Bill Kibbel

Bill Kibbel

Contributing Writer
Bill Kibbel is a contributing writer and review editor for The Old House Web. Bill is an inspector and consultant that specializes in historic buildings with Tri-County Inspections . He has inspected more than 10,000 buildings between 100 and 350 years old and has been a consultant to historic sites in several States. Bill is a veteran old-house owner and restorer and has been contributing to OHW since 2001. For a full list of Bill's columns visit The Home Inspector in our How-To Advice section. Bill welcomes questions for possible future blog posts and articles. You may contact him at wkibbel(at)oldhouseweb.com
Recent posts:
Bill Kibbel
Aug
12

Gas Lighting - Beyond the City

By: Bill Kibbel, Contributing Writer
In: obsolete design elements, old house construction, old house terminology
In 1816, Baltimore, MD was the first US city to have gas lighting.  Using gas for lighting quickly spread to other cities and it was very common throughout the rest of the 19th century.  The gas was manufactured from the gasification of coal.  Late in the 19th century,  natural gas began to replace the “coal gas”. Gas lighting was installed in factories, apartment buildings and homes.  Gas lights along city streets ...

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Bill Kibbel
Aug
06

Adding On To An Old House

By: Bill Kibbel, Contributing Writer
In: home improvement tips, old house construction, old houses
You won’t find a “family room” or master bedroom suite in the original part of an historic home.  In my experience, the original part of most old homes just covered the basics.  Of course some Victorian era and later mansions have many extra rooms for special functions.  I occasionally inspect homes that have a grand ballroom and one even had a theater with an orchestra pit. I also inspect many old ...

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Bill Kibbel
Jul
14

The Italianate Style

By: Bill Kibbel, Contributing Writer
In: Old House History, house styles, old houses
Italianate is considered a style from the “picturesque movement”, a departure from the preceding classical styles of architecture.  As far as I can tell, the style came from Great Britain, not Italy.  It’s details though, are based on the 16th century Italian Villas of the wealthiest class.   In America, there were some built in the 1840s, but Italianate houses were predominately built here between 1850 and 1890. The most common details ...

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