Old House Fair on March 2nd

The Metropolitan Historical Commission Foundation and partners will host the 2019 Old House Fair on Saturday, March 2, 2019, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Sevier Park Community Center, 3021 Lealand Avenue. The Old House Fair is a FREE day-long festival showcasing new ideas, practical advice, innovative materials, and quality services for homeowners to learn more about sustainable and historic products and services, and gain tips for planning and executing your project.

Exhibitors included companies, retailers, and artists experienced in working with homes of many ages and styles, from Antebellum to Mid-century Modern.

Sponsorship opportunities available. If you are interested in being a sponsor, please contact Robin Zeigler at robin.zeigler@nashville.gov or 615-862-7970 ext.79776.

Presentations

9:30 a.m. Restoring Your Ranch House

Learn how a local preservationist undertook an award-winning restoration of a historic 1954 Ranch House in Madison. This session will review lessons learned and suggestions on repairing and restoring original character defining features such as wood frame windows, asbestos shingle siding, interior moldings, and exterior trim. This session will include a review of all the cool original features of a Ranch House, including steel kitchens, laminate countertops, electric wall heaters, and tile bathrooms.

10:15 a.m. Curios in Historic Construction

The way that we build houses has changed over the decades and its fun to look back some of the older and historic homes in our area to gain a a window into how thing used to be done. Major improvements have been made to how we construct a house and much has been learned about why some materials and techniques work and others do not. Join us as we looking into the past and explore features from tree trunk columns to coal fireplaces and more.

11:00 a.m. Holistic Approach to Home Renovation

Renovating an old home? How to take a holistic approach and achieve compounding benefits. Whether you are renovating or updating your home, taking a holistic approach to the design and construction can create many benefits beyond energy efficiency. E3 Innovate, Nashville’s experts in green renovation, shares the top 3 strategies for creating a high performance home. Using integrated design techniques and the application of the latest technologies, this holistic approach helps homeowners achieve healthy indoor quality, personalized comfort, and long-lasting durability.

11:45 a.m. Reading Between the Lines

How to build and renovate in historic districts with modern sensibilities that are in keeping with the time and place to create contextually sensitive architecture. Exemplary examples of houses that have been built or renovated in historic districts will be presented along with references to the code and the ingenuity of the code solutions. Why imitate when you can aspire.

12:30 p.m. Historic Nashville Inc’s Economic Incentive

Preservation Easements are the strongest tool for preserving your historic building or home. During this workshop, representatives from Historic Nashville, Inc. will discuss their preservation easements program including what is a preservation easement what are the benefits of donating an easement, and how a preservation easement can ensure the preservation of your historic home. Historic Nashville, Inc. established the state’s first preservation easements program in 1982 and currently owns 18 easements within Metro Nashville-Davidson County including the Hermitage Hotel and the Southern Turf.

1:15 p.m. Renovation Loans with Laree Leyland

The Mortgage Lady at the Volunteer Mortgage Group/ USA Lending will provide information on FHA 203K and Fannie Mae Homestyle options that allow homeowners to finance both a purchase or refinance along with the renovation of a home through a single mortgage. The Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan is a single-close loan that includes the cost of home repairs in the overall loan amount. This loan can be used for repairs that an appraiser requires, or for changes the homeowner wants to make, and it can be used to pay for both structural and cosmetic repairs. The FHA 203K government-backed loan is similar to HomeStyle, but its open to buyers with lower credit scores.

2:00 p.m. This Old House Plumbing: How to Avoid Flushing Money Down the Drain

Learn how and where to save money on rehabbing one of the most expensive parts of an old house restoration with Master Plumber Andrew Ward. Tips on how to save money, how to find and hire competent contractor. What things you can do and what you should not do and why does plumbing cost so much.