Author: edificemedia

“My personal aim is to sustain a close-knit yet diverse intellectual and creative community that excels in design, teaching and research." Dr Christopher Cooper

9 Common Heritage Masonry Problems

The appearance of brick and stone masonry owes as much to the character of the mortar joints as to the brick and stones themselves. Unsuitable poorly executed repointing can affect not only the look but also the durability of masonry and is amongst the most frequent causes of damage to the character and fabric of a historic building.

Antiques Elixir | “Company’s Coming” Antiques & Art

A Yellow Farmhouse Event “Company’s Coming” Antiques & Art Editorial By: Ellen Vanbeek Berry Photography By: Dr. Christopher Cooper My friend Michael Rowan’s visit (a fellow collector and seller) in October 2021 started the ball rolling to organize a small, personable, intimate and credible showing of antiques and art at the Yellow Farmhouse, just outside…

Read More

The Spring Homeowner’s Series | June 11, 2022

Saturday June 11, 2022…. Old House Restoration & Repair for Homeowners – A new approach to help historic homeowners get the high quality, research-informed information they need to repair and restore their most valuable possession… their homes! Now you can take our award winning course from anywhere in the world!

The Spring Homeowner’s Series | June 11, 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022 — Old House Restoration & Repair for Homeowners – A new approach to help historic homeowners get the high quality, research-informed information they need to repair and restore their most valuable possession… their homes! Now you can take our award winning course from anywhere in the world!

Start a New Career | Heritage Masonry Repair Programme

“There is a critical shortage of heritage masonry repair professionals who perform small lime masonry repair and repointing jobs on the vast stock of older houses and commercial buildings across Canada and the United States.”

Tin Ceiling Conundrum!

The kitchen has been driving me crazy, mainly because it was in the most miserable condition of all! The tin ceiling had great chunks of lead based paint dangling from it, hmm images of a big pot of stew or soup simmering on the stove with paint chips floating down into it like autumn leaves!

A Heritage Landscape | Neo-Classical Fence

This lovely 18th century house (circa 1716) is located north of Boston, Massachusetts. These images were taken in the early 1930’s and are a record of both the building and this most remarkable wood fence. I would surmise the fence would date from the mid 19th century, but it has a very Neo-Classical flavour to the design so it could even be earlier.

Old House Restoration & Repair | Homeowner’s Series

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2022 — The Old House Restoration & Repair for Homeowners – A new approach to help historic homeowners get the high quality, research-informed information they need to repair and restore their most valuable possession… their homes! Now you can take our award winning course from anywhere in the world!

A Settler’s Dream

Editorial, Graphics and Photography By: Dr. Christopher Cooper Years ago, we had an excursion to Eastern Ontario with back-to-back workshops being held in Brighton and Kingston.  There was method to-our-madness, we had been down to Perth, Ontario earlier in the summer and fell head-over-heels in love with the area because of the vast stock of…

Read More

Floorcloths | A Fashionable History

Floorcloths or “Oylcloths” are first mentioned in Britain at the beginning of the eighteenth century. They were painted by humble house painters and often offered in the classical designs used for marble floors by the fashionable architects of the day.

The Jacobean Revival | Style Guide

During the last two decades of the nineteenth and first two decades of the twentieth century, American and Canadian architects became well entrenched in the British Arts & Crafts movement, with some embracing elements of the Tudor and Jacobean Revival house styles of the time.

Wood Shingles | A Once Ubiquitous Crown

Their contractor warned wood shingles was more expensive and yet also, not as good. Their contractor was a coward.  That last one was my assertion, and it still is! 

Ingledale House | A Hidden Gem

The jewel in the crown of this splendid building is the 12 over 12 sash windows flanking the central door (where in most Neoclassical design would favour sidelights) with the second floor duplicated for symmetry. Usually, Neoclassical houses follow the form of its earlier interpretation, the Georgian (which the original 1815 house in the rear did) with a typical five-bay symmetry. However, in this case the house is decidedly asymmetrical with the central window and door arrangement.

A Fine View | Belvedere

Belvedere is a room built above the roof for the purpose of obtaining a “fine view” (literal Italian translation).

Funk Up Your Victorian

So, if you have a pretty piece that needs some TLC or updating, that you know is not a valuable piece, get creative with it. Using more then one fabric adds a new dimension to any piece.

Wooden Soffits (No, you won’t be board)

Wood soffits, they’re boards, with paint.  That’s it.  That’s what they are. That’s all they are.  Pretty simple. Right?  That’s why you don’t read anything really dedicated to them. 

Should You Get Rid of Those Old Wood Windows?

You finally bought that house on the hill.  You know that one.  It’s ‘100-and-something’ years old.  It has that steep roof and those weird, different-shaped shingles.  It has that gingerbread in the eves and multi-pane windows with old-fashioned wooden storms.  Part of the roof is wooden shingles.  The ‘old guy’ used to live there and then his family put it on the market after he died. 

Poison Ivy

To remove existing vines, cut them off at the base of the plant and allow the vine attached to your house to wither and die. This may take several weeks or even months, depending on whether or not the side of the house has direct exposure to the sun.

Michael O’Grady | Restoration Arts

New Edifice Guild Member | I keep my clients informed at every stage of the process and we work together to create the best solution to address the challenges and opportunities that arise in heritage restoration work. I will treat your home as if it were my own and the standard will always be the same — I will give you my BEST work.

Sherlock Homes Carpentry

Edifice Guild Approved | Sherlock Homes Carpentry | Custom Wood Doors, Custom Wood Windows and Storms… Stair restoration and repair… Wood floor restoration and repair.

Cambridge & Ross

New Edifice Guild Member | Cambridge & Ross… The Art Of Interior Design, The Craft Of Heritage Restoration

Old Home Living Episode One

In this week’s episode of An Architectural Moment, we will dissect the Georgian Sash Window. We hope this will inspire you to keep and restore these fabulous pieces of architectural folk art that are the soul of your heritage home.

Wood Window Restoration eWorkshop

Dr. Christopher Cooper will take you through the entire documentation and evaluation process – through to the full repair and restoration process of your original wood windows in detailed close-up video step-by-step instructions.

Off-Grid Living

Saturday, December 12th, 2020 Is it possible to live off-grid? Just ask Kyle, who has lived off-grid for many years

This Warm Olde House

Because you really can save 30 – 50% on heating costs in your traditional or heritage house! Now that I have your attention, this workshop may be for you!

Wooden Scaffolding

When I was young and foolish, I would climb ladders and walk ridgepoles on three-and four-storey houses without a care and without fear.

Making Keepers

I am sure our readership is aware of my passion for antique hardware, to wit, I have become a collector of early Suffolk and Norfolk latches, with a few interesting Tudor and Elizabethan era pieces.

Even More Wallpaper Woes

In our previous article entitled “Wallpaper Woes,” where we gave our best advice to repair plaster walls after the removal of many layers of wallpaper.

A Closet Solution

Many people who own traditional houses have one thing in common, the total lack of closet space!

Water-Based Paints Of Old

Paint has had a very long history as is evident in cave paintings and the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and in the colourful 200-year-old armoire you purchased while on vacation in rural Quebec.

For The Love OF Wooden Columns

More and more terribly executed repairs are being perpetrated on original verandah, portico, or porch posts and columns in Canada each day.

A Wooden Dado

In the mid to late 18th century, lath and plaster walls were devised to hang beautiful hand-blocked wallpaper.

The Homestead

Living in a home that has been in our family for four generations has been an interesting and challenging experience.

Antiquities: Primitives, Design Essentials

I am a personal admirer of primitives. I am not talking about new items that are just made to look old, rather the items that are very old, very simple and of very high museum quality.

How To Choose Furniture For Your Heritage Home

Restoring the “envelope” of an historic building requires many skills. Not only does the restorer need to know about the various trades, but must also approach them from a historical perspective.

Circa 1842

Stroll up the path, past some barns and a split rail fence, until you see a clapboard house with a cedar roof, a few feet from the shore of Lake Erie.

The Bedroom

It has taken almost one thousand years for bedrooms to evolve into those which we see today.

Traditions

The earliest houses were an example of the direct outgrowth of architecture from function and materials.

Wallpaper Woes

Many people who live in century houses come across, in some cases, dozens of layers of wallpaper on walls and ceilings.

Ceiling Level Annandale

When Tillsonburg Ontario’s first mayor, Edwin Delvan Tillson, decided to build his beautiful retirement home, Annandale, he chose a high-gothic brick villa straight from William M. Woolett’s pattern book “Villas and Cottages; or, Homes for All” published in 1876 at the height of the Eastlake movement started by English furniture designer George Eastlake

Circa 1835 Ireland House

Exceptional for many reasons, Ireland House is a valuable historic structure – an architecturally intact farmstead – which remained in continued use by one family for five generations.

A Wooden Box Latch

You will find all sorts of interesting things when you dismantle an old building.

Ready For Another 200 Years

Somehow the universe guided us to this old house. Vacationing here as children, we never dreamed that one day we would own it.

Crafted In Wood

The woods of the Colchi, in Pontus, [in modern day Turkey] furnish such abundance of timber, that they build in the following manner.

Antiques Elixir | At The Cabin Fever Show

This winter has been a rough one, colder than I can remember and just plain long and dull! I guess it is true what they say, when stranded indoors during the winter, cabin fever can set in!

Antiquities At The Cabin Fever Show

This winter has been a rough one, colder than I can remember and just plain long and dull! I guess it is true what they say, when stranded indoors during the winter, cabin fever can set in!

All About Hand-Wrought Iron

Wrought Iron conjures up many visual interpretations of the Smithy pounding out horse shoes to keep early Canadians on the road.

A Shaker Inspired Kitchen

The true Shaker kitchen was spotless, ready for hungry workers at 5:30 a.m., and doubtless the epitome of efficiency and craftsmanship among other things.

About Shutters

Shutters are one of the most misunderstood elements on heritage homes and have become, to the majority, nothing but a piece of ornamental trim to flank windows and, in some cases, doors.

Choosing A Traditional Floor

There are many reasons for replacement of a wooden floor in a traditional home. Small repairs to existing floors may be required due to damage from a leak around a hot water radiator, vents that are no longer in use, or a wall that has been moved.

Painting A Raised Panel Door

Recently we restored an early six-panel wooden door. When it came to painting it, we found the task not as easy as one may think. If you paint across the grain, the finished product looks terrible.

Annapolis Royal Beauty

I never intended to buy it. I went to see the Munro house one day with my friend, Leslie, who told me it had a really nice early staircase and an upstairs ballroom dating from the 1820s, complete with original mouldings.

Repair Your Wood Windows

This workshop will take you through the entire documentation and evaluation process – through to the full repair and restoration process of your original wood windows.

Join the Heritage Maintenance Guild

Do you want more work, or better work? Join the Heritage Maintenance Guild and upgrade your skills with our celebrated professional development courses.

Painted Brick? What to do?

Many times I come across houses that have been painted and many of our subscribers ask what to do with the painted bricks and in some case, how you can remove the paint from the brick?

Repairing Antique Hinges

Many wooden doors that have given faithful service for a century or two suffer from sagging because of screw holes which have become, after literally thousands of sharp shocks with closing and opening, too large for the screws. The whole door binds and sags, making it difficult to shut.

Free Picket Fence Plans

I have created a set of drawings in hopes to inspire the reader to recreate this historic landscape in their own front yard!

New Life for an Abandoned House

On this episode of the Chris Cooper show I will introduce the second of our project houses. A long forgotten farmhouse built in 1837 located in Bright, just 5 minutes west of Cambridge, Ontario.

Victorian Cottage Make Over

This project is a clear example of what almost any amateur couple can do with a little fore sight and discipline. Money is one of the lesser parts of the equation.

Living The Dream

On this episode of the Chris Cooper Show… I will be visiting Carla Emin in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia – Carla is living the proverbial Canadian dream of living in an old house that has been beautifully restored – with a successful business just steps from her back door.

12 Great Visions of Gingerbread – A Lookbook

The true sense of a craftsman is the quality of their work! We look at architectural millwork (a.k.a. gingerbread) and are awestruck at the intricacy and workmanship that went into these pieces of wooden art!

31 Fabulous Nova Scotia Doors & Entries – A Lookbook

Old doors have been given a bad rap (excuse the pun) for a long time! The removal of old doors (not unlike wood windows) can significantly reduce or destroy the character and authenticity of a traditional home. The door is the first thing that greets the owner and visitors alike. The warmth and character of…

Read More

Lovely Stone House in Athens, Ontario for sale

1824 stone home with 8.8 wooded acres, beautifully preserved, central staircase, elegant perennial gardens, writer’s cabin in the woods.                 For more information and sale price for this lovely home visit Historic Homes For Sale.    

A Summer House – Do we still possess the skills?

We have many resources to our architectural past. This summer house is a beautiful example of a late 19th century garden feature. The Historic American Buildings Survey in 1933 documented this wonderful summer house (located in Mount Holly, NJ, on the Ashhurst Estate) – with a single photograph and a complete set of detailed drawings…

Read More

How-To Project One – Prop-It!

Summer is here and it is always nice to prop open your old fashioned guillotine windows (a window devoid of weights and pulleys) and take advantage of cool evening breezes. The problem with this is what to use other than a book (see Image 1). During our visit to the east coast a couple of…

Read More

40 Something – A 1940’s Kitchen Make-Over

In Conversation With Lori Gaiardo (Home Owner) – and Nena Wagner (Publisher Edifice Vintage Home) – Photography By: Christopher Cooper Nena: When you bought your house in what kind of condition was the kitchen? Lori: The house had unfortunately not been lived in for almost three years after the previous owner’s death so it was…

Read More

Verandah Valhalla

And now I leave you with these thoughts… there is nothing which better creates curb appeal, character and makes a house a home than a beautifully maintained and loved wooden verandah.

Abandoned Island

I have great affection for abandoned houses. I find them beautiful and somewhat sad in their attempt to prop themselves up and not become merely dust in the landscape. Every-so-often I find myself so enamored with a long forgotten edifice that it almost haunts me, as did a little house I stumbled upon during a…

Read More