Whole-home renovation
Whole-Home Renovation for Older Houses
For the house that needs more than updates: the character of the original kept, the rest rebuilt for the way you live now.
TL;DR
Heirloom Home Co. renovates whole houses across Middle Tennessee, usually older homes whose systems, layout or structure need more than a room-by-room update. The aim, in the founders’ words, is to honor the character of the original structure while bringing it to life for the way a family lives today. The budget is set by the house: how much wiring, plumbing and HVAC is replaced, what the framing and foundation need, and how much original material is saved. Permits come from the city or county the house sits in.
When does a house need a renovation instead of updates?
When the problems run through the whole house rather than one room. Original wiring or plumbing throughout, a floor plan that fights the way the family lives, floors that sag or a foundation that has moved, or decades of piecemeal remodels that no longer agree with each other: each of those is a renovation, not a refresh.
Heirloom describes the work like this: “When a home needs more than updates, we’re equipped to take on full renovations that honor the character of the original structure while bringing it fully to life for the way you live today.”
What is worth keeping in an older Middle Tennessee house?
Usually more than people expect: the proportions, the porch, hardwood floors under the carpet, solid doors and trim, and a frame that has already stood for seventy years. In Donelson, where Heirloom has built, the Metro Historical Commission’s March 2025 survey describes mostly Minimal Traditional, Transitional Ranch, Ranch and split-level houses, in subdivisions platted between 1940 and 1958.
Their simple shapes make them good candidates for opening up a kitchen, adding a bath or finishing a porch without changing what the street looks like. The decision on what stays is made before demolition, not during it.
What sets the budget for a whole-house renovation?
The age and condition of the house, more than its size. Replacing wiring, plumbing and HVAC throughout is a large share of most renovations, and a house that already had them updated costs far less to renovate than one that never did.
Structure comes next: framing that needs sistering, a foundation that needs repair, a roof that has to come off. Then the finish level, and how much original material is saved, which can cost more than new because of the labor. Permitted work can also bring the house up to the current code in the areas it touches. Heirloom prices a renovation from the house in front of it.
Who permits a renovation?
Whoever governs the address. Metro Codes and Building Safety for a house in Nashville, the City of Fairview or Brentwood inside those city limits, and the Williamson County Building Codes Division in Franklin for rural county land. Each enforces its own edition of the residential code: 2018 in Brentwood, 2021 on county land, 2024 in Metro. The service-area page lists which office covers which of the 27 towns, and Heirloom’s license 85402 covers a single renovation up to $3,000,000.
Answers
Renovation questions
How much does a whole-house renovation cost?
Heirloom prices a renovation from the house, since the age of the building sets most of the budget: wiring, plumbing and HVAC replaced or kept, how much framing and foundation need, and how much of the original you want saved. The number comes from the house itself, never from a square-foot rate.
Is a full house renovation worth it?
It is when the house has the right bones and the right street. Older Middle Tennessee homes often have a location and proportions a new house cannot buy. Heirloom’s aim is to “honor the character of the original structure while bringing it fully to life for the way you live today.”
What kinds of older Nashville houses get renovated?
In Donelson, where Heirloom has worked, most of the postwar housing is Minimal Traditional, Ranch, Transitional Ranch and split-level, laid out in subdivisions platted from 1940 to 1958 such as Hargis Heights, Merry Oaks and Sunny Acres, according to the Metro Historical Commission’s 2025 survey.
Who issues renovation permits in Williamson County?
Inside a city, the city does: Fairview through its Planning & Codes Department and Brentwood through its Codes Section on Maryland Way. On land outside city limits it is the county Building Codes Division in Franklin, reachable at 615-790-5718, which enforces the 2021 International Residential Code.
Can a renovation keep the character of an old house?
That is the point of doing one rather than starting over. Heirloom plans which parts of the original stay (the proportions, the porch, the materials worth saving) before deciding what gets rebuilt for the way the family lives now. The goal is a house that still looks like it belongs there.
