Cheap Old Houses

September 18, 2023
This handsome debut from Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein, hosts of the eponymous HGTV program, showcases restored homes and tells the stories of the people who live in them. The authors highlight the houses’ histories, as when they take readers inside a central Illinois mansion built by a cattle breeder in 1866 and later abandoned for years before it was bought in 2015 by a woman who had admired the house since spotting it while on childhood road trips. The Finkelsteins draw attention to the vintage features of each home, showing the 1941 Roper stove in an 1893 Kansas homestead, the “breathtaking plaster” ceiling in the ballroom of a 1903 Classical Revival Massachusetts mansion, and the stained-glass windows in a converted 1901 Gothic church in Maryland. The photos spotlight the houses’ imperfections, finding charm in peeling wallpaper, wavy glass windows, and scuffed tread marks on wood floors. There are a few tips on restoration (the authors note that “heat and chemical strippers” can remove paint from wood and they list boutique shops where readers can purchase vintage wallpaper designs), but the emphasis is largely on appreciating the homes, which are lavishly depicted. The beautiful houses make it easy to overlook the shortage of practical advice.