Our intentions for the house

Some people have asked us what we have planned for the house. A few contractors have commented outright that we obviously must be intending to gut the entire inside (plaster, trimwork, flooring, etc...) to start over with a fresh, modern look. I find their opinion amusing, and a little sad. We expect to have to remove some plaster and possibly some woodwork during our time working on the house, but we bought the house because of all of it's original features, not just for it's location and size.

Our intentions are to update the house with lighter paint colours, probably leaving most (if not all) of the original trim work unpainted. We'll sand the floors and choose a stain colour that complements the other woodwork without making the rooms look too dark. We'll update and add lighting to rooms that need it. The electrical, plumbing, and heating systems will be completely updated to modern standards. We might add A/C at some point (probably via a high-velocity unit in the attic).

I should state that we are not restoration purists. We don't intend to restore the bathrooms and kitchen to their original state. Those rooms have been altered over the years and don't look anything like what they originally looked like. We'll modernize the kitchen and bathroom spaces to include features that we want to have. That means new cabinets, tile or other flooring, modern fixtures, and new lighting. We'll also paint and repair the external render and likely change the colours of the Tudor-style features.

The things we'll try to restore and not just rip out are the original windows (where they remain), the wood soffit and fascia, the damaged wood work in the second floor sunroom (off the den), the wonky and uneven flooring (throughout), and the pocket doors.

We'll even (eventually) replace the front PVC windows with more historically accurate windows, ideally wood with true lights to match the other original windows.

I thought it would be useful to clarify our position on restoration vs. renovation for our new house.