Spring is the Season for Old House Fairs

First, I would like to welcome Elaine Vitone as a blogger on OldHouseWeb.com. I enjoyed reading her blog on possible uses of small closets in old houses. I was born, and spent the first 12 years of my life, just north of Pittsburgh, and know the area is full of beautiful old houses.Second, I would like to congratulate New Orleans for making it to the Super Bowl.

When I think about old houses, New Orleans is one of the first cities which comes to my mind. The city and the people have done a tremendous job of preserving the history and tradition of the area, and much of the architecture in the city’s historic districts is unique. So, even though I am a lifelong Steelers fan, I am happy for New Orleans and the Saints.

Evidently springtime is the prime season for old house fairs and expos. Thank you to Pat and Elaine for the feedback concerning the Old House Expo in Kalamazoo, I’m glad it was a success. We have a couple more old house gatherings coming up in the near future.The first is the Decatur Old House Fair in Decatur, Georgia on March 6th. There will be vendor booths and restoration contractors in attendance. They also have some very interesting lectures lined up with guest speakers.

One of the lectures will be on restoration techniques for old house windows, a topic near and dear to many of us with the old single pane windows. There will also be a lecture on turning old houses “green”, which is very relevant these days.

There is a complete list of lectures and demonstrations on their website, these were just 2 which caught my eye. Decatur is a suburb of Atlanta, and I’m sure the entire Atlanta metro area is full old beautiful old southern homes.Next is the Old House Fair in Philadelphia on April 3. Philadelphia is just like New Orleans for me, when I hear someone mention it, or see the name, old houses immediately come to mind. Of course, I also think about Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But Philadelphia is another city which I feel has done a good job of preserving it’s history and tradition, and has numerous historic districts with some beautifully restored old houses.

The Old House Fair in Philadelphia is scheduled to have over 70 booths of old house vendors and restoration professionals, and will be giving an award to the contractor who has done the most for area preservation during the past year.I hope that anyone who has a chance to attend either of these old house fairs will let us know how they went, and about any items which were of special interest to them. Also, since spring seems to be the time for old house fairs and expos, if anyone is aware of anymore scheduled in the near future, please let us know.