You see the same thing with vintage cars where a “barn find” is increasingly valued more than a restored car. See some examples at https://jalopnik.com/the-ten-greatest-barn-finds-of-all-time-451436381.
Wouldn’t have called my beloved Wahnsinn a barn find, but did have it restored. Now happily living with a new family. http://www.philobiblon.com/wahnsinn/index2.html.
This brings to mind this IIC lecture I watched recently. The speaker is the Canadian Conservation Institute’s Stefan Michalski, and the talk is the 2018 IIC Forbes Prize Lecture.
Although his topic is preventive conservation, I think there are some overlapping themes with your post with regards to authenticity and “essence.” Some interesting ideas to mull over!
Thanks! Looking forward to seeing this.