Remodeling in Orlando, Where the Street Changes Faster Than the House

That is genuinely the Orlando question, and the honest answer is that it depends on how long you intend to stay and what the house can carry. An older house has qualities new construction on the same street does not — proportion, canopy, position on the lot — and those are worth building around rather than erasing. What we try to avoid is the middle: a scope too large to be a sensible refresh and too small to answer what is being built beside you. We would rather help you land clearly on one side of that than split the difference.

Usually, and in pre-war and post-war Orlando houses it is the change with the biggest effect, because the original plan deliberately separated the kitchen from everything else. What decides it is what the dividing wall is carrying and where the services run. Removing or widening a load-bearing wall requires proper engineering and permits, and in older houses the plumbing and electrical you uncover often shape the sequence. We establish both before the design is fixed, not once demolition has started.

Some are and many are not, and it is address-specific. The City of Orlando designates local historic districts and is the authority on whether yours falls inside one and what review applies — typically to exterior changes rather than interior work. We plan the project around whatever process applies, and we would rather confirm it at the outset than have a design come back for revision.

No. SAVAM House serves Orlando and the surrounding Central Florida area, and we do not claim a premises in the city. We come to the house, assess it in person, and plan from what is there.