Couple Sets Out To Restore A 300-Year-Old Family Farmhouse: Our Work's Cut Out For Us
Driving down the streets of the city where I live can feel like traveling back in time. There are rows of houses that existed when our country was new, many sitting empty, waiting for some brave soul to restore them. Sadly, there are many more homes than brave souls in my area. My study of historical archaeology, as well as my love of old homes, was why I put my writing skills to use to help our community understand the importance of the preservation of historical buildings in my last job. And I love to shine a light on others doing the same in their own communities.
That's why, when I saw TikTokker @accursia_'s post about restoring her husband's family's 300-year-old home in Southampton, New York, I was captivated. And many of the commenters on her post were as fascinated and thrilled to see the progress of the renovations as I was.
It's always exciting to see someone take an old home and, instead of demoing it, they lovingly restore it to its former beauty. It takes a lot to be able to update a historical home for a modern family's needs. Whether you're watching the progress of the restoration of a home in your neighborhood or on social media, it's fun to see. That's most likely why people were drawn to Accursia's content about the restoration of this family home. Although many had strong opinions about what features should be kept, this comment reflected the majority opinion: "What love you've brought to this beautiful home! I enjoy seeing young couples restore the natural beauty of classic historic homes! I know how much hard work it is, too!"
Giving new life to an old family home
Those who see the potential of an old home are a special breed — they see beauty in the details, and they often want to continue the story of a home instead of wiping the slate clean and starting over. In my opinion, the best types of historical home remodels are those that perfectly balance restoration with modernization. And Accursia and her husband appreciated the unique features of their home enough to highlight them instead of removing them. That fact was much appreciated by viewers like the one who said, "This house is absolutely beautiful. I just love how you guys are keeping everything original but just put a twist on it. Love love love well done! Keep posting, I'm invested!"
@accursia_ Watch us make this house a home 🏠 #diy #homedecor #antique #hamptons #homeimprovement #restoration
You can tell the OP was obsessed with the cedar closets (most likely added later), and for good reason! With a house that old, you're lucky to even have closets, much less cedar-lined. Another feature that not only the homeowner adored, but many of the commenters did as well, was the vintage kitchen with its yellow tile and multiple stoves. While Accursia wasn't able to keep the original cook stove because of its condition, she did keep the stainless-steel countertops and tile. And she was obsessed with the walk-in pantry right off the kitchen, which I can totally understand!
Choosing restoration or renovation
One thing I appreciated while watching Accursia's TikTok videos about their renovation was that she said, "The first thing is to figure out what we can keep and restore, and what needs to be replaced to make the house comfortable and livable." This is the key thing to figure out for any historical home restoration project.
Sadly, sometimes the home will choose for you. Besides the kitchen stove, another great example of this is that the upstairs room had wood flooring that had been protected by carpet for 60 years and looked brand new, while in the kitchen, the wood floors were badly stained and needed a lot of sanding and restoring. This is common with historical homes — having to make the decision between hardwood floor restoration versus refinishing. Honestly, many times this type of project will fluctuate between a mild headache and "the house is trying to kill me." It pays to have a dark sense of humor (ask me how I know).
@accursia_ This farmhouse kitchen has so many cool features like a Dutch door, cast iron wood stove, and a walk in pantry. After we made some small improvements and gave it a good cleaning, it was ready to go! #diy #homedecor #homeimprovement #restoration #hamptons #farmhouse
As I said before, deciding to restore a 300-year-old home is truly brave, but it appears Accursia and her husband are up to the challenge. They've done amazing work so far — just looking through her videos, anyone can see that. In my experience, they have found that perfect balance of keeping original features and updating for functionality. And it appears many of the home restoration voyeurs in her comment section tend to agree; I found very few, if any, negative comments. It will be amazing to see the finished project and how they continue the story of this home with their new little family.