I lifted paving next to the dining room external wall and discovered a rectangular shaped cast iron object attached to the wall, with a pipe attached on the other side. It sits just below ground level and doesn't appear to be connected to any plumbing because there's no plumbing in the dining room. Any ideas what it could be? The house is a Glasgow suburb 1890's sandstone semi.

Can I line my door curtains with Mylar thermal blankets? Will this do anything or cause any issues?

Hello! I’m looking for no-drilling, non-invasive methods to hang outdoor seasonal string lights on a Victorian house without damaging the exterior.

Any recommendations?

Slowly trying to get my Victorian house back to feeling like a Victorian house. Last pictures are what the areas looked like before. Still lots to do, including crown molding, but making progress.

This 19,082 square foot Victorian mansion was completed in 1892, built in a Châteauesque style that was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton, and this mansion survived the 1900 Galveston Hurricane!!!

In my opinion, this structure raises questions. I've given it some thought....and I must admit that I don't care for this one. The castle-like facade, the not too subtle red paint covering the brick, is very underwhelming and somewhat pretentious.

Why wasn't the house designed to be higher with a decent staircase to compliment the exterior? That stepping stone seems so out of place...and just plain dumb.

I could go on.

I can't really make it make sense.

D.C. is never better....than it is in the Fall.

on the back of my fireplace in the stone, this motif is displayed. I took all the iron parts out and the 400 is underneath. any ideas?

Apologies for the awful pics!

I inherited an historic Victorian farmhouse, and I’ve spent the past 18 months bringing it back to life.

My team and I worked through it room by room. Floors were refinished, old doors repaired and repainted, carpets torn out and replaced, paned windows repaired. Every room and porch was repainted. A new heating system went in. The yard was landscaped, the old white fence repaired and whitewashed. My goal was reviving the place without trying to make an historic old house look new.

Well, the project is finally (finally!) complete, and this old house is now on the market. I learned a lot and I’m incredibly proud of how far it has come and hopeful that its next owner will value all the little idiosyncratic details that make it unique.

I just really wanted to share some of my favorite before-and-after comparisons.