Who designates a historic home in Mass. — and can you paint it?

Home improvement

From the National Register of Historic Places to local historic districts and commissions, navigate the rules around your old home

When Rob Hardy bought his newest home in Topsfield, known as the French Andrews House, the purchase and sale agreement required him to return the three cranes used to support its structure. The current wooden salt box was built in 1718, and its oldest elements date back to 1675.

Hardy, who had previously “figured out how to make things work” alongside Campbell’s process engineers, realized that his professional experience translated well into knowing how historic home restoration works — and this is his seventh experience.

The house is one of the oldest properties in the country included on National Register of Historic Places. In a state with a housing stock as old as Massachusetts, owners and collectors like Hardy may be buying into such listings, but not all listings and records are the same.

From homes listed on the National Register to local historical society programs that offer a dated display plaque, there are different ways to indicate a home’s history — and a host of responsibilities that may or may not come with them.

What you can and can’t do to modify a historic home can be a gray area, but Hardy said the National Register asked him very little. Locally, he worked with the Topsfield Local Historical Commission while managing the current restoration, which he said has been a positive working partnership.

“If you wanted to take a 1690s farmhouse and turn it into a Swedish white box, it wouldn’t get done, would it?” He said. When the local committee proposed the rice shake, he pointed out that it would cost him $90,000; He made an offer of $35,000 and they accepted it.

“They grumbled a little and said, ‘Yes, but you’re going to do the right thing to keep the rest of the house, so okay.'”

Listings on the National Register of Historic Places, created in 1966 and maintained by the National Park Service, are He supervised it in Massachusetts By the State Historical Commission. There are thousands of properties in Massachusetts in the National Register. They have limited protection from federal or state projects, and are generally recognized as important.

But local committees are the most involved in what the restoration process looks like. Local Historic Districts, usually appointed by local commissions established by town and city councils, may review proposed changes and potentially provide more protections (and restrictions) for changes that might alter the character of a home. Interiors are excluded from these conversations, and some exterior features may be negotiable, such as paint colors or temporary structures.

“The biggest thing I learned early on is knowing who your team is,” Hardy said. For him, this meant an architect with experience in very ancient structures and a highly specialized stonemason. “It’s about finding different players who will work and play well together,” he said.

no Federal or state programs Helping with restoration work, however Community Preservation Act Funds may provide resources at the local level.

In Duxbury, Residents may apply To local Historical Committee Their home will be voluntarily placed in a historic district, which could be as small as the property itself, said committee chair Pamela Campbell Smith, who also works as an architect. With neighbors joining in, a collective effort can help maintain what Smith described as a cohesive street scene. So far, 14 zones have been created in the city, representing 43 properties that are at least 60 years old. Historic preservation conversations have become subject to ambiguity, so the committee keeps a list of its own Myth busters To help provide some clarity.

“Here it says: ‘Am I allowed to put air conditioning in the window?'” “And we’ll say: ‘Yes, you know, we want you to be comfortable,'” Smith said. “Am I allowed to paint my house purple?” We might say that this probably wouldn’t be our choice; Maybe we wouldn’t encourage it, but if there’s a hardship in the end and we want to paint this house and you want to paint it purple, you can deal with your neighbors. Ultimately, we are trying to preserve the architecture of Duxbury.

This is different from “Data panel“, which was issued Duxbury Rural and Historical Societyfor homes over 75 years old. Participants in this program create a record of the home that is kept on file, and no restrictions are placed on the properties.

Data plat markers and references are often provided by local historical societies—sometimes as fundraisers—to acknowledge a house’s age, but usually omit the requirements and conversations that would be required of a house in an official historic district (although it is certainly possible for someone to have one and also To be located in a historical area). Check with your local historical society for their guidelines; In some cases, modifications may affect how you qualify, but often they don’t.

“Most of the featured programs grew out of the historic preservation movement of the 1970s and 1980s and were intended to promote historic preservation,” said Lisa Duddy, director of the World Heritage Center. Historical Newton. “They figured that if we put signs on things, it would motivate people to take care of their homes.”

Newton has Four local historic districts – Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Newton-Upper Falls, and Newtonville – which recognizes “historic or architectural value.” But Historic Newton allows any home to apply for the home tag, regardless of year built or location in town.

“We decided to do something different, which was to acknowledge that every building has a history, even if it was covered in vinyl, or even if someone took down the wood railing and put in the metal railing,” Duddy said. “That doesn’t mean that the people who lived there when there were wooden railings weren’t important, it doesn’t mean that the people who live there now aren’t important, and it doesn’t mean that this physical structure doesn’t embody the history of the city.”

So far, about 900 homeowners have chosen to participate. Only five of the total 955 signs they presented were built in the 20th century; Most were built between 1870 and 1920, representing Newton’s building boom. The oldest tag they issued was for a house built in 1729, and the last one was in 2010.

“We will not discriminate,” she added. “All the people who have signs on their houses are kind of like curators of Newton history.”

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