One of the first things I recommend to house researchers is to look around their home and yard, noting distinctive features and obvious alterations and changes. You can look for evidence of previous buildings, roadways, paths, fences and other items. Looking at the house style, foundation materials and types of nails used can help you in dating the structure. There are some wonderful architectural detail books available that can help you with determining the style of the house, which can possibly narrow down the year it was built.
When renovating your home I encourage you to take photographs before the remodeling, as well as during the process. And of course you’ll want photos of the end result. You never know what you might uncover when opening up walls or doing excavation work. When we were digging the foundation for our addition in 2007, we unearthed the original cistern for the house. It was in fantastic condition, but unfortunately was right where the new basement was to be located so it had to be destroyed.