Both Historic Preservation and Not-So-Historic Preservation

A few buildings and old houses are historic because of an important event, location, or person. A few others represent the finest aesthetic examples of a particular architecture or style. These are the artifacts of true historic preservation. These are landmarks that the community must register and preserve. They provide identity and sense of community.

Beyond the registered landmarks, we embrace not-so-historic preservation, which involves the individual more than the community. An individual can value a building or old house for its distinctive character, for its methods that are no longer affordable, or for its materials that are no longer available. An existing structure, ruin, or fragment of a building, perhaps modest in history and character, can provide textural DNA, rich in method and material, for evolution into wonderful new architecture.

Historic and not-so-historic buildings together comprise America's and Colorado's architectural iconography --- the stuff that pushes our buttons and the places that attract us.

Preservation is a low risk investment over the long term, especially in districts where tax credits are applicable and property values are stable. Without a real estate bubble, new construction loses value in real dollars. After 27.5 years, functionality of a new residence is largely depreciated according to the IRS, and its salvage value may not significantly exceed the value of the land it occupies. Preservation ordinances acknowledge that 50 years must elapse in order to objectively evaluate design. It makes good financial sense to restore functionality to designs that endure.

(Left: Druid Hills)