Hi Jennifer. The way we live certainly does change with the times. As an owner of an old home who came to Portland with the idea of building a new home, I can say that upgrades, while not always cheap, are much more cost-effective than tearing down the entire house and starting from scratch. An on-demand water heater costs the same whether it’s new construction or old construction. And new windows with plastic or vinyl components have a much shorter life expectancy than my historic wood windows (studies have shown that storm windows provide benefits comparable to replacement windows at a much lower cost). If you know anyone who is having difficulties upgrading an older home, they should call our offices. We can direct them to a variety of excellent resources.
Older homes also often benefit from design features that buiders no longer incorporate into new homes like deep overhangs. The distance from the lot lines are measured from the outside edge of the roof, so to build with deep overhangs limits the amount of interior square footage. The overhangs keep the home cool in the summer and dry in the winter.
As for toxic materials, what do we know of new materials? We’ve only recently discovered the dangers of BPA in plastics. Highly processed laminated bamboo flooring might present its own dangers down the line. We have proven methods for dealing with materials in older homes that are not usually as expensive as people are led to believe and the materials in question are much more of a danger during a demolition than when they are untouched.
While it’s true that not every old house is historic, they may contribute to the historic character of a neighborhood.

Hi Mike, We know. We have an example of a particularly egregious case where nothing was left but the original hole for the cellar – not even a foundation! Our Field Programs staff is fairly exhausted getting the first round of articles up, but I will try to have one of them reply to you in more detail about the “remodel” situation. Denise