Houses in US

[Scarlett]

I was looking on www.realtor.com and noticed that most of the houses for sale are modern. Are period houses in US more expensive than the modern ones? Difficult to generalise I know, but there must be less Victorian houses around than, say, in Britain?

[Clanad]

To adequately attempt to answer your query, one needs to understand (especially when you live in Britiain where history goes back thousand's of years) that U. S history really is only 400 years or so old. And. that period only applies to the eastern one fourth of the country, with some allowance for Spanish haciendas of southern California. My point is that for the country west of the Ohio river and certainly west of the Mississippi, true examples of old houses of one kind or another are rare. In my own western State (which was admitted to the Union in 1890) there are some fine examples of old, perhaps Victorian, houses. These tend to be quite expensive just because of the size more than anything. People buying these homes find that the upkeep and repair to current codes is additionally expensive. Therefore, given that the majority of new home buyers are younger families within a given budget that wouldn't cover that expense, the newer houses constitute the majority of the market. There are older homes, usually in the heart of cities or towns, but again, they are expensive and less desirable for the average buyer...

[Scarlett]

That is really interesting, Clanad. I live in Southern England, where the roads are Roman (ie- straight and go on for miles) and you find Roman pots etc in your garden if you dig for long enough. But I live next to a Neolithic buriel ground which was occupied by the Romans later, so there is a LOT of history here. There are more houses that are "period" than modern where I live. So, a Victorian terrace with 2 bedrooms will be a cheap house- often cheaper than a modern one.

I LOVE the 1880's houses you see in Westerns, for example. And the massive blocks in New York- for example, and I apologise for my lack of knowledge, those on Sesame Street (!) surely must be Victorian?!

[Scarlett]

http://www.m.godden.btinternet.co.uk/oldport.htm

If you look at the 6th picture down, you will see the houses in a street near me. These buildings are still exactly the same, but they are not revered in any way because they are old. In fact they are quite cheap!

[Clanad]

We used to thorouly enjoy watching Time Team here regularly but I've not seen it for some time. I, being somehat historically inclined, really liked the production. Hope it comes back soon...
Of course, our history doesn't include that of the original inhabitants of the continent, but, by and large, they left no permanent dwellings... just one big, empty space!

[buildersmate]

What I found hard to get my head around was the American concept of 'historic'. In Virginia it might be a 200 year old house. I went to historic Scottsdale in Arizona and the streets were built in about 1920. As Clanad points out, it depends how far West you are.