The Door Bell: Is building craft making a comeback?

Some hope for the future of new-build houses

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Bell! It’s a spicy one, folks!

I recently became obsessed with a Dallas/Fort Worth-based homebuilder named Brent Hull. Not your typical celebrity obsession, right? He’s actually not a celebrity; he owns a building company and makes podcast/social media/YouTube content about his methods for a modest following.

But—he’s not just any builder, he’s a master of traditional building craft. His mission is to fight back against McMansions and “fast food/fast fashion” new builds while reviving the skills that builders had in the past, at a time when every house was both lasting and beautiful.

Discovering Brent Hull was such a revelation to me (and my husband) because we treasure old houses and appreciate all kinds of skilled craft—musicians, chefs, florists, art restorers, textile block printers, woodworkers, etc. etc.—but we didn’t know that this kind of person even existed anymore in home building. (At least in America. I have long admired Ben Pentreath in the UK for his “new houses don’t have to be ugly” ethos and commitment to using building materials and methods that will last.)

And we talk about this topic a lot in my household (you would be shocked how much, actually) because we can’t wrap our heads around the thought the only way new homes will get built going forward is with drywall, plastic, plywood, and all the other disposable materials we see when houses and multi-families go up. It made us feel sad.

Sad for the people who will never know what an old house feels like—I grew up in a 1920s house and my husband grew up in a 1900 house and a 1730s house—because the skill and craft to make such houses has been lost.

I want to pause and say this is not in any way judging anyone who lives in a new build house (defined as post-1940 but especially post-1990). My whole point is that those make up the vast majority of housing inventory available, due to choices made in the homebuilding industry and shifts in the broader American economy over the last 75ish years, and there’s absolutely no problem with buying one.

There’s a lot to be said for new builds, and in the world there’s room for all types. But why are we only building new houses in one way now? It’s an inferior way. Disagree with me in the comments if you want. But the way—the skill and materials with which—houses are built these days is not as good as it was pre-1940.

And it seems like a supply problem. People love old houses—they have tactility and decorative details and weight and soul. There is very clearly high demand for old houses. I mean, the old house inventory is so desirable that everyone but the wealthy is priced out of buying one, especially in an urban market, but pretty much everywhere. And they get more valuable with age.

This kind of house, of course, used to be accessible to everyone. In the 1940s and earlier, a starter home (bought and furnished with one person’s income lol) used to be built of a solid wood frame with siding and roof in local materials that came from the earth. It most likely had 6-10” baseboards and crown moulding. It most likely had a fireplace!

But the supply of existing old houses is extremely limited. And, because the skills have been lost to time and the good materials have become exorbitantly expensive (due to an economy of materials organized around what you can buy on-demand at the hardware store—fast and cheap) no one is building new houses in the old way. Or renovating old houses in the old way, for that matter!

I see this play out in my beautiful historic neighborhood in Boston.

Our next door neighbors have spent an absolute fortune (according to neighborhood gossip, at least $2m) gut-renovating their traditional South End brick town house over the last two years and I’ve watched it every day with a combination of heartbreak and resignation.

The façade is exactly the same; there’s not much they can do to it, thanks to neighborhood historic preservation regulations. But the inside is another story. They took it down to the studs and rebuilt with sheet rock and plug-and-play kitchen and cabinetry systems—the same exact stuff you get with a much less expensive build.

But they clearly have the budget. What I’m asking myself is: why didn’t they pay a bit more to put in plaster walls and handmade custom cabinets? And the answer is that, even if they wanted it, the skill to do those crafts has nearly died out, to say nothing of access to the materials. When my parents’ plasterer retired, they were unable to find another one in their entire geographical area.

So this brings us back to my boy Brent Hull.

He’s reviving the old style of homebuilding, whether he’s contracted to build a new house or to restore an old one. Currently, I have no doubt that his services are cost-prohibitive for everyone besides the wealthy. But he’s creating new inventory of well-built homes—and more importantly, he’s spreading the word and he’s teaching.

He’s getting other people in his industry curious about another—better—way of doing things, and he’s bringing new people into his industry by apprenticing them and/or encouraging them to go to trade schools like the North Bennet Street School in Boston that still teach traditional craft. But he’s also providing the layperson, such as myself, with education and entertainment about this important art.

My hope is that, gradually, well-made new builds and the people with the skills to make them will proliferate in our country.

I hope that with increased supply, the cost to own one will come down.

And I hope that this style of building will help to heal the earth that’s been damaged by the demand that everything be fast and cheap. Building in this way isn’t just about what one person wants their house to look and feel like. It’s a very environmentally-friendly and sustainable way to build a house. That house will still be standing strong for many generations to come—and only get more gorgeous with age.

I’m sure there are others like Brent Hull out there, and I can’t wait to discover them, too. But today I just wanted to spread the word about his mission, because it’s a cause I’m passionate about, too. Find him on Instagram, YouTube, and your favorite podcast app. A good place to start is his “New House, Old Soul” series, embedded below.

I’ve written spicy takes about homes before (see below). It’s a topic I have a lot of thoughts on, so I’m sure I’ll write more in the future. I’d love to have a conversation with you guys about this—hit reply to this email, leave a comment, or jump in the subscriber chat to let me know your own thoughts.

xx Jane

P.S. Did you miss my big edition of autumn recommendations? Or my autumn wardrobe wishlist? Or my thoughts on another kind of mastery of craft, signature recipes? There’s lots more to read in the archives.