CIRCA Old Houses

What CIRCA Old Houses does

CIRCA Old Houses operates a curated online marketplace dedicated to historic and architecturally distinctive residential properties. Founded in 2016 by Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein, the company originated as the @cheapoldhouses Instagram account and has evolved into a multi-channel platform that aggregates vintage home listings for a global audience of buyers and enthusiasts.

The platform generates revenue primarily through listing fees paid by sellers, supplemented by a newsletter, a print magazine, a published book, and a Trusted Pros Directory that connects buyers with real estate agents, contractors, and inspectors experienced with historic properties. Distribution is anchored by an owned audience of more than 1.6 million Instagram followers, approximately 2 million monthly page views, and an HGTV television series ('Cheap Old Houses') that premiered in August 2021. Listings span the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and additional international markets, with a 2019 partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation providing institutional credibility and access to preservation-minded inventory.

The business serves a two-sided marketplace: individual sellers and estates listing historic homes on one side, and buyers seeking architecturally significant properties on the other. There is no public disclosure of funding, headcount, or revenue, and the company remains privately held.

Name

CIRCA Old Houses

Website

https://circaoldhouses.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

CIRCA Old Houses operates a curated online marketplace for historic and architecturally distinctive residential properties, serving individual sellers and buyers across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe, with revenue from listing fees and complementary media products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Historic Real Estate Marketplace

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Historic & Heritage Homes (THAMAAAJ)

Keywords

• Historic property listings
• Old house marketplace
• Historic real estate
• Curated property listings
• Historic home sales

Headquarters

HQ city

Flushing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Listing Fees: Sellers pay to list properties on the CIRCA marketplace, with listing promotion to their large niche audience of old house enthusiasts. The site states that listing exposes properties to hundreds of thousands of old-house lovers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CIRCA Old Houses operates a curated online marketplace for historic and architecturally significant residential properties, connecting sellers of old houses with a niche community of preservation-minded buyers. The platform generates revenue by charging sellers to list properties, surfacing listings across the U.S. and internationally via its website, social media, newsletters, and HGTV programming.

Product overview

CIRCA Old Houses is a curated historic house marketplace platform featuring a curated collection of old homes for sale across the United States and internationally. The platform operates as a unified marketplace with complementary content and service offerings: the core CIRCA Old Houses search and listing platform, the Cheap Old Houses newsletter for buyer alerts, CIRCA Magazine for editorial content, the Trusted Pros Directory connecting users with preservation professionals, and specialized National Trust partnership listings. The platform averages 2 million page views per month and partners with HGTV for the 'Cheap Old Houses' television series.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CIRCA Magazine: The company's editorial magazine featuring articles about historic home preservation, restoration tips, and featured property stories
• Cheap Old Houses Newsletter
• Cheap Old Houses Book

Products and services

• CIRCA Old Houses Marketplace A curated online marketplace showcasing old and architecturally significant homes for sale across the United States and internationally, searchable by state, price, style, and acreage with map-based discovery tools. Target users are individual historic property buyers and sellers/agents.
• Cheap Old Houses Newsletter A weekly e-newsletter delivering the latest old-house listings, featured favorites, and curated content to subscribers; includes a separate 'Cheap Old Houses' newsletter focused on properties under $250k. Target users are individual historic home buyers.
• CIRCA Magazine Editorial content section of the CIRCA platform featuring articles on historic preservation, home stewardship, renovation tips, and featured property stories for the old-house enthusiast community.
• Trusted Pros Directory A directory of professionals serving historic home owners, including agents/brokers, antiques dealers, architectural photographers, preservation consultants, and trade professionals (hardware, lighting, tile, paint, windows, woodwork).
• National Trust for Historic Preservation Listings Specialized listing category on the CIRCA platform featuring properties for sale in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, providing exclusive access to National Trust-held historic properties.
• Cheap Old Houses Book A published book by Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein featuring stories of restored homes and inspiration for buyers of affordable historic properties, available via Penguin Random House retailers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2 million monthly page views
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Trust for Historic PreservationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIRCA is a corporate partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and serves as the official host of their ongoing listing of historic properties for sale across the country. This partnership provides CIRCA with exclusive access to National Trust listings and reinforces the platform's credibility in the historic preservation community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Zillow Group: Zillow operates the largest U.S. residential real estate marketplace with hundreds of millions of monthly visits. It is comparable to CIRCA as a listing platform connecting buyers and sellers, but at vastly broader scale and without CIRCA's curated historic-home specialization.
• Realtor.com: Realtor.com is a major national residential listing marketplace operated by Move, Inc. It is comparable to CIRCA as a property-search destination, but serves all property types and lacks a curated historic or architectural focus.
• Redfin: Redfin is a technology-enabled residential brokerage and listing platform with national coverage. It competes for the same buyer-seller connection that CIRCA facilitates, though it operates as a full-service brokerage rather than a curated historic-home marketplace.
• Trulia: Trulia is a consumer-focused residential real estate search site owned by Zillow Group. It overlaps with CIRCA in property-discovery use cases, though without a curated historic-property positioning.

Direct peers

• Sotheby's International Realty: Sotheby's International Realty is a luxury global real estate network frequently featuring historic estates, architecturally significant properties, and architect-attributed homes. It is highly comparable to CIRCA at the upper end of CIRCA's luxury and architecturally-significant listings.
• Christie's International Real Estate: Christie's International Real Estate is a global luxury brokerage affiliated with the Christie's auction house, with strong focus on historic estates, architectural masterpieces, and high-end heritage properties. Directly comparable to CIRCA's luxury historic segment.

Emerging players

• OldHouses.com: OldHouses.com is a listing platform focused on historic and antique homes for sale across the U.S. It directly competes with CIRCA in the same curated historic-home marketplace category, though with a smaller audience and less brand visibility.
• Houzz: Houzz is a home renovation and design platform with property listings and a pros directory. It overlaps with CIRCA's historic-home buyer audience and the Trusted Pros service-provider directory, though its core focus is renovation rather than historic-property sales.

Others

• The National Trust (UK): The UK National Trust is a heritage preservation charity that lists historic properties. Comparable to CIRCA's preservation-mission positioning and the U.S. National Trust partnership, though it operates as a charity owning/managing properties rather than a marketplace.
• Architectural Digest (Hearst): Architectural Digest is a major design and architecture media brand featuring architecturally significant homes. It is comparable to CIRCA Magazine and the editorial content stream, sharing the same audience of design- and historic-home enthusiasts though operating purely as media.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/circahouses
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCckFIPWwiZhSc1cqrqPq7Bg
• Facebookfacebook.com/CircaHouses
• Instagraminstagram.com/circahouses
• Pinterestpinterest.com/circahouses
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/circa-homes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CIRCA Old Houses