IS IT WRONG TO MAKE MAJOR CHANGES TO OLD HOUSES?
Old houses have always been changed and always will be. If changes are made in the manner and with the materials of the original structure, with respect for a building’s place in the streetscape, then there is no reason for complaint. We do need ‘house museums’, with buildings preserved as if in aspic and open for public inspection. These serve to tell us about our past in a way that the written word can never achieve but the vast majority of old houses have to earn their keep in today’s world by providing shelter for people.
