If you have been out hunting for antique stained glass lately you may be wondering why the prices have been going up rapidly. First and foremost is obviously the demand for it has been higher then ever as more and more people integrate it into their new homes during the last five years of building boom. One would think though that the hundred plus years of supply that has accumulated in old houses that are getting torn down would be enough to keep up with the demand. In fact is not, particularly because there is less antique stained glass making it back out to the market in spite of the demand. One of the biggest reasons is a reduction in the number of classic old houses being torn down that still have nice old glass in them but the other is part of growing trend that will probably continue to shrink the supply.

Many of the larger old cities in the East and Northeast where most of the good antique glass was made are clamping down on the exodus of the architectural antiques stock in their cities. Thanks to the historical societies and their growing power to stop the loss of what they consider to be of historical value, people are losing their rights to their own property. While there may be some merit to this for preservation sake, there is also the issue of property rights that is getting pushed aside in many cases. For example in some cities you can no longer tear down a house that has been designated historical by a committee of people, most of whom are making arbitrary judgments that will impact the property owner regardless of their objections or the financial impact it may have on their life.

Regardless of the condition or the location, once deemed to be historical it becomes not only a nightmare to tear down the house, if it can be done at all, but the fix up or remodeling turns into an approval of your plans process that may make it impossible for the homeowner to get what they want out of their home. In many cases the houses are in devastated neighborhoods where the cost of rehab outweighs the resale value when completed. In other cases the floor plans are unworkable for the owners and they feel that the only way to get a house that will work is to tear the old one down and start from scratch. Oftentimes, if given the opportunity in those cases, the old parts and pieces may get sold off or reused in the construction of the new house. With their rights to use the property in the way they want removed, the house ends up sitting there boarded up until it rots beyond the point of being able to be saved or gets burned down by transients who sneak in and live in the houses. The drug addicts often steal most of the good architectural parts and sell them anyway or destroy them in the process of trying to remove them. With stained glass, it often gets broken before it gets saved.

Antique stained glass is a work of art that should be preserved, but not under the control of anyone but the person who owns it. Once you purchase a piece of this colorful and fragile artwork you should have the right to take it with you where ever you go and to sell it whenever you want and to whom ever you want. The fact that it is in a house when you buy it should not mean that you give up your rights of ownership. Yes it may be sad to see it leave but it is supposed to be a free country and we are supposed to have the right to make decisions that don’t hurt others without the government getting in the way. As it turns out with some of the historical societies, if the stained glass is attached to the house, you lose your rights and it can’t leave without their approval.

So, just in case you my be famous someday and your great grand kids want to sell off your house but keep some of the great antique stained glass you might be lucky enough to acquire in your life, hang the pieces in the window on nice chains instead of actually making them part of the house by nailing them in or permanently affixing them in some other way. Not only will they be something you can take with you, they will survive better without the weather beating on them season after season. Also, while you are looking to buy more, understand that the supply will run out in the next ten years if the historical societies across the country continue to gain more and more control and take away the rest of the property rights we thought we once had in America.