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Preservation is about home
Our historic homes and neighborhoods are often our most personal connections with heritage, and we are fortunate to have a great concentration of older homes in the Northeast. Older and historic homes were often wholly or partially hand-made, they are built using historic proportions that respond to human scale, and they give communities depth and beauty. Apartments, single family homes, triple deckers, duplexes, rowhouses, farms, ranches, brownstones, and more--each place has stories to tell. Location, materials, workmanship, style, neighborhood characteristics: all of these aspects can provide clues to your home's past.
Researching the history of your home or neighborhood
Would you like to learn more about researching the history of your home or neighborhood? The United States Library of Congress maintains an on-line, free, searchable database called Built in America that contains collections of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). Searching by community, state, or keyword, the user can view and download digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials.
Need help in understanding what "old" or "historic" means in the context of historic preservation? If so, this website on the National Park Service's website called "Telling Preservation Time" should help.
Want to find out if your home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Or learn what it means when a building is listed in the National Register? Use the link above to connect to National Park Service website to learn more about what the National Register of Historic Places is, what it does--and does not--mean for your property, and for a link to a searchable database of properties listed in the Register.
Living in a historic home--Got Character?
What Style Is It? A Guide to American Architecture is available through PreservationBooks.org. This is an easy-to-use guide to identifying American Architecture, with more than 200 descriptive photographs and illustrations.
"Walk Through: Learn How to Identify the Visual Character of a Historic Building" This interactive feature of the National Park Service's website offers the basics of how to identify the character-defining features of historic buildings.
National Park Service Preservation Brief #17, "Architectural Character: Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving Their Character," by Lee H. Nelson.
Insurance
Based in a historic building in downtown Baltimore, MD, the National Trust Insurance Services, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has extensive experience insuring individual historic properties, small businesses and non-profit organizations.
Action for Neighborhood Preservation
Start with this National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Districts tipsheet to learn about the important distinctions between local historic districts, other local zoning and planning tools, and National Register of Historic Places Historic Districts.
Preservation Books offers several books related to historic districts. Titles include:
- Design Review in Historic Districts
- Maintaining Community Character: How to Establish a Local Historic District
- Regulating New Construction in Historic Districts
- Protecting Older Neighborhoods through Conservation District Programs
- The Politics of Historic Districts: A Primer for Grassroots Preservation
"Working on the Past in Local Historic Districts" This interactive website offered by the National Park Service outlines the legal strengths of local historic districts, describes the local preservation ordinance, discusses the benefits of local design guidelines, and makes clear the essential differences between preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction.
Visit the site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Teardowns Initiative for a host of resources designed to guide communities dealing with the teardowns trend.
Taking care of a historic home
Taking care of an older home can sometimes be a challenge, but it is also rewarding. Below are some resources that might help. Also be sure to visit the Technical Assistance portion of the Northeast Office page for additional resources.
The Historic Homes tipsheet is a great introduction for any homeowner.
Looking for an architect or a consultant? This tip sheet may help.
Looking for help on maintaining your historic wood windows? Download the tip sheet on historic wood windows.
The National Trust produced a booklet on the Treatment of Flood-Damaged Older and Historic Buildings, which is available to download for free from Preservation Books.
Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual: A Practical Guide for Homeowners
The National Park Service has numerous resources to aid people caring for historic buildings, including:
- National Park Service's "All Wet and How To Prevent It: Managing Moisture in Your Historic House"
- Preservation Brief series (Preservation Briefs provide guidance on preserving, rehabilitating and restoring historic buildings)
- Tech Notes series (Tech Notes provide traditional practices and case studies of innovative techniques for maintaining and preserving cultural resources)
On the Market
Whether in the market to buy or sell a historic home, it is important for your realtor to be familiar with this sector of the real estate market. The Information for Realtors tipsheet can help.
Visit www.Preservationbooks.org to find the "Buyers' Guide to Older and Historic Homes."
