I like the word “integrity.” I grew up thinking it was primarily about moral behavior. As a handyman, I’ve come to understand it more as a description of right relationship, that a thing has integrity when its parts work together and serve the whole. The integrity of a beautiful old house means that the thousands of its parts and systems work as a whole, from ridge cap to footing and everything in between. Roof trusses, studs, joists, shiplap, plumbing, eaves, windows, flooring, faucets, switches. A house will function as a house and a home when it is built well and maintained well, in an integrity of form and function, beauty and usability. If it is poorly made, or when it starts to fall apart, integrity suffers.

Give it enough time and a simple leak is capable of ruining a whole house.