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I have spoken to two contractors about working on my new home, a 120 year old row house. Both contractors have said that they would tear down all the plaster walls and ceilings in order to replace the plumbing and electric. The walls are in near perfect shape. Is this true??

I am in the process of finding a contractor to work on my new home. It is a 120 year old row house in unbelievable condition. Same family lived in it for 60 years and maintained it beautifully. There is some peeling paint and a few hairline cracks but absolutely no holes or water damage or rot (that we or our architect has found). Both contactors said they would rip down the walls to replace the mechanicals and then drywall. They said, “Its fast and cheaper to do that.” and “You aren’t going to find a GC to poke around to save the old plaster walls.” Then they quoted 2.2 million dollars for the work on a near perfect (but old) 3500 sq.ft. rowhouse. We are not looking for perfection. I like the old hand plastered walls. The occasional bump has a thousand times the character as new dry wall. Does anyone have a contractor who can replace mechanicals in an old house without gutting it?