Houston Historic Districts

Currently, there are nineteen Historic Districts within the Houston city limits. Though all of these historic districts require a Certificate of Appropriateness prior to doing any external construction, whether repairs or renovation, only some of these districts actually have defined, written guidelines. This is the Houston Heights East, Houston Heights West and Houston Heights South Districts.  The remaining other districts do not have historic guidelines per se, but if you follow the established guidelines of the other districts, you have a good chance of your certificate being approved.  

 For the most part, internal renovations do not require a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA), an exception could be if you encounter shiplap in your home.  Shiplap cannot be removed from the home; however, it can be covered with sheetrock.  And windows are considered external construction and do require the approval of the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission (HAHC).  If you are unsure if a renovation you're considering requires approval, contact the Historic Preservation Office before beginning any work.

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Before submitting a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness, refer to any available deed restrictions to be sure your improvement or revisions comply, then, where applicable, refer to the written guidelines for your area.  If there are no guidelines, the deed restrictions are a great reference for increasing your likelihood of being approved.

The Norhill Historic District has a neighborhood association, thus their deed restrictions are more straightforward and organized. In contrast, Germantown and Freeland do not seem to have written deed restrictions, so, these districts might be most ambiguous.  My suggestion would be that if you are trying to work within a historic district with little guidelines, refer to the closest in proximity of a district that is more explicit in their requirements.

Not every structure in the historic district is a contributing structure.  To know if a home is considered contributing, go to the inventory within your district and ask first.