We want to add an addition to our historic home, can we make it look like the original home?

Q:
We own an historic home and would like to add an addition, is it possible to do it and still make it look like the rest of the historic home?

A:

Yes it is possible to make your addition look like the rest of the historic home.

Most historic houses that are old are brick or stone in North America. What you need to do is a lot of homework. Find yourself a contractor to build the addition that will go out of their way to research what is going to be installed on the outside of your home. Brick that is on the outside of your home was probably made fairly close to your home, that means that the clay in your area is what gives the colour to the brick of your home and the colour of all the brick older homes in your neighbourhood. Chances are there is no one making that brick in your area anymore. But don’t fret if you look around you can usually find something made in North America that is very close. We re-built a house that had old Ontario brick, we used Ohio brick and when the house was completed people to this day still think it’s the original brick on the outside of the home.

You, your builder and you architect need to work together when designing the addition, a good design will help make the addition look like it has always been there.

While you’re adding an addition then you should do some updating on the original home. Things like upgrading the windows, repainting and having the original brick sand blasted and re-pointed will make the older brick look like the newer brick.

You just have to take your time, adding an addition to an older home should take you longer especially if you want it to blend seamlessly.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager

Village Builders Inc.