15 February 2009 No Comment

By Richard Connelly

Wondering what your vintage Spanish bungalow or classic Craftsman-style home looked like the day it was built? Thinking of replacing those crusty aluminum windows with something that looks like it actually belongs there?

Well before you spend big on glossy coffee table tombs, or spend hours rummaging through dusty library shelves for examples of how a correctly restored home should look, check out some of these free or inexpensive sources of information.

Vintage postcards offer a colorful and often fanciful look back. Because so many were produced and kept as treasures through the years, they are plentiful and cheap. Online sources like eBay have numerous examples that can be viewed for free.

A favorite theme of period postcards showing California homes was the "Winter Scene," which invariably showcased clear skies, green trees and gallons of overflowing flowers. No doubt visitors and residents alike enjoyed poking a little fun at there friends and relatives in the frozen east. Decades later we can use these beautiful cards to help us re-create period landscaping designs!

If you're looking for architectural detail then some of the photograph post cards may be your best bet. Many, like the one pictured below, are attractively colored re-productions based on original B&W photos, while others are stark photos that can yield great detail with a magnifying glass.

Don't limit your searching to only California homes. Because the Arts and Crafts movement was so prevalent after the turn of the last century there are scores of postcards of beautiful homes from all over the country and beyond. Some, like the photo from the mid-west below, have great detail. Just look at the eves, columns and arches on this Kansas Craftsman.

Another great source is the home furnishings and real estate advertisements and brochures of the time. These are also easily viewed online. Some of the more involved real estate ads included site plan views of early 20th Century homes. Ads for California homes often included roses out front and fruit trees and gardens in the backyard. After all, nothing says January in California like picking a fresh lemon off the backyard tree.

Period advertisements get us inside the homes much more than the postcards. Here an otherwise bland pitch for a baking product may yield information about period countertops or cabinetry. Maybe you'll find an example of your missing moulding and trim in an ad for the era's latest, greatest kitchen appliance.

Which brings us to the mother load of architectural, decorating and landscaping information of the time period-the home magazines. Within these time-tested repositories we have a bevy of information. Vintage magazines are easy to find, but difficult to view on-line. To get the real flavor you have to thumb through these engaging periodicals that were published at the time your home was built.

The good news is they are plentiful and not very expensive. Dealers often have less-collectable copies that have cut outs or water damage and sell for much less than a complete copy in good condition. They can be easily found at garage sales and flea markets as well.

So enjoy the hunt for vintage home info without spending a lot of cash. Be the first on your block to bring back a long forgotten architectural detail or interior design theme. Happy refurbishing!