How to Read a House Before You Buy It

Every house tells you how it was made, if you slow down enough to listen. The way a door meets its frame, the weight of a stair rail, the join where stone becomes plaster — these are the sentences of a building’s character.

Touch the thresholds

Run your hand along the transitions: floor to wall, cabinet to counter, window to sill. Tight, considered joins are a sign of patient craft. Gaps and filler are a sign of speed. A home built slowly tends to be lived in slowly, and happily.

Finally, visit twice — once in bright weather, once in grey. A house you love in both is a house that will hold you through every season.