When buying property, consider going old
I am a huge fan of old historical houses and nowhere do you see this more than here in Jacksonville. By buying such a house, not only will you be the envy of your friends but you’ll also be helping to preserve a possible important historical landmark for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.
By driving through places such as Riverside, Avondale, Springfield and San Marco, you can see buildings which clearly shows the city’s roots and history. In particular, take note of the Colonial Revival buildings. Those are the ones with the balconied entry porticos and porches. Or keep an eye out for the Prairie-style homes with the low pitched roofs and rows of small windows. But the ones that really captures my fancy are the Queen Annes with the castle-like towers and turrets.
Although prospective buyers may be nervous at possible high renovation costs, there are advantages to owning an old historical property and there are many things which makes an old property much different than a more modern property. If you have old-fashioned tastes and / or nostalgia for the past then this may be the property solution for you.
For a start, the design of the house will be different. How houses are made today is not how they were made say 100 years ago. Trends and fashions change all the time.
Older houses will have very large rooms with very high ceilings (generally higher than 10 feet).
Then there is the extremely high standard of workmanship involved. Back then, more effort was put into building quality houses and a level of workmanship and skill that may not be so evident in today’s busy hectic world where condos are put up and sold out in record time. Maybe that’s why old houses, which are in high demand today, ARE in demand. Because the customer recognizes extremely high quality when they see it.
But the biggest advantage is how the old house was built. In other words, if the house is still standing after such a long time then it was obviously built to last. Just imagine for a moment what it must have gone through as the years have passed and time has moved on. Mother Nature will have thrown everything at the place - rain, wind, sleet, snow. If the building is still habitable and standing then you can be assured that the place isn’t going to collapse in the next freak storm that happens to be passing through.
Another big advantage, and one that gets me excited, is the materials used in these houses, materials that may not be available anymore, making your house truly “one-of-a-kind” and the architectural detail, in vogue at the time, which may be unique and collectible today. Things liked burled pine woodwork which looks really good in a room but is never seen in modern properties today.
Having studied something like this in depth, I can say that the only real drawback I can see to living in a historical house is that you will be extremely limited to what structural changes you can make to the exterior of the house. These properties are normally protected by city rules and the Jacksonville Historical Preservation Commission. So if you were planning to add a couple of floors to the property then you’d better not buy an old home. These kinds of preservation rules are not meant to be flexible.
But if you’re happy to leave the house as it is, in its grand historical splendour and enjoy the place as it was originally built, then buying an old house may not be such a bad move. Prices are the same, if not cheaper, than your average condo unit these days and you may end up with a real showpiece that is the highlight of your community.
Just don’t go overboard and dig a moat around the property complete with a drawbridge!
