FINE art affordale In.the.day and now thanks to you.all forever.

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