It makes repairs and remodelling "interesting," to say the least.
The lumber sizes actually were planed to "standard sizes" for their day, it's just that they were all bigger sizes-- the joists under the porch are 8" deep and 5" thick, and the walls are framed with what was called 5/4's... rough-cut to 5" x 4" and then planed down smooth.
The wood is stuff you can't even buy anymore because it's not grown for lumber-- oak, and long-leaf yellow pine, which is nearly as strong and hard as oak.
The last time I replaced some siding, I literally had to chin myself at the end of the crowbar to extract those 16-penny iron nails.
Got a longer wrecking bar after that episode.
Yep. Think of how much it would cost today to build that same house.