If the foundation and major structural components - sills, studs, roof rafters, etc. - are in good condition, a house of this vintage is well worth the time, effort and expense of restoration. Aside from the location, yard and the other things you clearly like, consider this: the materials used in constucting a house this age - especially the wood, both structural and ornamental - were far better than anything you could buy at a lumber yard today at any price. I would have someone check the water (well?) and sewage (septic tank/leach field?) to see what kind of shape they are in.

If you can deal with the expense of masonry, wiring, plumbing and other things that will require professional tradesmen, I'd say buy the house.

Is an abandoned house that has snow drifts in it best left for the wrecking ball?

A question answering itself. (Unless you've got cavernously deep pockets.)

That's a question that can't be answered here. If you have money (you won't get a mortgage on a shell; you have to have cash) to make it livable, and then the time and energy (and money) to do the rest of the rehab, you might be all right. I'd encourage you to check it out thoroughly, because I'd love to see it done. I hate losing these old places. Look at everything and don't jump too hastily. I hope you can do it, though; I will look forward to your pictures and progress reports!

Worthys right we did this in 1993,so glad we did ,spent lots,lots money,we got 2 restoration guys to help,we did what we could saved alot ,hubbys a builder,windows we had new windows built to match what we had over$800 a window,alot of work,alot money,alot decisions,tired,alot problems ours is 1700s,butwell worth it in the end.

Will the house be easily worth more than you have to put into it when it is done?

This was the question I felt compelled to answer before taking ownership of my old house. I knew my finances just as you know yours. Some of us hire it all done. Some of us must take our time and do the work ourselves. Only you know where you stand and how much you can put up with.

I have lived in my beloved home for over 19 years. I have decided it is much like the Golden Gate Bridge. The work is never done. Just when my original list was complete, it was time to start over again. Is this kind of life good for who you are? Would you rather travel, buy fancy cars or clothes? Maybe go out to dinner several times a week? If you answer yes to any of these questions...

Our home is our priority. Over everything except our kids. We have left vacations undone, while we celebrated new plumbing and wiring. You get the picture. Old houses are better let for homebodies.

If the house has been open to the weather it might have more problems that you can see. Adding new finishes and heating the house can lead to acceleration of the fungal growth. Usually such a structure must be gutted and tested for fungus.

Thanks for the feedback. A little more information. Yes, I would solidly be classified as a homebody. I look forward to the winter so that I can plan next year's projects (yard and home). I am very comfortable with the financing end of it - that's what I do professionally. So I know I need to take a page from my own book and write a business plan for the project (yes, most of it will be hired out). I am blessed to have great support from my family (my kids are jokingly fighting over who will inherit the house). It is a place that I will move to and live in for 40 years - I am definitely a "put down roots" sort of person. I am also blessed to have a strong, stable job where I can make sure to have funding available should I need it. The house will, for all practical purposes, be purchased for $1 + the value of the land. I know it will take about a year of planning and coordinating, then another year for restoration, so I am considering making an offer subject to the current owner putting on a new roof and securing the open windows. It's certainly a long road, but I am at the point in my life where I think I can slog down that road.

First step is to keep water out. You can mothball a house for years if needed to come up with a plan and know it will be relatively safe from further damage or vandalism.
Secure a good architect. One who knows old houses and is happy to work on one. A comprehensive rehab plan will save money in the long run if you stick to it. Since it will likely be gutted to wire, plumb and insulate, you have nothing to lose by allowing the architect and restoration contractor (find him next) to poke around and do as many exploratory surgeries as they need to do to insure no bad surprises. It's better to find out now that, say, the entire first floor system is bug-damaged and must be replaced; better today than as the last coat of varnish is going down on the floor some distant day in the future.
You have a blank canvas, do things in logical order, and keep us updated!
Casey

Is the house wood or brick?

It is wood.

Hi blueisledreamer! I stumbled across this posting from last year, and I wonder what you ended up doing. Are you hip-deep in restoration, or did you decide against it?

I'm still in the process of restoring an older 1937 Fl home, it appeared in decent shape when we first looked, but every thing we did... opened up a major can of worm. The house is a bayfront property - so the valve is there on our restoration. When we first purchased the house, the roof was new, but badly installed , electric was old, and we couldn't even get homeowners insurance for the first 3 months. I think it depends on how deep your pockets are.. we already up around the $300,000 mark. This is NOT our first restoration, and we knew what to expect, however, either it's our age, or maybe the house - but it has been the most exhausting! We are unable to find contractors on many of our projects, but thankfully - DH is skilled in all areas of restoration, but because we are at a point in our lives where we had the money to spend, we planned on not doing it all ourselves and hire help out - it hasn't worked that way.

I love our house, but people like us are far and few between in my opinion. We're driving to complete it, and to do it right, but I think a lot of people have no idea the amount of time and money we put in this house. If I could turn back the clock, I personally - would now pass this house by. Good luck in your decision!

When we restoredour 1700 house family said tear it down start over.when we were done they could not believe it.We chemical washed the outside brick,biodegradable,windows were in bad shape we hired 2 restoation guys to build new just like the ones they took out,expensive but really nice.,we fixed floors,some plaster,new kitchen but our painter specialized in antiquing ,so it looks old,wormy chestnut cabinets.great work with stains,paints etc.Mason fixed fireplaces.chimneys 6 of them,alot of work but it should be here another 250 years,were close to Gettysburg battlefield,We have a deed a col.Himes was in civilwar, had our house in 1822 ,the deed has his signature.

"outside brick"

Older '"brick" houses are often actually masonry houses.
The brick is not a single wythe thick siding, but a multiple wythe thick structural component holding the floors up.

The joists are set in pockets in the brick, and exterior walls often have no studs at all.
Some very old houses even have masonry weight bearing walls in the middle to allow for shorter joists to be used.
The joists bear on the divider wall in the middle in pockets also.

These houses can be well worth restoring since the interior is mostly decorative anyway.
You can take many of the frame walls with no structural issues (watch out for the frame sections from a middle 'divider wall' to the exterior walls. These may be bearing weight from a floor above unless there is a large beam above them.

Water intrusion can damage a lot of the wood, but does not cause as much damage in the masonry structure.

You still need to make sure the foundation is solid.
Masonry houses do not tolerate foundation defects very well.
Masonry walls do not have a lot of 'give' in them like frame walls.

It takes a lot of money, an ability to weather stress and lots of time to be able to tackle these kinds of renovations.

When I purchased my 95 year old home a little over 2 years ago, I seriously didn't realize the extent of repairs that would be needed; nor did anyone else. Every time we touched one thing, something else got involved. There was nothing which was less important than anything else.

I paid $225,000 for the home. I've now put in just under $200,000, most of my own cash, some from a refinanced mortgage. Just got done with 3 new doors which cost me over $8000 because they were all specialty sizes and the house being masonry, had to have all new jambs/framing rebuilt due to the masonry falling apart from neglect over the years (the prior Owner, OMG, I don't think he fixed a thing in this house for the 30 years he was in it).

I've replaced all the windows, gutted the kitchen, redone the electrical and plumbing, renovated the garden, painted interior and exterior spaces, had the chimney repaired, heating system attended to, put in an a/c system, and more repairs and upgrades than I can shake a stick at.

I'll never see it back probably, at least not anytime soon. If I needed to sell I'd lose big on it. And, I still have at least another $50,000 to finish it off properly; I have a main bathroom which is in utter disrepair (well, the plumbing does work but cosmetically it's a horror).

At 52, I should be saving more for retirement, not having this house suck the life out of me but I'm in it now. Now way to back out.

And, I do love it. So, there you have it.

when I said we are up around the $300,000 mark, that is what the restoration has cost. We pretty much have done everything.... but we do still have so much work to be done! We paid a whopping $730,000 for this house... crazy, but because it is on 1 acre, and bay front property - we should be able to at least break even, but hopefully, someday when we need to downsize, we'll make a profit. But like sivyalleah, there is no turning back at this point (and it has sucked the life out of us at this point).

We are finally moving in next week, although it is far from finished, but hopefully.. it will start to feel like home, and I really do love the location and the history and charm of this old house.