Arroyo Historical is a designer, builder, re-modeler and restorer specializing in preservation and restoration of late 19th century / early 20th century homes and commercial buildings.
Cost. Time. Quality. Choose all three. The methods and materials that made the old housing stock of this country and elsewhere are not extravagance. They were forged in the fires of merciless necessity. Homes had to work well and work reliably. If they broke they needed to be very fixable. Expansion and remodeling was carried out from start to finish by craftsmen working from the original plan legible in the building itself, and informed by professional norms.
The past is the future. Older buildings are inherently green. The academic consensus holds that the energy efficiency of new construction incapable of overcoming the inefficiency of removing and replacing old with new construction. Furthermore, the materials lost in the process are rare, priceless and extremely high-performing. The extreme density of the first-growth wood gave it higher load-bearing capacity as well as fire-resistance, pest-resistance and rot-resistance. In the field we resent having to pull nails out of it because of how it grips fasteners. Even in cases where the home was not built to the highest standards of craftsmanship, the material keeps them standing generation after generation. That means less replacement, less cost and more green. All of this applies for individual components, like windows.
The Bottom LInes. Delivering high value serves our real bottom line: the historic built environment. In accordance with this bottom line we also select one project per year to perform pro bono. Municipalities, organizations and home owners can request to be considered here.
We are on the Board of Silverlake Heritage Trust and are active members of Highland Park Heritage Trust.