I have frequently heard that Harrington faucets have quality problems, though they look great. I have a Newport Brass faucet in my guest bathroom, and I think it's gorgeous. I also have Rohl faucets in my master bathroom, and they too are gorgeous. Both have been installed for about 6 years, and both look like they day they were installed. I have them in polished nickel finish, and I am careful to clean them only with a soft cloth, absolutely nothing abrasive. The polished nickel finish on both of them is very authentic traditional, and has a nice gleam.

Rohl is a much bigger company than Newport Brass. Newport Brass faucets are made in California, and most of them are made to order, since they are not churning them out in an enormous factory. People have complained that sometimes Newport Brass faucets have long lead times. However, on their most popular models, they don't have long lead times unless you are getting an unusual finish (Newport Brass offers a lot of finishes). When my plumber installed the Newport Brass faucet, he was very impressed that there wasn't one plastic part anywhere. The Rohl faucets did have one plastic part, though not so significant - it was the thingy on the end of the drain stopper, and since it's inside the drain, you can't see it, and it doesn't affect how the faucet functions.

I would recommend either Newport Brass or Rohl for your 1800 house. Polished nickel would also be more fitting with the 1800's than the polished chrome you mentioned, but I understand budget constraints may not allow the polished nickel option.

My friend just purchased a gorgeous faucet from Signature Hardware to go with her restored slate sink. It is solid and gorgeous. Another friend has used Signature Hardware for several renovations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Signature Hardware

I have a Newport Brass faucet in Antique Brass in a bathroom. The finish has not held up, I'm not sure if I would buy another. It is very solid.

When we did our kitchen additon in our old house I loved the look of Harrington but could not/would not pay the price. I found Newport and it had "the look" but not the price tag and I was very happy with the quality. I just went and looked at Klaff's (they are having 30%) off and the woman recommended Harrington - and it was less expensive than Newport - which was surprising to me ... so now I'm confused.

I purchased a Newport Brass faucet for our kitchen sink and couldn't be happier. They were one of the few companies that offered a lifetime warranty on the ORB Finish. FWIW- I purchased the faucet from irawoods.com since they offered the best price.

I just went and check irawoods.com they do have the best price that I have seen -- unfortunately they also have a 4-6 week lead time. Is that accurate? I do remember when we did kitchen in our old house - everything was done for weeks and we had a temporary faucet because the Newport Brass one was taking so long. The one locally I can get in a couple of days (they checked that they are in stock)

But it would be nice to have no tax and free shipping plus the slightly lower price.

I have Newport Brass in my masterbath room and am so far very happy with it (going on 9 months now). I would say that I ordered originally from Ira Woods and was very UNhappy with them. They held up all of my order for at least 8 weeks waiting for one piece from Newport Brass and were MOST uncooperative and uncommunicative when I called to ask about it. Ultimately, they did refund my money and cancel the order and I ended up getting it at the same price from another online dealer (unfortunately, I don't recall which). Newport Brass, as someone else noted, can have a long lead time, since they make a huge number of different finishes, but if you aren't in a hurry, it's worth it.

Do Not Buy Harrington Brass, period.