Historic Home Renovation
Upgrade Your Historic Home
“Historic” doesn’t have to mean outdated. Carson Custom Homes can turn your old house into a beautiful new space while retaining its historic status.
Historic Home Renovation
San Antonio has a rich tapestry of cultural history older than Texas itself. Before becoming the second largest metropolitan area in the state, it was home to historic missions like the Alamo and San Jose. Many of the stately homes that were built in the late 19th century are still standing today and offer a glimpse into the past for San Antonio residents and visitors alike.
If you own or are considering buying one of these historic pieces of property, you may know how important it is to follow the City of San Antonio’s Historic Design Guidelines to preserve its historic value. Carson Custom Homes has appeared before the Historic Design and Review Committee for historic home renovation and has the expertise and knowledge necessary to make renovations to historic properties without losing their historic status.
What Makes a Home “Historic”?
There are a couple of lists you may find your home or neighborhood on if it is considered historically significant to Texas or American history. The National Register of Historic Places has named 19 districts in San Antonio as historic and on the local level, the City Council has named 27 local historic districts.
To be considered “historic”, your home must meet a few criteria:
- In San Antonio, a building must be at least 50 years old
- It must be recognizable as the same building as when it was declared “historic”
- An important event or person must be associated with the building or it’s architecture and/or design must be of historical significance
The following districts have been declared as historically significant to San Antonio:
- Alamo Plaza
- Arsenal
- Auditorium Circle
- Cattleman Square
- Dignowity Hill
- E. French Place
- Fulton Avenue
- Government Hill
- Healy-Murphy
- HemisFair
- Keystone Park
- King William
- La Villita
- Lavaca
- Leon Springs
- Main and Military Plaza
- Mission
- Monte Vista
- Monticello Park
- Nathan Historic District
- Old Lone Star Brewery
- Olmos Park Terrace
- River Road
- School of Aerospace Medicine
- St. Paul Square
- Tobin Hill
- Ursuline Academy
- Westfort
- Woodlawn Lake
Restoration, Reconstruction or Remodeling: What’s the Difference?
These 3 words are often used interchangeably. People often use them to describe when an existing building has had improvements made upon it, but they each mean slightly different things.
When a building is “restored”, repairs are made to rehabilitate it to the original state using period materials. When a home is “reconstructed”, work is done to refurbish it to an earlier state, but not it’s original design. When a home is “remodeled”, the structure of the home is changed to accommodate modern conveniences.
These are important definitions for you and your contractor to understand before making any changes to your historic property, as your home may lose it’s historic status if the proper guidelines are not followed. The contractors and designers at Carson Custom Homes have the training and expertise to ensure your home restoration, reconstruction, or remodel will not put your property at risk of losing its historic status.