Before You Renovate a Historic Home, Read This
Found yourself in the lucky position as a steward of an older home? You’re in the right place. Renovating a historic home comes with a different set of considerations than renovating a newer one. The decisions you make don’t just affect how the home looks today, they can shape how it’s lived in, cared for, and valued years down the road.
In locations like Sacramento, historic and vintage homes are often loved for their craftsmanship, architectural detail, and sense of coziness you just can’t find in a newer build. Those qualities are exactly what draw buyers in, but they also mean renovation decisions deserve a little more thought. Buyers want character, but they also want to feel confident that updates were done with care and intention, not at the expense of the home’s identity.
If you’re new here, hi, I’m Christina! I’m a Sacramento-based realtor with a deep appreciation for character-rich homes, and I spend most of my time working with older houses in one way or another. I also own a home that just turned 100 years old, so navigating the balance between preservation and practicality is something I live with every day.
Before starting a renovation, it’s worth pausing to understand what actually contributes to value in a historic home. Age alone isn’t enough. Location, condition, preservation, and how modern updates work alongside the original design all play a role in how a home is experienced and, eventually, how it performs on the market.
This guide is meant to help you think through those decisions with clarity. Whether you plan to stay put or sell down the line, understanding how buyers view historic homes can help you avoid costly missteps and protect what makes your home worth holding onto.
Table of Contents
What Is Considered a Historic Home?
The term historic home is often used to describe a range of older properties, and you may also hear these homes referred to as vintage homes, character homes, or period homes. While the language varies, they all point to the same idea. Homes that were built in an earlier era and still retain the design details and architectural identity of their time.
Generally speaking, a home is considered historic when it’s at least 50 years old and its original design, materials, and craftsmanship are largely intact. These homes can often be aligned with a specific architectural style or period, such as Craftsman, Tudor, Victorian, or Mid-century Modern. What makes them historic isn’t just age, but integrity. The ability to tell a story about how and when the home was built.
Some historic homes are officially recognized through local or national historic registers, such as the National Register of Historic Places. These designations acknowledge a home’s architectural or cultural significance and come with specific preservation guidelines. Others may not be formally designated but still meet many of the same criteria in practice.
For the purposes of renovation and long-term value, the distinction matters less than the principle behind it. Historic homes, whether formally designated or simply rich in character, hold their value when renovation decisions respect the era, materials, and features that define them. Once those elements are removed, the home’s identity is difficult to restore, and buyers who seek out historic homes will notice.
Understand What Gives Your Historic Home Its Identity
Before renovating a historic home, it’s important to get clear on what actually defines it. This goes beyond aesthetics and into the architectural choices that give the home its character and long-term value.
Start by identifying the era and architectural style your home comes from. Historic homes are tied to specific periods, each with its own design language. For instance, Craftsman homes emphasize natural materials and built-in features. Tudor homes are defined by their rooflines and detailing. Mid-century Modern homes focus on clean lines and a strong connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. When you understand the style your home aligns with, renovation decisions tend to feel more grounded and intentional.
If you’re unsure which architectural style your home fits into, I’ve put together an Architectural Style Guide that breaks down the most common styles found around Sacramento and what defines them.
Next, take stock of what’s still original. Hardwood floors, built-ins, doors, trim, windows, tile, hardware, and even the layout itself all contribute to how a historic home reads. These are often the features buyers value most, and once they’re removed, they’re difficult to recreate in a way that feels authentic.
It can help to separate features into two categories:
Defining features are the elements that clearly communicate the home’s era and character.
Flexible features are areas where updates can improve function without changing how the home feels at its core. Kitchens, bathrooms, and mechanical systems often fall into that second category when updates are done thoughtfully.
A simple way to evaluate renovation decisions is to ask this: if this interior or exterior feature were removed, would the home still clearly reflect the era it was built in? If the answer is no, that feature likely plays a key role in the home’s identity and is worth preserving.
Understanding what gives your historic home its identity creates clear standards for the renovation decisions that follow and helps protect the character that makes these homes so desirable in the first place.
Preserve Original Features Before Replacing Them
One of the most important shifts when renovating a historic home is understanding that originality often carries more value than newness. In many cases, original features are not just aesthetic. They are higher quality, harder to replicate, and a key reason buyers seek out historic homes in the first place.
Before replacing anything, pause and evaluate whether it can be preserved. Buyers who love historic homes may not always be able to articulate what feels right, but they consistently respond to homes where original details remain intact.
Original features worth preserving whenever possible:
Hardwood floors
Built-ins and cabinetry
Interior doors and trim
Period-specific tile
Original hardware and fixtures
Architectural details tied to the home’s era
Stained glass
Original wood window frames
When preservation is usually the better choice
The feature is structurally sound but worn
Materials are solid and repairable
The feature contributes to the home’s overall character
When replacement may be appropriate
Safety or functionality is compromised
Structural or moisture damage is present
Long-term repairs are not feasible
Even when replacement is needed, compatibility matters. Materials, scale, and finishes that respect the home’s era tend to feel intentional and age more gracefully. Another question to help guide decisions: is this feature failing the functionality of the home, or is it simply showing its age? In historic homes, age is often part of the appeal.
Preserving original features isn’t about freezing a home in time. It’s about making informed decisions that protect the character that people appreciate, while still supporting how the home is lived in today.
Update What Helps You Actually Live in the Home
Most people start renovating a historic home because something isn’t working. They realize the house is hard to heat or cool, or the plumbing is finicky, maybe the electrical is outdated. These common woes that come with old homes make living in the home start to feel harder than it needs to be.
This is where updates really matter. Not because they change how the house looks, but because they support how the house functions day to day. If you’re going to invest in a historic home, start with the things that make it comfortable and sustainable to live in long term.
Prioritize the systems that support the functionality of the house:
Heating and cooling that actually keeps the home comfortable and energy efficient
Electrical that can handle modern life safely
Plumbing that’s reliable and not a constant question mark
A roof and foundation that protect the structure itself
When these pieces are solid, it becomes much easier to enjoy the character of an older home without feeling like you’re constantly managing it.
Kitchens and bathrooms: Make them work better, not look brand new
Kitchens and bathrooms are often where historic homes show their age the most, and it’s normal to want to improve them. The goal isn’t to rewrite the house or make these spaces look like they belong somewhere else. It’s to make them more functional while keeping them in conversation with the rest of the home.
That might look like:
Improving storage or layout without gutting the space
Updating fixtures or lighting in a way that feels timeless (and not choosing anything ultra modern or trendy)
Keeping original tile when it makes sense to
Spaces that feel practical and cohesive tend to age much better than spaces that chase whatever is current.
Think in terms of care, not perfection
Historic homes were never meant to feel flawless. They were meant to evolve slowly, with each update responding to how people live at that moment in time.
A simple way to gut-check an update is to ask:
Does this make the house easier to live in?
Does it reduce stress or ongoing maintenance?
Does it still feel true to the era this house was built in?
When updates are made with that mindset, the home stays comfortable, cared for, and intact. And while resale value may not always be the goal, it tends to follow naturally when a home has been updated with intention instead of urgency.
When Renovation Starts to Work Against the House
There are times when a full renovation, even a gut renovation, makes sense. Some historic homes have suffered decades of neglect. Rot, water damage, unsafe electrical, or serious health concerns are real issues, and addressing them properly is part of being a good steward of an older home.
The problem isn’t renovation itself. The problem is when renovation strips a home of its identity and replaces it with something generic.
Historic homes are finite. Once original details are removed, they’re gone for good. And while it’s possible to rebuild structure and systems, it’s much harder to rebuild soul. This is where so many well-intentioned renovations miss the mark. The house may be modernized and fully updated, but it no longer feels connected to its history.
I see this often with flips that turn historic homes into fully modern interiors that could exist anywhere. White walls, simplified trim, contemporary finishes. Clean, yes…but disconnected. When every historic home starts to look the same inside, we lose what made them special in the first place. That loss doesn’t have to be the outcome.
My own home is a good example of what’s possible. It was built in 1925 and had been completely gutted and flipped before I bought it in 2017. The renovators did solid work where it mattered. They kept the original oak floors and made choices that still had a sense of character, even though much of the original detail had been removed.
Since then, I’ve focused on bringing some of that character back. Adding wainscoting, incorporating built-ins, and making changes that restore warmth, function, and a sense of history without pretending the house is something it’s not.
The question isn’t whether a historic home should ever be gutted. It’s whether the renovation leaves room for the home to still maintain its historic charm afterward. When renovation is approached with that mindset, even significant updates can honor the past instead of erasing it. And that’s how historic homes continue to feel meaningful, livable, and worth preserving for the next generation.
A Final Thought Before You Renovate
Historic homes ask a little more of us. They require patience, care, and a willingness to slow down and really pay attention before making changes. But in return, they offer something newer homes often can’t. A sense of place, craftsmanship, and continuity that’s becoming harder to find.
Renovation itself isn’t the problem. What tends to cause the most damage is rushing or trying to force an older home into something it was never meant to be. The homes that age best are the ones that evolve over time. They’re updated where it matters, preserved where it counts, and allowed to keep their identity intact.
If you own a historic or vintage home and you’re starting to think about selling, or you’re just unsure what’s worth doing before that day comes, I’m always happy to talk it through. Sometimes it helps to have someone walk the house with you and think a few steps ahead.
And if you’re someone who’s drawn to character-rich homes and hoping to own one someday, I’d love to help you find the right fit. Historic homes come with their own quirks and considerations, and having someone in your corner who actually understands them can make the process feel a lot less overwhelming.
