Old House Philosophy

Philosophizing here, in brief: 

I feel like in some regards owning my house is a constant job of managing other people's prejudices and expectations.I know they mean well, but specific fallacies I get very tired of include: 

1. The idea that my house is going to take forever, and that old houses are a ton of work, and this would somehow not be the case if I bought something new. That's actually not true -- I am pretty lazy and I wouldn't buy an old house if it wouldn't will perform comparably to a newer house once it's not derelict. Besides which, I have yet to meet the person who doesn't invest some portion of their money into maintaining and altering their house, regardless of its age. 
2. The notion that newer is better. Sometimes, yes, but this view ignores the role that economic, legal, logistical, etc., factors play in material selection and manufacture. A 2X4 is not superior to a steel beam, necessarily, but a 2X4 happens to at one point be a better choice or even just the choice that's made given all the factors mentioned above. 
3. The notion that newer windows create savings, which is somewhat true. but that is a very simplistic statement that ignores when you individually would realize savings based on how inefficient the old ones are and how much new ones cost and also ignoring intermediate solutions. Also, the old windows are part of the historic fabric, which is the primary reason I own this house. I get that it doesn't matter to you, but it very much matters to me. 

Finally, for someone who loves them owning an old house is not always a practical matter. In my opinion they are beings, like books or other storied things, and I am writing the next chapter of their lives, such as it is. So my renovation choices have a moral component. In other words, no, I'm not interested in hiring some jerk to cover my house in vinyl siding or tearing out my historic woodwork to simplify the application of sheetrock. I do make compromises, but the fundamental compromise that I do not want to make is compromising the house's historic essence.