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A Movement to Restore Old Houses: From A Social Media Phenomenon to the TV Screen

As seen on HGTV's Cheap Old Houses, host Elizabeth Finkelstein poses for a portrait at a historical bungalow in Rochester, NY. (Courtesy of HGTV)

HGTV’s latest offering is not your typical flipping or renovation show. Cheap Old Houses follows the Finkelsteins as they visit old properties across the country—well-preserved treasures that have been neglected or laid vacant, but can be restored to their former glory by homeowners eager for a DIY project. Each house costs less than $100,000.

Cheap Old Houses started as a social media account (now with a following 1.7 million strong), where Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein listed historical homes up for sale across the country. Elizabeth, who earned a master’s in historical preservation, created it as a passion project in 2016, hoping to educate people on the value and beauty of old houses. 

Ethan, who worked in digital marketing before running Cheap Old Houses full-time, noted that restoring an old house is not only important for preserving history and an emotionally rewarding experience to accomplish something creative with one’s bare hands—it is also a more financially viable option. Restoring a historic home isn’t as daunting as it may seem, he said. “I think the real horror story is having …a million-dollar mortgage and having $200,000 worth of interest that you have to pay off. Imagine … if you could buy a cheap house for $50,000.” 

Throughout the 10-episode series, the Finkelsteins show their pure-joy enthusiasm for discovering bites of history through architecture, while offering practical ideas for restoring the homes they visit, via 3D renderings of design possibilities. Even if history is not your forte, their excitement will rub off and make you curious about the architectural features that tell a story about a certain time in America’s history.

American Essence recently caught up with the couple to discuss the show and their journey so far.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

American Essence: how has the audience reaction been like so far?

Elizabeth: First of all, it’s a complete dream come true. I think the thing with old houses is that you can see photos of them as much as you want, but being inside them, I mean, they really engage all of your senses. At the same time, when you walk into an old building, you feel a real soul about it. And so getting to road-trip around the country, and visit these places that we’ve been looking at for so long on our Instagram feed, was just incredible. And being able to bring our audience along with us on that ride was, honestly, something probably even if we didn’t have a production company and a network to back us up, we would have figured out a way to do it.

Our community is the bread and butter of this whole thing and are the people that are truly making this happen. I think the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I mean, people just love it. I think people are excited to see a show that celebrates history and what is here and what you have, and celebrates people who are really devoting their lives to these homes. It’s been really, really exciting.

Ethan: As Elizabeth had mentioned, I think after many, many years of running [the Cheap Old Houses social media account]—we’re now five years [into running it]—we were just planning, how do we road-trip, get in the RV, stick our kid in the RV with us, and just road-trip around the country anyway, and meet these people who are buying these houses, and visit them and just see how they’re doing on their projects, and just be inspired on our own. And somehow it transferred into us dreaming that dream into a TV show. And now we’re doing it—instead of in an RV, we’re doing it in my 1977 Ford. It’s totally a dream come true.

AE: How did you become interested in restoring old houses? 

Ethan: How we became interested was really through my family. They had a property that was from the 1700s, my grandmother and grandfather. And we would every summer, go there and ride the tractor and do big fires and ride down a sledding hill. There was this 150-acre farm, where my mom grew up with her eight brothers and sisters. And when I became a young adult, in my early 20s, this house was up for sale. To me, that was an extremely devastating moment. I don’t even know how to explain the emotion, but it was sort of like, how can we let this family treasure go? At the time, Elizabeth and I were just starting to date. We were maybe four or five weeks into dating and I was like, do you want to buy this farm with me? And it was $600,000. We totally couldn’t afford it at the time. Then, Elizabeth and I really just took on a ton of different adventures in exploring. We didn’t buy that house. 

We just started exploring all of New York City. And we did open houses in New York, and we would go to the Ellis Island secret areas, and we would go underneath the MTA subway and we would go look at hidden places in New York. And I think beyond the experiential—being Elizabeth and her passion for this over the years, I’ve always tried to figure out, well, how do we make this like a digital thing? Because I’m a digital marketing person and a digital nerd. So we just kind of put our brains together and Cheap Old Houses was born. 

I’ve been behind the computer for maybe 20-plus years. I think everyone can associate with being super burnt-out right now. We’re all digital nomads, living in our own different spaces. And right now, at this very moment, I’m sitting on our 10-and-half-acre property and I’m fixing up our house. It’s the most enjoyable moment of my last few years —to not be behind the computer and to be doing something that really needs me.

(Courtesy of HGTV)

AE: Why do you guys feel it’s important for people hold onto these bits of history that present themselves within these houses?

Elizabeth: When we think of houses that typically get landmarked, these are houses that very important people lived in, or the sort of preemptive example of some specific style of architecture. They don’t tend to be the houses that the everyday Americans who made this country run, lived in. Nobody is preserving your great-aunt’s kitchen, right? You don’t get to go on a tour of that. In a sense, the interiors of these particular houses are more significant to the history of this country, because they were ubiquitous everywhere at a certain time. And I don’t think that people necessarily have an appreciation of them. I think that these homes are highly vulnerable to being flipped, being gutted. A house lasting 150 years could be stripped of all of its character, for some investor who doesn’t even live there to make a quick buck. And to me, that is the absolute saddest thing in the world. Because I think that the history of these communities and the pride of these communities is reflected in the community’s architecture.

And producing new materials—look at the cost of plywood now. I could go on and on about the reasons why we should preserve what you have. I think that we’re in an environmental crisis right now, and people think of things as being disposable. And that includes kitchens. And you don’t have to gut and throw out everything in your house every 10 years because of a new trend. And I just hope that our show allows people and gives people a certain appreciation for [history] and a feeling of safety—and maybe just thinking that what they have is good enough for now.

AE: How do you think this ‘old house’ trend will evolve in the future?

Elizabeth: Our Instagram feed was wildly popular before COVID, was wildly popular during COVID, and continues to be wildly popular. It doesn’t seem like there’s any time where living within your means and preserving history is a bad idea. It’s always a good idea to do the things that we are telling people that they should do on this show, which is, take your time, save your money, and respect your home. And try to learn a little something along the way.

In a world where we push pixels around all day, we don’t often get that feeling of intense satisfaction that we’ve accomplished something. The quickest way to get that is by using your hands and working on your house.

The more we show people that it’s a good thing to do, and that they can do it too—hopefully, more and more people will start doing it.

AE: Tell us more about the memorable houses you encountered that were amazingly well-preserved. 

Elizabeth: We feature a house called Duncan Manor. This couple, Randy and Dave, are fixing up this house that was once on the list of top 10 most endangered buildings within Illinois. Tons of people have seen it, tried to restore it, and had not been able to do it. They were living in a tiny apartment in Denver, they saw it on Cheap Old Houses, they went to a wedding in the area. And a month later, they were camping out on the porch while they restored a room inside to live in. This house is like rising out of the field. It’s completely of another world. It is the most spectacular place ever.

We showed a $42,500 schoolhouse in Paxton, Illinois. The chalkboards are still there, the tin ceilings are still there, the schoolhouse lights are still there. It feels like it closed yesterday, and it’s still a schoolhouse. It’s really amazing.

The Finkelsteins at a schoolhouse in Illinois. (Courtesy of HGTV)

In episode one, we go into a house that looks like a time capsule from 1950. It has the original pink bathroom and the steel kitchen from the 1950s that everyone’s grandmother had. We don’t go in any houses that aren’t really well-preserved, because we want to look at places that are little time capsules. We want to bring you back. We want you to feel a sense of nostalgia in these houses.

AE: What’s your favorite architectural element?

Elizabeth: We have so many. It is honestly like picking a favorite child. I mean, I think keeping old windows is a really big thing for me, because it’s really misunderstood. A lot of people are sold by the vinyl window industry that you should throw out your old windows and get vinyl windows. I’m always ready to preach why that’s a total fallacy, but I love the wavy glass that you see in old windows. I think the reason I love wavy glass so much is because it’s so imperfect. It has bubbles and waves, and so many things in these old homes—it’s the imperfections about them that show that they were made in small batches, and were handcrafted and have texture. That’s what we love so much about these old homes, these imperfections.

Ethan: I think I love very, very early 1700s buildings, mostly because of my grandmother.

What I also love is really quirky fun buildings that aren’t really supposed to be lived in. So there was a bank that we once posted about that someone saved. There’s a library. There have been schoolhouses, there have been lighthouses. Just the thought of living in a quirky building from whatever era excites me so much—to have a really fun, completely individual, one-of-a-kind house that’s old, that’s quirky, and also historically just amazing.

“Cheap Old Houses” is available to stream on discovery+. All episodes are also available on the HGTV streaming platform.

Categories
Features Small Farms

Exploring a Connecticut Farm with Historic Roots

Papadopoulos's historic house. (Courtesy of Fairview Farms)

On Nikolaos Papadopoulos’s house—located on the farm in Wilton, Connecticut that he operates, Fairview Farms—a plaque can be found on the facade, presented by the Wilton Historical Society at the beginning of 2021. On this plaque is the name James Vasale, the man who originally owned the property back in 1929.

The plaque is part of the Society’s Historic Marker Program, started over 20 years ago as an attempt to both encourage historical preservation as well as identify important historic structures. On occasion, the Society will also award plaques to homes not on the historic survey, as long as the age of the home can be verified and the integrity of the architecture has not been radically altered from its original appearance. These special instances are evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Society’s Historic Preservation committee, a combination of select members of the Society’s board of trustees and staff.

In Papadopoulos’s case, his house was included in the 2018 Phase II of the survey, because it was, according to the Society, “a well-preserved example of an early 20th-century vernacular residence and, as such, it is significant as an example of Wilton’s stock of early-20th century houses.” 

Purchased from the Vasale family in April 2020, Papadopoulos has come a long way in his farming ways. Calling himself the modern-day renaissance man, Papadopoulos’ ancestors were survivors of the Pontian Greek Genocide, the systematic killing of Ottoman Greeks during the early 20th century, and subsequently guerrilla warriors, as well as farmers and masons.

“We brought the farming traditions of the Old World in Pontos to Greece, and then to the United States, where I plan on expanding into upstate New York,” said Papadopoulos. 

Papadopoulos’s historic house. (Courtesy of Fairview Farms)

Once a resident of Norwalk, Connecticut with his grandmother, Papadopoulos was kicked out of the apartment he was in, due to the chickens he was keeping in the backyard. His mother, Teresa, who was an agent for a real estate business in Wilton, was able to help find him the space.

Since this farm has been around since the late 1920s, Papadopoulos wanted to keep the original name, Fairview Farms, as he wanted to keep the integrity of the farm as much as possible. The farmhouse was built in 1929, with over 60 acres of land and had consisted of 10,000 chickens and Black Angus cows.  

In addition, there is a cottage on the property that was built in 1931 and is rented out. It started off in 1930 as a “club house,” where the owner would spend time with friends and play cards.

The stone house next to the cottage belongs to the niece of the original owner, where she still lives. The original spread has been split up into multiple properties.

When he lived with his grandmother, space was a bit tight living in the middle in the city. He needed a space large enough for his chickens and the possibility of growing his feathered family. 

Papadopoulos explained that having good neighbors who understood what he was doing made a difference. When the time came to expand, his mother was there, determined to find the right amount of land to open all kinds of possibilities. Papadopoulos described this as a new beginning for him.

However, with the age of the house came lots of TLC, but it was not to be feared, as he had family in the construction business. Together, they were able to complete all the work.

The American flag outside his front door has 48 stars representing the continental 48 states, as it is from the 1930s and has been at the house since it was built. Papadopoulos believes in keeping the original integrity of the house and has been preserving the exterior.

Today, Papadopoulos has over 100 animals on his farm ranging from chickens to roosters, three peacocks, quails, ducks, three dogs, and a rescue horse named Cali.

Roosters and chickens roaming on the farm. (Courtesy of Fairview Farms)

Cali is from Devils Garden, California, which is how she got her name. She was rounded up by the state of California due to an overpopulation of wild horses in the area caused by the wildfires. 

“The intention of the state was to put her down, but an organization called All the King’s Horses stepped in and reached her and several more, bringing them to Connecticut to find a home,” said Papadopoulos. “I plan on getting another mustang from them soon to give her a buddy, as horses are happier in herds.”

In the future, Papadopoulos plans on purchasing a bigger space for himself and his family, while renting or leasing his current space to someone else who is interested in farming in the area.

With that many animals, it is safe to say that more space will be needed. 

In addition, he will be getting a barn cat—particularly, a black Cornish rex; sheep; and very specifically, Black Iberian pigs, for meat. Other plans in the works include adding a family stand where patrons can buy farm goods, paying with an honor system; selling flowers; and setting up a small greenhouse on the property.

“I have always wanted to work with animals, as it started with a flock of chickens and ducks and expanding from there. My family has been very supportive during this time,” said Papadopoulos.

Categories
Arts & Letters

Preserving the Nation’s Heritage, One House at a Time

arkansas home
Laine and Kevin Berry's Conway, Arkansas house dates to 1909, late Victorian style. Laine often drove by this house as a teenager and dreamed of owning it. (David Hatfield)

If walls could talk, what stories would they tell?

During the Civil War, Union soldiers occupied the region of Helena, Arkansas. They quartered inside a Greek Revival-style home that belonged to a local Confederate soldier. It was a stately mansion built in 1858, with a robust pediment and tall, elegant columns on its facade. Union Gen. William Sherman is said to have stayed in the home while planning his battles.

When the house went up for sale, Laine and Kevin Berry—avid lovers of old houses with history and fine craftsmanship—couldn’t resist.

When the couple first viewed the house, they were stunned. Etched glass panels glimmered in the dining room’s double doors, depicting two Biblical figures, Ruth and Naomi, standing on pedestals and surrounded by ornate leaf patterns.

laine and kevin berry
Laine and Kevin in their home. Laine is a bridal gown designer and operates a local salon, while Kevin owns an advertising and marketing business. (Sam)

Later, the couple went looking through the home’s records and discovered that Laine has ancestry in common with its previous owners. The papers list the name of Laine’s five times great uncle.

In a way, as Laine explains in a video on the couple’s YouTube channel, Our Restoration Nation, it was like she was returning to a family home.

Preserving History

The couple has taken on a number of ambitious projects—houses that have completely rotten foundations or electrical wiring held together by duct tape—that most wouldn’t consider worth salvaging.

They began buying and rehabilitating old houses across the southern United States about 20 years ago. Laine said that she and Kevin, spurred on by a passion for history and fine architecture, “both felt like the best way to preserve some of our nation’s heritage was to tackle these wonderful historic structures.”

For the couple, the homes are a reflection of American culture. “Preserving them helps not only preserve our culture, but it helps educate people—to understand where we’ve come from and what got us to where we are today,” Laine said.

historic house
The interiors incorporate many antique items for a time-worn feel. (David Hatfield)

About a year ago, they started documenting their projects on YouTube, with practical tutorials on topics ranging from how to restore historical picture frames, to the best method for stripping lead paint from wood.

They also film tours of historical houses on the market—many in surprisingly good condition given their age—explaining architectural elements in loving detail.

The couple has amassed a steady following of people who cherish old things and yearn to “see, and touch, and feel a product that their labor has created,” Laine said.

Their Instagram account is filled with the latest updates about their houses, which are dubbed names like Helen, after the region of Helena; Willa, after the Willie family who built the home; and Scottie, after the street where the house is located. Sometimes, a house’s photo is cheekily accompanied by a post written from the house’s perspective.

Growing Trend

Old houses have become an increasingly popular choice among first-time homebuyers.

As the housing market becomes prohibitively expensive and the cost of rent skyrockets in many major cities, the millennial generation is being drawn in by lower prices, while at the same time relishing opportunities to get creative and work with their hands, according to Elizabeth Finkelstein, who co-founded the website CheapOldHouses.com along with her husband.

The site lists historical homes up for sale across the country. Finkelstein created it as a passion project in 2016, hoping to educate people on the value and beauty of old houses.

Real estate agents tend to give little promotion to old houses in disrepair. “What you end up with is a blurry, dusty photo in the dark, taken on someone’s iPhone. But there’s an Art Deco bathroom in there. And then you’re like, wait a minute, no one is going to see this. So I felt the need to show it to people,” Finkelstein said.

Appreciation for the old has struck a chord among the many millennials who make up Cheap Old Houses’ following (more than 1.5 million on Instagram at the time of writing). Finkelstein thinks that “people are getting very, very fed up with, and skeptical of, the superficiality and disposability of so much in our lives right now—fast food, fast restoration, fast fashion—all of it.”

renovation
The fireplace area under construction in the Conway house. (Courtesy of Kevin Berry)

Many of the latest trends are not only wasteful, but devoid of meaning. “You want to feel a sense of purpose in your home. And if anything, this pandemic has just brought that out,” she said. A growing number of people, especially after spending more time at home, are considering alternative lifestyles.

Finkelstein said Cheap Old Houses’ Instagram account gained followers at roughly three times the normal rate during the beginning of the pandemic last year.

Laine Berry expressed a similar sentiment about modern life. “We’re always on our phones. We always are on our computers. And I think there’s a bit of a national longing for things, and times, that were simpler,” she said.

The Berrys hope that more people across the country will see investing in a historical home as a viable option.

They want people to watch their videos and see that the work is not that intimidating. But, at the same time, homebuyers must be willing to take on the research to restore homes respectfully.

“You don’t change the footprint. You allow the history of the house to be the main focus, but you rehabilitate it to be livable by today’s standards fully,” Laine said. That means researching “what is and what is not appropriate for the style and period of your home.”

historic house
The living room features a Victorian hand-painted folding screen that dates to around 1876. (David Hatfield)

Over the years, the Berrys have accumulated an almost encyclopedic knowledge of how different period styles of mantles, staircase spindles, woodwork, and other elements look.

Twenty years ago, they would go to their local library to find resources on microfilm. Today, much of the information is available on the internet.

They’re excited that a new generation will carry the torch.

“That’s the most exciting thing to me, when somebody says, ‘I never thought I could do this. I’ve been so afraid of this. I thought it was out of reach either emotionally or financially. Watching you guys, I realize this is doable for me,’” Laine said.