"The
Original" New Old House
Designing with Reclaimed Materials
Written By Ed Knapp, President of Vintage Beams & Timbers, Inc.
Book © September 2002
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ISBN: 1-58685-842-4 8.5 x 10
in, 160 pages
Recently featured on
ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Ed Knapp and his
company, Vintage Beams and Timbers, have an illustrious
reputation for their amazing work with reclaimed materials around
the world. Combining old-world craftsmanship with the character of
vintage building materials provides a warm alternative to the
standard suburban-home construction.
New Old House: Designing with Reclaimed Materials
utilizes stunning photography to profile homes across the country
that use reclaimed architectural materials in their design.
Interesting, informative, and entertaining writing tells the story
of the reclaimed material as well as the people whose lives it was
once a part of.
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| New Old House illustrates Knapp's passion for
taking building materials from structures that would otherwise go
abandoned, left to degrade and waste away, and for creating a new
legacy for the structures' valuable old bones. Americans are more
aware than ever of the need to reduce, reuse, and recycle. New
Old House is all about how to incorporate those ideas into
one of life's biggest investments--building or remodeling a home. It
showcases the design possibilities associated with using recycled
and reclaimed materials in new home construction, incorporating
these materials into modern homes by using traditional applications
and techniques. An amazing array of modern design examples and ideas
are represented in styles ranging from rustic to elegant.
Ed Knapp is the owner and operator of Vintage Beams and
Timbers, an import/export company specializing in reclaiming
vintage building materials and incorporating them into new building
designs. He has been a supplier of fine recycled and antique lumber,
including custom truss package fabrication, decorative corbel ends,
floorings, and paneling materials, for more than ten years. Knapp
works out of a renovated barn in Sylva, North Carolina, and also has
an office in China, where he focuses on architectural reclamation. |
"New Old House" is the original book on the
creative use of recycled wood using old, antique or vintage beams and timbers in new
home / house architecture and construction by Ed Knapp. Reclaimed timbers and wood can be
used for accents, archways, beams, cabinets, ceilings, columns, cornices, doors, doorways,
floors, mantles, paneling, railing, stairs, trusses, etc. For New Old House Book Reviews Click Here or the Table
of Contents Click Here! |
Click a link for more
information on purchasing Architectural Salvage, Teak, Mantles,
Truss Packages,
Chinese Bricks,
Antique Beams,
Reclaimed
Flooring or Recycled
Timbers. |
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A century-old dilapidated barn on the side of the road in Pennsylvania may
appear to be an eyesore to some, but beneath its weathered exterior hides a wealth of
timbered beams and craftsmanship that have survived the test of time. A world away in
Kunming, China, intricately carved doors from the Ching dynasty are salvaged from
buildings slated for demolition. These architectural elements both await rebirth as part
of a new support structure called the "new old house." The
New Old House Designing with Reclaimed Materials is a blueprint for blending the past and
present in home and business design, emphasizing the use of vintage materials. The
examples within provide tips on utilizing these elements to add character to a new home,
and offer a natural and creative way to incorporate the patina of age-old materials into
any design.
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Author values old
materials in construction
By Mary Beth Breckenridge (Knight Ridder Newspapers)
The Indianapolis Star July 5, 2003
The Charlotte Observer July 5, 2003
Houston Chronicle July 5, 2003
The Journal News
September 18, 2003
Ed Knapp loves the history and soul that old materials can bring
to new buildings.
He's encouraging others to share his love of recycled timbers,
pavers and the like in his new book "New Old House: Designing with Reclaimed
Materials" (Gibbs Smith, #39.95) |
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Knapp's respect for old materials springs from his affection for
his grandparents' barn near Buffalo, NY, and it's grown into his life's work. He owns
Vintage Beams and Timbers, a company in North Carolina's Smoky Mountains that specializes
in reclaiming old building materials.
His book addresses the practical aspects of reusing materials,
such as the benefits of using old wood, the physical qualities and characteristics of old
timbers and the need to acclimate the wood to the moisture content in the air of the
building site.
Mostly. though, the book is devoted to buildings that have
incorporated recycled materials, accompanied by plenty of photos for inspiration. In a
couple of cases Knapp tells the story of the materials origins in a barn and train depot
and follows the materials to their new homes. |
| If
you would like further information about this book by Ed Knapp or if you would like to
find out more about purchasing some of our antique wood products please call us at
828-586-0755, fax us at 828-586-4647 or e-mail us at info@originalnewoldhouse.com |