For statewide event lists, visit the HPO Facebook event list, Preservation North Carolina events list, or a June - August 2014 calendar and workshop and conference list courtesy of the Federation of N.C. Historical Societies. 

For Bellamy Mansion Museum, Wilmington, upcoming events click here.

Town of Burgaw Works With Pender County to Win Small Town Main Street Award

This article is repeated from the National Register Coordinator NR Email Blast - Summer 2014 with thanks to Edson Beall of the National Park Service.

The topic of insurance agencies being reluctant or unwilling to underwrite policies for historic properties is one of growing concern within the preservation field. Largely this is due to the misconceptions that continue with regard to historic properties and federal landmark designation programs. 

Under federal law listing in the National Register of Historic Places results in no restrictions on the use, management, maintenance, or disposal of a historic property. Owners of private property are free to manage their property as they see fit. Damaged or destroyed properties are under no requirement to rebuild or repair as originally designed. National Register designation is largely honorary in nature and provides certain economic benefits to owners, but places no requirements on the use of the property. Insurance claims should follow the normal course as with any other property, unless the owner specifically purchases a replacement policy for exact replication (e.g. historic house museums).

Even if listed in the National Register, a historic property could still be demolished by the owners as long as no Federal funds, permits, or licenses were involved in the process, and no state or local ordinances were in effect that might restrict the property. Local ordinances may place certain restrictions on the owner that are separate from the National Register program.

An owner does not have to rebuild their National Register listed property according to any specific federal standards or guidelines, so insurance coverage should be similar to that for a non-historic building. We have found, however, that some insurance companies and their underwriters are hesitant to insure designated buildings, usually because they fail to understand the facts about listing. In most cases there are usually other firms available more than willing to provide insurance. 

One approach to take with the reluctant insurance companies is to request where in the company's policy it specifically says "we do not insure National Register listed properties." We have yet to see anything actually in print that says this. You might also call your state's insurance commissioner's office and speak with the homeowner's analyst about whether insurance companies can refuse to underwrite houses that are listed in the National Register. Referring insurance companies to a regulatory agency sometimes works. It is helpful to ask if there is a policy or position paper regarding insuring listed properties in your state. 

To be clear:

The National Register does not require that exact replicas of listed properties be constructed if the original is destroyed. The National Register does not require that the same or very similar materials be used for repairs or replacement of all or part of a damaged building and, The National Register does not require that any specific guidelines be followed in the rehabilitation of properties whose owners do not participate in federal programs.

The National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers addresses this issue on their website at this page.

Dr. Jim Glass's article in History News, the quarterly magazine of the American Association of State and Local History, reflects on the 50 Years of the National Historic Preservation Act, emphasizing how the Act transformed the role of the States in historic preservation. Dr. Glass was the Director of the Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and also served as the IN Deputy SHPO. He currently serves as Principal, Heritage Preservation & Heritage Consulting, LLC. Click here to read the article.

Rhodes Hall after rehabilitation. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and Southface have created the nation's first green building certification program for historic buildings. EarthCraft Sustainable Preservation (ECSP) is a regional green building certification program created specifically for historic buildings. ECSP offers third-party certification for environmentally responsible design and construction practices for historic buildings in the Southeast and is specifically intended for historic building projects sized 50,000 square feet or less, although all projects may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Click here for more information.

Tech firms in San Francisco have taken over more than three million square feet of existing office and industrial space, nearly the equivalent of New York's new 1 World Trade Center. Driven partly by young tech workers' desire to live in cities, the trend helps explain why new suburban office-park projects are unpopular before they have been completed. It is also driven by a taste for "authenticity," "character," and other buzzwords today's tech firms love. At the same time, constructing anything new here is a major headache. All this contributes to why adaptive reuse has taken hold.

And across the country, adventuresome and sometimes deep-pocketed buyers are converting urban commercial and industrial buildings into homes and offices with both modern conveniences and "historic" charm. Warehouse conversions are especially popular in space-crunched cities where the available downtown housing cannot meet the demand for city living.

Many of these adaptive reuse projects do not meet the Secretary of the Interior Standards. Is this preservation?

Click here and here for more information about these rehabilitation trends.

An avant-garde architectural scene started springing up on the Outer Cape during the Second World War and Modernist architecture fit into the local landscape. Today the Cape Cod Modernist House Trust struggles to save these endangered houses. Click here for more information. 

Google has released a new Street View option, using "historic" imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007, to create a digital time capsule. Click here to read an explanation of the feature in a Google blog posting and here to see thought-provoking Detroit examples.

Cold War Affected the Design of America's Malls

In the 1950s the Cold War was a looming threat. People worried about the need to shelter during a nuclear attack and how communities could recover after such an event. Enter the mall. Architects began designing enclosed mixed-use community centers with controlled environments, green spaces, and bomb shelters in the basement, along with ample parking and easy access from major highways to allow residents to easily congregate at these safe locations. Many of the proposed uses were not built into our malls, but the main principles were incorporated. Click here to read more about this fascinating period in commercial design.

Collegiate Brutalism: A Student Control Mechanism?

You may have heard that Brutalism was the architectural choice for college and university campuses in America as a means of restricting student protests, but was this true?  Click here to find out. 

For Your Entertainment and Edification...

• Jude Law sightings in Buncombe County!  The actor is visiting Asheville to research his role for an upcoming film about Thomas Wolfe and his editor Maxwell Perkins. Mr. Law has spent some time at "Old Kentucky Home" (the Thomas Wolfe House, National Historic Landmark listed in 1971; click here for more information about the State Historic Site) and visited the Whitson-Wolfe Cabin (a Local Landmark requiring rehabilitation; click here for more information about the cabin).
• Ever wonder what happened to those wonderful buildings in your favorite movies? Click here to find out about a few.
• Could this be the next step in historical interpretation?  Click here to watch.
• Do you love historic postcards?  Two more sources can be found here and here.
• Click here for catalogs of elaborate Victorian hardware, retro mid-century house plans, and even Patent Rolling Ladders from 1900.