Editing Historic house

{{Short description|House with a notable history or of a historic nature}}
{{for|the British organisation |Historic Houses Association}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Breakers 01.jpg|thumb|250px|[[The Breakers]], an American historic mansion]]
A '''historic house''' generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list.  A second factor is that the building be in recognizably the same form as when it became historic.  Third is a requirement that either an event of historical importance happened at the site, or that a person of historical significance was associated with the site, or that the building itself is important for its architecture or interior.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://georgiashpo.org/faq_what_makes_a_property_historic |publisher=Georgia Department of Natural Resources |title=What makes a property historic? |access-date=27 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222809/http://www.georgiashpo.org/faq_what_makes_a_property_historic |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Many historic houses are also considered museums and retain permanent collections that help tell the story of their house and the era.

== Background ==
Houses were first thought of as ''historic'' rather than just ''old'' or ''interesting'', during the early nineteenth century.  Government protection was first given during the late nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stewart|first1=Elizabeth|title=A History of Historic House Reconstruction: Understanding the Past and Informing the Future|journal=Internet Archaeology|year=2011|volume=29|issue=29 |doi=10.11141/ia.29.3|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Historic homes are often eligible for special grant awards for preservation. What makes a historic home significant is often its architecture or its importance to the culture or history of the area. There are some organizations that offer services to research the history of a home and others that provide repositories for users to document the history of their homes.

Historic homes may still be inhabited, and thus should not be confused with [[historic house museum]]s.

== Historic houses in the United States ==
Houses are increasingly being designated as historic in the United States as a way to resuscitate neighbourhoods and increase the economic health of surrounding urban areas.<ref name=coulson>{{cite journal |via=[[Springer Science+Business Media|SpringerLink]]|last1=Coulson |first1=Edouard N. |last2=Leichenko |first2=Robin M. |year=2001 |title=The Internal and External Impact of Historical Designation on Property Values |journal=Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=113–124 |doi=10.1023/A:1011120908836 |s2cid=152692700 }}</ref> Designating a house as historic tends to increase the value of the house as well as others in the same neighbourhood.<ref name=coulson /><ref name=narwold>{{cite journal |last1=Narwold |first1=Andrew |last2=Sandy |first2=Jonathan |last3=Tu |first3=Charles |year=2008 |title=Historic Designation and Residential Property Values |url=http://www.umac.mo/fba/irer/papers/current/vol11n1_pdf/Article%204.pdf |journal=International Real Estate Review |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=83–95 |doi=10.53383/100091 |access-date=22 August 2015}}</ref> This can result in increased development of nearby properties, creating a ripple effect that spreads to surrounding neighbourhoods.<ref name=zahirovic-herbert>{{cite journal |via=[[Springer Science+Business Media|SpringerLink]]|last1=Zahirovic-Herbert |first1=Velma |last2=Gibler |first2=Karen M. |date=January 2014 |title=Historic District Influence on House Prices and Marketing Duration |journal=The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=112–131 |doi=10.1007/s11146-012-9380-1 |s2cid=254991231 }}</ref>  In some cases, fees are assessed of homeowners during the designation process, so there is not necessarily an economic benefit to doing so.<ref name=coulson />

== See also ==
{{portal|History|Architecture|Housing}}
* [[Canadian Register of Historic Places]] – an on-line directory of [[historic site]]s in Canada that are formally recognized for their heritage value by a [[Government of Canada|federal]], [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provincial]], [[Provinces and territories of Canada|territorial]] and/or [[Municipal government in Canada|municipal]] authority
* [[Historic Houses Association]] – non-profit organisation that represents 1,600 privately owned historic [[country house]]s, castles and gardens throughout the United Kingdom
* [[List of historic houses]]
* [[List of Irish towns with a Market House]]
* [[National Historic Preservation Act]] of 1966 – U.S. legislation intended to preserve historical and [[archaeological site]]s in the United States
* [[National Register of Historic Places]] – the [[Federal government of the United States]]' official [[United States National Register of Historic Places listings|list]] of [[district]]s, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation
* [[The Georgian Group]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Cowell, Ben, "Safe as Houses? The Gowers Report of 1950 was the first step in the postwar rescue of Britain's country house heritage." ''History Today'' (June 2020) 70#6 pp 22–24. online

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Historic house museums}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150904150244/http://www.fohh.net/ Historic Houses Association of Australia]
*[http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/home-accueil.aspx Parks Canada – Canada's Historic Places]
*[http://www.hha.org.uk/ UK Historic Houses Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224084651/https://www.hha.org.uk/ |date=24 February 2018 }}
*[http://www.nps.gov/nr/ US National Park Service's Register of Historic Places]
*[http://www.dicamillocompanion.com/ The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509194114/http://www.dicamillocompanion.com/ |date=9 May 2008 }} – database of over 7,000 houses
*[http://www.hudsonsheritage.com/ Hudson's Historic Houses and Gardens] – UK guidebook of over 2,000 houses open to the public
*[http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/ Lost Heritage – A Memorial to the Lost Country Houses of England] – list of over 1,700 houses
*[http://www.preservationnation.org/ National Trust for Historic Preservation] – online database of historic houses in the United States

[[Category:House types]]
[[Category:Historic preservation]]
[[Category:Historic houses]]