Reclamation of Inactive Housing [Exterior Walls]

[Jojoya]

In 4.2 they added this: "Exterior and interior fixtures will no longer be lost when remodeling an estate." House skins used to be unrecoverable as soon as you used them, but since that patch you have been able to swap out an expensive house skin for a cheaper one and store it in your retainer for later use.

That only helps if your absence from the game is planned in advance so you have the opportunity to swap out the expensive skins for cheap fixtures before you stop playing.