“The Future is the Past” with Lee McColgan (GWTW778)

What’s the point of preserving old homes? Why do old homes matter? Two driving questions for today’s interview with Lee McColgan, woodworker, restorer of old homes, and author of A House Restored: The Tragedies and Triumphs of Saving a New England Colonial. Lee shares his philosophy, how he thinks about old things, and many stories about his journey from finance to woodworking and home restoration. We talk about his fascination with how things are made by hand, the breadcrumbs of our work present throughout our lives, the creative drive and purpose of his work, the impermanence of all things, the eccentric personalities of people he’s met over the years, why generalization is dangerous, and interesting things he’s found hidden in the walls.

Show Links

• Lee McColgan on Instagram (@helvehistorictrades)
• A House Restored: The Tragedies and Triumphs of Saving a New England Colonial by Lee McColgan
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
• Stranger Things (2016–2025)
• James Victore
• Wall Street (1987)
• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
• Building the Timber Frame House: The Revival of a Forgotten Craft by Tedd Benson with James Gruber
• Bensonwood
• The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625–1725 by Abbott Lowell Cummings
• The Old Way of Seeing (And How to Get It Back) by Jonathan Hale
• The Age of Wood: Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization by Roland Ennos
• Mark Kurlansky
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• Photo by Carlo Borella on Unsplash