Okay, I may have just completed my one and only reno but I've seen plenty of them while my father moved us around two countries and we lived in construction for most of it. So I speak here with some authority. Your house is lovely and it's very well built with lots of delightful design cues and good, no, great craftsmanship all around. Not every old house is like that.
I've seen messes like you wouldn't believe. I mean, sure, with a functionally unlimited budget you could restore them, but with a functionally unlimited budget you'd probably just pick something in better shape with more character to begin with. Some of these problems began with the original house or house design too, the enamel coating was just "lipstick on a pig" to begin with.
So yeah, I would agree that most of the new design after the war was pretty execrable. The "Ladies Home Journals" and "Better House and Gardens" of the day were full of stripes on plaid on check with parquet floor. All of that was an effort to sell, sell, sell home building supplies, paint and decor. The "Property Brothers"/HGTV of its day. And yes, it sucked. I agree. It also did in a lot of Victorian (and earlier) homes that had beautiful features but let's not give all Victorian homes a complete pass. Nor should we scourge all other home styles either. I've seen nice functional ranch homes with good detail and charm too.
The trick, it seems to me, is to start with good or great design and vision. There is a lovely Victorian home in Sacramento where the front porch (about 5 feel wide by 15 feet long) was lined entirely with a single 6 inch wide bent wood log along the entire edge. So the log had to have been at least 45 feet tall to begin with and then they had to bend that into a 3-D shape with (probably) steam. No seams, one tree. Now that's craftsmanship. And it's just a log, but wow does it ever stand out! Equally though, a Neutra house in Palm Springs is using new materials and techniques to create a soaring, light, airy open space that just seems like it isn't there. The flow and design just invite you to swim in the pool in the hot evening breeze. It's also delightful. And the Green and Greene and Greene Gamble house in Pasadena uses all that heavy, dark wainscotting to combat the nearly blinding (and too hot) sun of Southern California summers. Using the heavier designs of the Craftsman style also solves a "problem" of too much light (and heat). Great design is marked by not only craft but also by the designer or architect directly dealing with whatever issues are present in either the materials or location of the home, ideally both or using one to solve the other.
Sure, you can oversimplify that all craft used to be better. It was, in the case of houses for the rich, but not ALL homes, I assure you. But it's just as simple a way to look at things as solving it all with a coat of enamel. There are plenty of drafty, cold, cramped, unfit for the location older homes out there that really should be updated. Maybe not with a coat of paint, if it's in that bad of a shape from the get go then a coat of paint won't fix it. I mean there are some lovely chateau in France too that have great things going for them but if you want to add a modern kitchen or use wi-fi then good luck with those thick stone walls! And while the lovely chateau survive, some more intact than others, almost none of the cottages or hovels from the 15th century survive. There's a good reason for that. They sucked!
On the other hand I encourage your readers to read a few "Better Homes and Gardens" archived magazines from the era. It's shocking what marketers will try to get you to believe to sell more white enamel paint.
It was just about the paint... but oh, man, you are going to hate the next story, which this was really just a setup for.
Okay, I may have just completed my one and only reno but I've seen plenty of them while my father moved us around two countries and we lived in construction for most of it. So I speak here with some authority. Your house is lovely and it's very well built with lots of delightful design cues and good, no, great craftsmanship all around. Not every old house is like that.
I've seen messes like you wouldn't believe. I mean, sure, with a functionally unlimited budget you could restore them, but with a functionally unlimited budget you'd probably just pick something in better shape with more character to begin with. Some of these problems began with the original house or house design too, the enamel coating was just "lipstick on a pig" to begin with.
So yeah, I would agree that most of the new design after the war was pretty execrable. The "Ladies Home Journals" and "Better House and Gardens" of the day were full of stripes on plaid on check with parquet floor. All of that was an effort to sell, sell, sell home building supplies, paint and decor. The "Property Brothers"/HGTV of its day. And yes, it sucked. I agree. It also did in a lot of Victorian (and earlier) homes that had beautiful features but let's not give all Victorian homes a complete pass. Nor should we scourge all other home styles either. I've seen nice functional ranch homes with good detail and charm too.
The trick, it seems to me, is to start with good or great design and vision. There is a lovely Victorian home in Sacramento where the front porch (about 5 feel wide by 15 feet long) was lined entirely with a single 6 inch wide bent wood log along the entire edge. So the log had to have been at least 45 feet tall to begin with and then they had to bend that into a 3-D shape with (probably) steam. No seams, one tree. Now that's craftsmanship. And it's just a log, but wow does it ever stand out! Equally though, a Neutra house in Palm Springs is using new materials and techniques to create a soaring, light, airy open space that just seems like it isn't there. The flow and design just invite you to swim in the pool in the hot evening breeze. It's also delightful. And the Green and Greene and Greene Gamble house in Pasadena uses all that heavy, dark wainscotting to combat the nearly blinding (and too hot) sun of Southern California summers. Using the heavier designs of the Craftsman style also solves a "problem" of too much light (and heat). Great design is marked by not only craft but also by the designer or architect directly dealing with whatever issues are present in either the materials or location of the home, ideally both or using one to solve the other.
Sure, you can oversimplify that all craft used to be better. It was, in the case of houses for the rich, but not ALL homes, I assure you. But it's just as simple a way to look at things as solving it all with a coat of enamel. There are plenty of drafty, cold, cramped, unfit for the location older homes out there that really should be updated. Maybe not with a coat of paint, if it's in that bad of a shape from the get go then a coat of paint won't fix it. I mean there are some lovely chateau in France too that have great things going for them but if you want to add a modern kitchen or use wi-fi then good luck with those thick stone walls! And while the lovely chateau survive, some more intact than others, almost none of the cottages or hovels from the 15th century survive. There's a good reason for that. They sucked!
On the other hand I encourage your readers to read a few "Better Homes and Gardens" archived magazines from the era. It's shocking what marketers will try to get you to believe to sell more white enamel paint.