Historical Codes

[Eieio]

It is safe to assume that historical codes will vary place to place for obvious reasons.

So is there a national Historic board that sets minimum guidelines for states to follow?

[ChrWright]

The strictest area I work in is a local area known as the North Meridian Street Historic District, overseen by the Meridian Street Preservation Commission. This district has it's own appropriateness guide. Within the guide, each house in the district is cataloged with the original builders name, architect, date built and style of house. (starting on page 47 of the file below).

http://www.meridianstreetfoundation.net/pdfs/Guidelines.pdf

I'm curious to know how it stacks up against what some of the rest of you work with. They are primarily concerned with exterior elements only--paint, roofing color/material, landscaping, drives and walkways, fences, etc.

I've worked on 8 of the houses in this district. When pulling permits for work that will involve the exterior, you must bring in a Certificate of Appropriateness from the preservation commission (which only meets once monthly).

[Derek Stevens]

The Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation is a model, or guideline for the states to then work from. As the Fed work was written in the 60's and updated in the 70's when we were losing entire neighborhoods of American history, they are based on very different criteria than is the driving force these days. In Oregon, local commissions submit code language to the city or county elected officials for adoption, and are given the nod by the state historic preservation office (SHPO) But as to one, nationalize standard, no.