Save Our Heritage Organisation

---

Research Your House

      

Many property owners across the country are learning about historic designation and its advantages. The information contained here will provide you with information about historic designation, the Mills Act, how to research and designate your home, and some links to helpful websites.

Whether or not you decide to pursue designation for your property, you may find it rewarding to conduct some research on the history of your property and its past owners. During the course of your research you might locate previous owners or their descendants, learn interesting facts about your home's early residents, and perhaps discover some interior or exterior historic photographs.

While it is a great experience to learn about your house's history, conducting research can be a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process. The tips included here will give you a concrete framework within which to work and help you to eliminate some of the learning curve. Here's a step-by-step guide.

What makes a house or building historic?
Here are the National Register criteria:

• The building is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
• it is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
• it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represents the work of a master, or that possesses high artistic values, or that represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
• has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Helpful articles from SOHO's newsletter Reflections:
Façade Easement Issue 1 - 2001
Owners of Old Homes Issue 2 - 2001
Four Treatments Approaches Issue 1 - 2002
Mills Act Information Issue 2 - 2002
Historic Districts - What Are They? Issue 2 - 2003
Incentives Issue 2 - 2004
Seven Key Benefits that Historic Preservation Offers Issue 2 - 2004
Historic Landscape Concern Issue 2 - 2004
New Resources in the California Room Issue 3 - 2004
Historical Landmarks Issue 1 - 2005
Mission Hills Heritage Issue 1 - 2005
Economics, Sustainability, and Historic Preservation Issue 2 - 2006
Coronado City Council Upholds Designation Issue 3 - 2006
Historic Preservation - The Greenest of Conservation Solutions Issue 3 - 2006
Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco Issue 3 - 2006
Creating Community Preservation Groups Issue 4 - 2006
First do no Harm - Advice for the New Old House Owner Issue 4 - 2006

Helpful articles from SOHO's Our Heritage Magazine:
The Historic Home - Landscape and Gardens Issue 1 - 2007
Every Bungalow Represents our History Issue 1 - 2007
Preservation Community Issue 1/2 - 2008
Character Matters Issue 3/4 - 2008
Smart Growth - or is it? Issue 3/4 - 2008
The Impact of Historic Districts Issue 3/4 - 2008
Preserving Community Character Issue 3/4 - 2008
Kensington's Historic Streetscapes Issue 3/4 - 2008
Sherlock Homes - Old House Owner's Program Issue 3/4 - 2008

Other Resources
SOHO's 2006 Resource Directory (12-page pdf)
Historic Designation & Residential Property Values (10-page pdf)
Estimating the Value of the Historical Designation Externality (8-page pdf)
San Diego Public Library Digital Library Online Collections

City of San Diego
www.sandiego.gov/

City of San Diego Historical Resources Board Information Line: (619) 235-5224
Board Agendas

San Diego Public Library
www.sandiego.gov/public-library/

San Diego Historical Society Research Library
sandiegohistory.org/mainpages/locate6.htm

San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk
www.arcc.co.san-diego.ca.us

California Office of Historic Preservation
www.ohp.parks.ca.gov/

Ancestry.com
ancestry.com

National Register of Historic Places
www.nps.gov/nr

Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
(182-page pdf)

---

SOHO Home

email: SOHOSanDiego@aol.com

Copyright © 2000 , Save Our Heritage Organisation. Copyright Warning