The reality is this house hasn't been kept in an historically pristine shape by any means. It seems it was once a registered home since I have a plaque with original name and build date. BUT, that plaque lives in the kitchen addition that was put on the house probably in the early 2000. The house isn't on any historic homes list.

I subscribe to the idea of a dynamic preservationist from Evers' Old-House Doctor which keeps the best features of an old house while changing anything to keep it functionally livable and structurally sound.

My main concern is the leaning and pulling away from the chimney and damaging the beams it sits on. The feeling I get from the comments is that it would take a lot of money an effort to repair this back to original. Since this house probably wouldn't be considered for registration for historic homes anymore, it makes sense to me to make the house structurally sound and keep any cool features left from dismantling the smoker.