Antique New England Homes and Barnes

Antique New England Homes and Barns – History, Restorations, and Reinterpretation – Jim DeStefano, P.E., AIA, F. SEI

There is something about antique homes and their hard-working barns that captures the imagination. Maybe it’s their pleasing proportions, maybe they remind us of a simpler time, or maybe we sense that these venerable old survivors that were built when our country was young have seen it all. But how many of us have bothered to listen to the stories they tell or tried to understand what makes them tick? This book reveals the essence of antique New England homes and barns—their history, the people who built them, why they were built that way, and how to restore them, piece by piece, without losing their character. Learn to identify architectural styles from different periods, how to strategize a restoration, and how to approach it systematically, from the timber frame to the floors, walls, and ceilings, windows and doors, wiring, finishes, and landscaping. Purchase this text.
“The cool thing about Schiffer books is that they’re just the tiniest bit nerdy: They have pretty pictures, yes, but they’re not shiny coffee-table books. They have a first-person, “been there” ethos, whether amateur, or professional; captions are rich with details. This one by engineer and old-house champion Jim Destefano is an earnest example, bursting with “during” photos, diagrams, and personal anecdotes as he shares his enthusiasm for the old houses and barns of New England. Chapters progress chronologically, followed by hard-working essays on dating a structural, sustainability for the future, “new old houses”, masonry and timber framing, roofing and siding, kitchens, baths and the systems. The reader gets insight into window muntin profiles, stone walls, etc. DeStefano’s writing is friendly and clear.”
-Old House Journal, December 2017
Design for Flooding

Design For Flooding: Architecture, Landscape, and Urban Design

Jim co-authored the section of this text regarding Flood-Resistant Design. Purchase this text.
Sustainability Guidelines

Sustainability Guidelines for the Structural Engineer

Jim authored the section of the Structural Engineering Institute’s Sustainability Guidelines for Structural Engineers dealing with the design of wood and timber structures. View this chapter in it’s entirety.