So many stories to tell…

The national magazine that started as a newsletter for Brooklyn brownstoners, in 1973, is celebrating a milestone birthday. Though it’s been only 45 years for me (!), I have been swept into the nostalgia—for those old, typed issues punched with three binder holes, for the thousands of houses we’ve covered, and especially for the people I’ve met. Some have passed, others are still contributing, many are part of the new generation leaning toward restoration.
In its full-of-promise “before” state or after restoration, whether a low-ceilinged shingled Colonial or an opulent limestone chateau: old houses are wonderful. So is this cohort of folks who live by the commitment to leave things better than they found them. OHJ isn’t the biggest or most famous of the shelter books or TV shows, but we do have longevity and influence. Besides our devoted subscribers, many of whom have been reading for decades, the right people have paid attention to our bon mots and breakthroughs into new territory. For example, have you ever heard a casual reference to “remuddling” (that is, unfortunate or comical remodeling)? How about the popular house style the American Foursquare? Both were coined by Old-House Journal more than 40 years ago . . . and, along with many of the publication’s core tenets, entered the mainstream.
Remarkably, our editorial mission has remained consistent, not only in the subjects we cover but also in our philosophy. (Don’t destroy good old work. Be true to the house.) Since the start, OHJ has covered DIY conservation and repair; articles on materials and techniques to help owners making purchase decisions and hiring contractors; house styles; sensitive renovation; period inspired interiors. The newsletter for urban homesteaders grew into a magazine that embraced Victorian houses nationwide, then bungalows and houses of the Arts & Crafts era, and finally mid-centuryranches. We’ve written about everything from repairing flat roofs and paint-stripping to snaking wires and buildinga circular tower, re-creating a 1930s kitchen and planting
an heirloom garden. OHJ has absorbed Old-House Interiors, which I published from 1994 to 2013, to showcase restored houses alongside the nitty-gritty.
As the cover of Vol. I, No. 1 proclaimed: Old Houses Are a Way of Life. Living with an appreciation for the past changes your life. If you have an old house, you know it’s endless.
We’ll never run out of subject matter.

Download from:

NitroFlare

• Oxford American – Fall 2023
• NZ Hunter – Issue 96, August-September 2023