Historic Plans

19th century farmstead plans - American Country Building Design

If you’re planning to build or renovate a traditional country building, you can find inspiration in one of the many reprints of 19th and early 20th century plan books. Country cottage, farmhouse, cabin, carriage house, barn and outbuilding plans are fairly easy to re-create because the original buildings were straight­forward. You’ll need to work with an architect or professional engineer because new plans will have to be prepared. The old layouts need to be updated a bit. You’ll probably want indoor plumbing. And, you’ll need accurate blueprints for permits, for construction esti­mates and to build from. The best architect to choose is someone with experience at restoration work, who has a sensitivity for historic proportions and who is familiar with replica­tion materials, details and fixtures.

I’ve put together a list of on-line sources for soft-cover reprints and downloadable ebooks. It includes a shameless plug for my own book of historic farmstead plans. Take a look >>>

If you know of other sources that I’ve missed, Please just click on the “comments” link above and let me know.

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