I guess I'm in the camp that thinks that it's okay to make some changes, as long as you maintain the style of the home. Your change sounds fine to me. If you were going to put in a contemporary island in a strange polygon shape, I don't think that would be right. We've made some changes to our home. For example, we put on an addition so we could eat in the kitchen. When our home was built, it was built with the assumption that there was a maid in the home. The maid's quarters were above the kitchen. The family didn't spend time in the kitchen. Obviously, we don't have a maid! (In my next life, please!) We did have an architect draw up the plans, so it would be in keeping with the rest of the home, and didn't take away from the symmetry of the original home.
We're also saving any fixtures that we're replacing, and taking pictures before we make any changes. For example, when we started tearing into the kitchen, we uncovered some lemon tree murals that had been painted on the original kitchen walls. We documented these before we continued. When we replaced the living room sconces, we saved the old ones. They'll go in the attic, so if someone ever does want to restore the home to its original state, it will be easier to do so. And if we decide that those would work someday, we could change them back. I hate making any changes, but we do need to live in the house and be happy in the house.

I think that it's okay to change some things in the interest of functionality, etc. especially in kitchens and bathrooms.

Removing the wall sounds like a fine idea, and to be honest it could always be rebuilt if someone wanted it to be original in the future. Take some pictures, save the trim, have your dream kitchen, and be happy!

It's your home, not a museum.

"Removing the wall sounds like a fine idea, and to be honest it could always be rebuilt if someone wanted it to be original in the future."

Vivian, it's funny that you mentioned that, because the PO of our home removed a wall, opening the den into what was once a butler's pantry. We just rebuilt the wall (but kept a doorway, which wasn't originally there) because we wanted a butler's pantry. It wasn't a big deal to put it back in, but I wish they would have saved the paneling that had been on the original wall (really nice old knotty pine). It might be tough to match the rest of the room.

Within a house, as long as you don't weaken it structurally I think you have much more latitude than for outside changes i.e., to the fenestration, roof design and additions.

I have a couple of thoughts: If your kitchen is too small and your dining room too large have you thought about exchanging the purposes of the rooms, but leaving the walls largely intact? This is a bold move, and one I am contemplating myself: exchanging the kitchen and parlor uses, but leaving the room structures the same. Since I don't have modern services in either room, it's not a particularly costly decision.

Regarding the style of the island: Since kitchen islands are a modern idea, I don't think styling it to look as if it actually "belonged" in the house is important, necessary, or even desirable. I'm for letting the original parts be stylistically unchanged (moldings, cabinetry, floors, walls where possible) but for modern stuff you bring into the mix, my personal preference is for an authentic look of their own period.

All of us who have old houses live with a more or less varied assortment of historic accretions, and as a rule I think artificially re-dated elements don't work as well as just trying to get a compatible collection. By compatible I mean looking more at the overall massing, relative simplicity v. ornamentation, and general appropriateness to the building. If you want to bring a stylistic element from the house into the design of the island, I'm fine with that. But designing an island to look as if it had actually been original isn't the same thing, at least to my eyes.

Historical architectural integrity comes from delving into the original, and subsequent, design choices and conserving or preserving those elements in their most authentic state consistent with your use of the structure. For example not choosing shiny gym-floor type finishes on old wide-board pine; however you don't have to confine yourself to washing those wide-board pine floors weekly with lye-water, you can choose a modern polymerized finish -though not blindingly shiny - instead. In other words to look back at how it might have actually looked when it was new (and in most buildings there have been several "new" periods), and recreate that where possible and avoid confabulating two widely different aesthetics.

Ultimately, the standard for historic preservation of honesty in recreation, avoiding unneccessary removal or destruction of intact parts, and most of all, reversibility of your changes is the best strategy. If you don't like the looks of something, remove and safely pickle it, bury it (cover it up) or work to adapt your use to the fundamental structure, instead of the other way around, and you will avoid being a candidate for the Old House Hall of Shame. (Those damned POs did what....?!@#^%$&?&!!!!)

A very useful thing to do is make sure you visit as many intact and conserved examples of your house's vintage as you can. Much of what one sees in shelter mags has been sadly bowdlerized and it can skew the picture you form in your mind.

Do you have a picture of your house, or an example of another one, that you could post? I have no idea what a "Utah Victorian Eclectic Crosswing, T-style" actually looks like.

And lucky you to have found a presevationist carpenter; most of the rest of us must maintain constant vigilance with our workers in order to hang onto our preservationist goals.

HTH

Molly~

A house has to function for those who live in it other wise you will grow to resent your old house.
As long as the basic style of the house is preserved you should be fine. IF you want to go the extra step so that at some point someone can change it back take pics and make a album to go with the house. Document the changes before and after maybe even write in why you made the changes. Find a place in the house and keep the album there...print on it that this book stays with the house.
We're only caretakers of our old homes. Anything we do to make it easier for the next caretaker I think will make them treasure our time with the house more.