Adaptive Reuse: Turning Commercial Buildings Into Homes

The project was completed using reclaimed materials like 300-year-old eastern heart pine floors and 100-year-old doors from Mexican haciendas. The recovered ceiling trusses in the kitchen still have their original bolts.

Make It Home:
• When building under strict building codes, or by a preservation board’s regulations, enlist the help of a local builder who knows the area and its history.
• Use reclaimed materials from the former structure, and from sites around the country, to help maintain the house’s history. Weathered siding for this home came from a Montana mine.
• Strands of dead saplings can be used as stair balusters and railings to create a rustic, outdoor feeling.