using real timber so it’s probably not going to fall down

Nothing wrong with today's lumber, but there's a lot wrong with antique building standards of the 1920's + lack of code enforcement + old carpenters attitude of "that's the way it's always been done" if they even knew the current/correct rules in the first place.

A lot of near furniture grade lumber was used in old houses because it was common and cheaply available- unlike now. But there is no special advantage to using it in old houses for structural purposes. Today's houses are as engineered as automobiles are for cost and safety.

I’m there with you, only difference is my house has tongue in groove wooden interior walls.

Yeah short of the insulation blowing between the studs like you said with stabbing holes ... The other option is just replacing the plaster and lath at some point and when you do blowing insulation then. That's a huge remodel though.

There's definitely pros and cons to older houses, I bet if it's made of those materials it has a cool layout and flavor.

I live in a place that was built up through the late 80s through mid 90s so the houses have a lot of variety. Feels like once the 00s hit and especially the 2010s single family home neighborhoods all became the same house copy + pasted.