Olde Bostonian

Olde Bostonian is a Dorchester shop that specializes in bringing century-old windows, doors, and millwork back to life rather than replacing them. The business, run by Anthony, says on its own site it has served the Boston area since 1980 — historical restoration work that shows up again and again in what customers describe: stripped paint, rebuilt sashes, and doors coaxed back from decades of decay. The window work draws the most detailed praise. One homeowner in a 130-year-old house, in a review posted in late 2025, said Anthony's team rebuilt the windows and added weatherstripping that noticeably cut winter drafts, staying responsive and willing to redo anything that wasn't right. Another, in a 2023 review, described a 280-year-old home's windows restored along with help patching broken panes in a butler's pantry afterward. On the millwork side, a Dorchester homeowner had forty decorative porch brackets reproduced from a sample for a three-family porch restoration — the match was exact and the price lined up with a professional estimate. A separate customer's chipped, scratched hundred-year-old front door came back refinished with the repair blended in so well it's hard to spot. On Reddit, homeowners weighing a $66k window-restoration quote from a national outfit were pointed toward Olde Bostonian as the alternative worth a call — one commenter described Anthony as willing to walk through a full restoration plan, though unsure whether the shop handles sills and trim. Houzz lists the shop under carpentry and custom woodworking with no reviews there yet, and a 2022 visitor described its small Dorchester storefront as focused on reclaimed doors, fireplace mantels and similar salvage pieces, staffed by people knowledgeable about restoration projects. There's no negative review in the mix here. The one thing worth confirming before calling is scope — whether a job is a straightforward refinish or a full sash rebuild, since the write-ups suggest pricing and timeline track with how deep the restoration goes. Olde Bostonian is the call for a genuinely old window, door, or piece of millwork worth saving rather than replacing.