Why is Modern Architecture so UGLY?! 

I totally agree with you. When people take beautiful wood and stone work and destroy it for "modern" it makes me want to cry. They have no appreciation of the beauty and history they are destroying.

I didn't know Sage can roast this good! Like this lovely woman who makes videos about her chickens and her nephew and talks about dresses and gives off such sweet vibes, can be so subtle yet brutal. You totally destroyed the so called "architecture" and his opinions. They honestly stand no chance. I live for contents like this!

Some people don't see the beauty in Old things, nor understand the character of the past. They destroy the history of the home.

It kills my soul to see a charming beautiful cottage turned into an eyesore.

The idea is to make every home look like an office building, isn’t it? So we always feel like we’re at work. Plus, that huge black wall with just a door and a second floor window? Ughh!! This is, basically a complete re-build. They might as well have knocked the whole thing down. So the architect is not his wife-maybe his sister? 😅 It is SO ugly! It is SO hideous!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. People buy old, historic homes and modernize them to death. If you want a new home, buy a new build! My family used to live in a late 1800's Queen Anne home (I think that's the style?) with original floor to ceiling blown glass windows, original hardwood floors, trims, pocket doors and main staircase. When we had to sell, the new owners completely gutted the upstairs, painted the hardwood trims, staircase, and pocket doors, and put California shutters on the beautiful windows. The whole neighbourhood lamented. Rumour has it that the company they hired to paint actually refused to paint the pocket doors, so they had to do it themselves. It was such a shame.

I hate when people ruin a cute older home. I also can't get over the fact that they did SO MUCH to this house and for some reason didn't think to replace the old shingles that now look very old and dirty compared to everything else on the exterior

Awww noooo!! It was so cute! It just needed to be re-painted with fresh paint and to be re-fixed here and there, but the original design is so much better :'(. RIP little cottage.

This is so funny to watch because it's literally what I do when I watch renovation videos. They take away the charm and uniqueness and replace it with cold, jolting colors. Its refreshing to know there are other people out there who are as horrified as I am.😂

Yes... Modern architecture has spoiled... THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH

I completely agree, and shared your shocked reactions Sage! Even all black houses can be pretty if they are Victorian era, with lots of outdoor details and plants to liven it up. But this... this is what I like to call "apocalyptic farmhouse", because it looks so depressed and stripped of personality. 😄 Their attitude about the house is absolutely bizarre, and the final product was not only ugly but completely clashed with the grounds and other houses.

This hurts so much. Modern architecture is depressing and ugly. So fully agree with you. Then again, my dream home is a miniature baroque castle... 😅

I totally agree with you Sage. I hate watching home makeover shows, they always rip out walls to make open floor plans and make everything white. The new architecture has no personality or charm to it. I love the old Craftsman Houses, with the beautiful woodwork, they’re so warm and inviting.

I live in Seattle WA, and this kind of modern look is EVERYWHERE. It compleatly wipes out the suburban tranquil look of the surrounding older homes, which are all different colors and vitage styles! I loved the format of this video and hope you make more like this sometime! Who knows maybe someone will have good taste~

OMG Sage, I feel this in my bones. WHY!? Clean the siding, de-moss the roof, renovate the kitchen, repaint. But wtf did they do?! 😭😭😭

I totally agree with you Sage! I am French and in France we have the same process: old vintage houses are destroyed (they are said to be "dangerous" to live in because too old) in order to construct concrete cubes with narrow windows that scarcely let the light in. But, you know, that's what they call modernity... It makes me very sad to see how the french landscape is slowing changing...

Totally agree!! Modern architecture makes me sad, so cold, and lifeless. Old houses and the stories of the families who have lived there feel like a warm hug when you walk into them. I love whenever people respect the history of a home when they do renovations. I have absolutely loved your recent renovations on your cute home!!

I hate what they did to the house.

There's a lot of architectural vandalism going on here in the UK these days, with lovely twentieth century brick houses being covered in white plaster and refitted with grey PVC windows and doors (not to mention the astroturf and poured concrete gardens!). It's absolutely vile, and probably quite expensive to do too, so I really don't understand it! I do appreciate high-quality modern architecture when it's done well, but that seems to be quite rare at the moment :(

Well Sage - if it makes you feel better, we bought a 1946 Art deco derelict, rescued it from demolition and over the next 2 decades renovated and extended it into a seamless, heritage styled, extended home, with modern design extension for family living but period features all thru it. We have been here 25 years now, and surrounding homes are being knocked down and repllaced with modern maisonettes - yet restored historical homes here in Adelaide still attract top dollar. SOme of us DO care, no one will make a documentary about us, but I designed the entire renovations myself, and the whole home is a homage to 1940's. All the more reason to keep your home and make it YOUR dream. We will never leave our beautiful time warp and everyone comments on it when they first come. Good idea for a video series BTW.

Totally agree with you Sage.. that black box is literally nauseating.

I'm almost 70 and my grandmother had an ironing board like that in her kitchen. She ironed everything including sheets and even Grandpa's underwear.

I feel the same way. I absolutely hate when people modernize old homes. My favorite design is a craftsman bungalow.

We had neighbors that completely ruined the look of their home by painting everything(!) BLACK and stuffing their garden with overflowing green plants in pots… it looks terrible if you ask me 😂 (the house used to have a classic timeless and tidy look to it and it was a dark green color with white window frames)

It's so sad what people are doing to history and beautiful old architecture. The warmth of a cozy home. Love you sage ❤

I agree 1000%! Old homes are treasures of architecture!🏠

That house is an eyesore in the end. Horrid. I agree with you Sage. There's so much that could have been done to preserve the character of the place and make it estetically pleasing instead of destroying everything that was beautiful about it.

Sage, I agree 100%. In the US, where i live, people are taking our older houses and ruining them, too. I lived in a Chicago bungalow as a teenager and my husband and I (and kids) live in a Chicago style bungalow now. People are taking these beautiful houses and taking out all the walls and painting everything grey! Ug. Ugly! People take Victorian houses and ruin the windows, knock out walls, put in wall board and remove beautiful plaster from the walls. We need more young people to train as plaster workers. Thank you for your dedication to good architecture, Sage.

Can you imagine trying to keep those mirrored cabinets clean?? Maybe it’s because I have animals and kids, but that just seems like a nightmare 😂

It's like they're trying to be "different avant-garde" nevermind the comforts or the warmness and tranquility your home should be.

I live in the north of Germany and here the trend has been modern danish architecture, which is basically big boxes with window walls. It's so impersonal, and it feels crazy to me that people are flocking to live in smaller, more expensive apartments just because they're trendy now. The older buildings in the city are so full of character, from the low, brick wall buildings built between the fifties and the seventies like the one I live in, spacious and smart in the design, or gorgeous buildings in the local flavor of art nouveau, which was called Jugendstil

You are so Right about this house. All it needed was bigger windows and a better layout of the kitchen. 😢 They spoiled a classic Barn House Cottage. 😢

I totally agree with you, Sage. I could never live in those modern Cookie cutter houses. There are so many popping up now, and our state is getting overrun by them.

The black house they designed reminds me of a giant black house that was nearby me where I grew up. It was always this giant, looming boxy monstrosity. This house in this video made me remember that horrid looking house from the past. And everything you said about the house is absolutely right!

May I just say... You are absolutely delightful! Such pure, positive, calming energy. You come across as lovely and genuine, which is so rare on the internet these days, a real breath of fresh air. I love receiving notification that you posted a new video, watching you while drinking a cup of tea is one of my favorite things. Have a wonderful day! ☀

I agree! You’re not crazy. The best compliment I get from people who see my house is “it looks like you.” My secret- all of my furniture is from thrift stores and fb marketplace or built myself because that’s where all the character and interest is! And I’m inspired by the Mediterranean…Incidentally I love your channel :)

Please do more of these! Finally someone who thinks the way I do!

If I owned that home. I would hire an architect that would reform the home to a 1950s style of home. The color would be a lighter color and the kitchen would look like my grandma's kitchen. Black? Who would paint their house black? 😨 I agree with you they ruined it. I'm currently looking for an old fashioned home myself. Our house is too modern.

I must also say, that in childhood I had an experience of living in both cold, drafty modern house, which was made of steel & betong, in a shape of paralellepiped, with a minimum of decorations, and beautiful old brick house with lots of architectural decorations, - it was practically a modest palace. And being in that mansion, built by the famous architector many years ago, was a real blessing! It was not only pretty, - it was very comfortable too. Warm in winter, chill in summer, - all around wonderful! Just going down the gorgeous stairs was an exciting adventure.

The old house had so much soul. I agree with you 100%

It looks like someone took a cardboard box, painted it black and cut out squares for windows. There are so many lovely old houses in England so I really hope that they do not all turn into this because I would not want to live here anymore!

The 1930's cottage we're moving into has very pale lavender walls in the livingroom and blue in the bedrooms. I thought I would hate it (I'm more of a neutral wall color person), but I LOVE them!

Your reactions are so funny ! You’ve managed to find one of the ugliest houses ever ! Being from the UK George Clarke is famous for wanting to preserve old world charm would you believe, he must have been broken on this house !! Most people in the UK love keeping as much original architecture as possible this one is horrific. This is not typical of British architecture 🫤 great video 😂💜

I agree with you Sage. They could have restored this and played up on the charm of its old style. My dream would be to restore a large Victorian home.

I need more of these videos!!! Your reactions were so funny and spot on! 😂

Whenever I see fully black houses here in Australia I wonder how big their electricity bill is over summer trying to cool it down lmao

“Of course you love it! You designed it.” 🤣 My thoughts exactly. The original house had way more character and charm

I agree with you and have never liked modern homes or decor. I prefer anything from the Victorian era to the 50s. One thing I hate is when someone has one of those amazing pink 50s bathrooms and they tear it apart and put modern things in it. I love the old fashioned pink bathrooms and would be so happy to have one. I would love a Victorian home, but also I could be happy with any home style up to the 50s. It feels like people don't appreciate the beauty of the past and are always, trying to destroy it :(

Sage, I couldn’t agree with you more. That house was beautiful. It just needed a few changes to bring out all the character. My house was built circa 1890. It was in rough shape when we bought it. We are slowly renovating each room and leaving as much of the original features as possible. I always ask, “What does the house want?” and it tells me. All new fixtures we add look old. All designs are classic. No white rooms. No black anywhere! Colour palette is various shades of yellow, red and green, inside and out. A house should smile, not cry. Love your videos! ❤️🇨🇦

Love watching this with you. I agree people are just ruining old beautiful homes

This couple had no business buying that house. They wanted a modern home and should have bought one. What a waste of resources. This house is an eyesore in the countryside but would suit a more modern neighborhood. I believe the property must have been a steal, and they bought it intending to completely change it. Like you, Sage, I love an old house with lots of character. Seeing that poor house made into a modern ugly box made me cry. They got the architect for free in exchange for her husband showcasing her work. Nothing like obnoxious advertising! You have great taste, Sage! Let's have a moment of silence for all the old houses we have lost to modern architecture. xoxo's Sandie

Hi Sage. I agree with you totally. All they need to do was to take ways the glass porch by the front door and get a new kitchen cupboard besides some paint. That way it would keep it's charm and still feel modern. I myself prefer old houses then these modern things. So it is not just you. Charm and character is what makes a old house. Modern ones don't seem to have a soul to them.

Sage, I love your reactions! xD I have very similar thoughts and ideas when it comes to house architecture, and I too judge how modern houses look. One of my favorite past times is turning on the Home and Garden TV channel and making fun/judging all the decisions people make about their homes. I really enjoyed this video though, and you're definitely not alone!

These shows will run your blood pressure up watching it😂 even the ones that "restore" homes. Rest in house heaven lovely home😢😂

Sage, I completely agree with you in this video. The home was so beautiful at the start and was so UGLY at the end of it. My parents and myself live in a home that was built in 1901 and it has a beautiful Victorian look to it and I have grown up loving vintage homes, especially Victorian homes. Seeing what happened to this home...breaks my heart

This is my new favourite video because your reactions are exactly like mine! I will watch it everytime I want to see your reactions!

Hi Sage, thanks for another great video! Your warm sweet nature always lifts my spirits and I was heartened by your comments and the many others sent in expressing their love of the charm and warmth of old houses, and how sad it is the way modern people ruin them. It's comforting to know I'm not alone in loving the old style homes with the warm cozy decor and furnishings and how they are healthier emotionally and spiritually, and I enjoy many old movies showing them. I've created a photo album of vintage homes, decor and lifestyles from before the modern era to lift my spirits whenever I need to. I'm grateful I found your site and I'd love to see you and others make more videos showing how these things were before the modern changes came, so please keep up your great work! Take care and may God bless both you and James forever!

I loved your reactions! I was laughing so much!! I’m with you-They could have kept the charm and done a few updates and it would have been lovely. I do like the bigger windows but that black cladding is awful. Nothing cheery about this house now! 😢

I'm with you Sage!!! There's just no accounting for taste!!!

i love houses with character. especially farm houses. houses with wrap around porches, bay windows and a big red barn in the backyard.

Not gonna lie, I would love some more content like this! I loved watching your reaction to this house!

I agree Sage, with home improvements I do think its so much more rewarding and the result so much better, if you maintain the original design and spirit of the house as much as possible. 😅its hard work but so worth it!

I love this video soo much! ❤ finally someone who agrees with me! The best thing about England is that it's full of beautiful old quaint properties and people come along and spoil them all.

I completely agree with you, Sage! That house had a lot of potential, sadly butchered forever. We have this issue here in Sydney, too, where beautiful federation style - 1960s homes are treated similarly or the same way. 😞 Thank you for your wonderful and uplifting videos; inspiring me to be my best vintage self! I hope you will go ahead with your wedding planning videos as you will be a wonderful guide as I plan our wedding, one day. All the best lovely! ☺️ P.S. you have inspired us to travel to the Dandenongs to camp - thank you! ☺️

This is probably my favorite of your videos! So funny to watch you verbalizing the same thing I'm thinking. How people can't appreciate old architecture baffles me!

Sage, I am laughing at the glass everything and black cladding!! IT IS JUST LIKE BEETLEJUICE!!! Have you seen that film? It's HILARIOUS what they do to the farmhouse. Yeas, it's mostly a dark humour ghost film, but the entire part about the house renovation is HYSTERICAL!

Wow great video! I love your "vintage" aesthetic and I totally agree with what you're saying. It's so horrible when people take an attractive traditional house and try to make it "trendy" with ugly exterior changes and painting everything gray/black. And you know that in just a few years that "trendy" look is going to become "dated" and they'll have to change it all over again.

I completely agree! I have been looking at homes in my area and everything seems modern, cold and boring. Unfortunately, it seems we are losing the charm of individual style. 😢 Great videos, Sage! (I am also a garden lady! 🙂)

I wish there were more people like you.

I'm with you Sage! I hate modern architecture. I call them Lego houses because they look like they came out of a Lego kit 😢

“There no one better for the job than my wife” 😂😂😂 Sage’s sass. I’m here for alllllll of it.

You should do more videos like this!!! I love your reactions. The house was so charming and just needed some TLC then they made it into a shape that looks like my two year old drew it 🤣 My husband and I are staring a search for our first home and it’s so competitive right now where we live. I see this sweet little house and I’m so jealous. Then they just made it look like a big lump of coal

I love Sage's brutal honesty about the colors and windows and the all out form about the house. If I ever decide to buy/build a house I am contacting architect Sage for decorating tips. 😊 Congratulations on your Engagement Sage the ring is stunning. ❤️

Oh Sage, you had me laughing so much at your reactions to this totally terrible renovation I dragged half a row of knitting off my needles! I think the architect and the expert need to watch a few movies from the 1950s to learn some character fix-up tips. With some old fashioned commonsense It could have been lovely....to complement the garden! So enjoyed this creative video of yours Sage. 🐾🥰

Please do more of these videos! ❤

Sage. We have the same taste in homes. I adore old vintage style homes. My family recently bought and moved into a 1943 masonry home off a lake. It needs work. The inside was partially renovated by the previous owner. The inside does not match the outside. The inside is simple and modern. They also built an add on master suite with a master bath. We discovered that they closed off and built over the fireplace and chimney!! I would love to restore it to its original 1940s style. It's hard cuz my husband love the monochromatic modern look. And I hate it!! I love a romantic, whimsical, Victorian goth look. I want my home to look like a witches cottage from a story book. I would love to give u a video tour on my home and get ur feed back on what affordable things I can do to my home to make it feel more me. The town I live in is over 100 yrs old and has preserved vintage charm all around. Need to bring my home back to that. Thanks. Xoxo

Sage, please make more of these ! This was brilliant commentary. They did that beautiful barn home so dirty!

This is one of my favorite videos you ever posted. As a fellow vintage architecture lover, I cracked up and was shocked along with you!😆

You are so right. It was a lovely cottage and now it's not. I love quirky houses. I owned a 6 bedroom Victorian when my children were growing up. It had a lot of original features in it. I was so sad when I had to sell it when I moved.

Im with you on this. Just hate to see old nice homes destroyed. Here in sweden we have a lot of beautiful old houses, and They ore mostly renovated in a good way ❤💪

I love your channel! Modern is bleh! Classic is best. Your place is a dream, especially your garden. You ever watch nemo's dreamscape? The 40's and 50's themes are right up your alley.

‘No longer the house of horrors’ lol wtf now the house is literally haunted mansion black

We bought a 1950 cape cod style farmhouse in January and I love it. I’m so glad we got something well made and beautiful. I don’t need and of this new slapped together stuff.

It’s so exciting to see you back 🥰

I agree with you I dislike when people paint everything black and gray. I think houses should be painted in the style that they are designed. I live in a 1929 stucco house in a Mission Spanish style. My street has many styles of houses on it all built in the 20 and 30s so they are painted in different styles depending on what looks good on the house.

The house now looks like the central plot device in a psychological horror movie and that kitchen looks like a swingers bar. All your allowed to do in that kitchen is make a martini and toss your keys into a fish bowl. That balcony railing isn't even safe for children. They took a cute little house and turned into something cold and a little creepy.

I am so glad that I am not the only one that feels this way!!

Love this you should do it as a series xx

I love this, girl please make this a series.

I prefer older homes but I had to tour so many homes growing up that I can find something I like about every home.

Hello Sage! Im a woman who lives in a 1977 older style home, and honestly I love farm cottage style its more peaceful and relaxing! i was giggling with you, ,,NO ITS NOT! haha sad what they didto it! xxx

I agree with you I love vintage, they could have expanded with vintage, it upsets me also to see vintage destroyed into modern

The homeowners killed the soul of that home, it was a home of life and now it's a home of rigor mortis. It has no life, I agree with you sage! They killed the very soul of it😢😢😢

Wow, it looks they did a strange mid century modern. I want the barn! That could be so warm and cozy. 😢

This is my favorite video you have ever done, Sage. I echo everything you said.

Dear Sage, George Clarke is a national treasure here in the UK. The architect involved is not his wife....He does do some sympathetic restoration in some of his programmes. I do agree with you though the trends here are so modern!!! I feel we're losing so much charm you find with older homes.

it makes me so saddddd what people are doing to old beautiful historic homes!!

I agree with you 100%. There is no character or charm in modern homes.

Make the windows bigger but not horrible modern ones, put a cute porch on the front, with a massive garden leading up, trellises for climbing plants, stone pavers, remove that weird separation in the kitchen, paint the cabinets and add some kitschy wallpaper and then add in some cute decor.

I have to agree, this architect has decided to do her own thing. No thought of the original architecture or architect. 😢