Privately Owned Residences

Technical Resources

Most Relevant National Park Service Preservation Briefs (available at no charge at http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/tax/rhb/stand.htm)

• #1: The Cleaning and Waterproof Coating of Masonry Buildings
• #2: Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings
• #3: Conserving Energy in Historic Buildings
• #4: Roofing for Historic Buildings
• #6: Dangers of Abrasive Cleaning to Historic Buildings
• #8: Aluminum and Vinyl Siding on Historic Buildings
• #9: The Repair of Historic Wooden Windows
• #10: Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork
• #14: New Exterior Additions to Historic Buildings
• #16: The Use of Substitute Materials on Historic Building Exteriors
• #17: Architectural Character: Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving Their Character
• #18: Rehabilitating Interiors in Historic Buildings
• #19: The Repair and Replacement of Historic Wooden Shingle Roofs
• #21: Repairing Historic Flat Plaster-- Walls and Ceiling
• #22: Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco
• #23: Preserving Historic Ornamental Plaster
• #24: Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling Historic Buildings
• #28: Painting Historic Interiors
• #29: The Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance of Historic Slate Roofs
• #31: Mothballing Historic Buildings
• #33: The Preservation and Repair of Historic Stained and Leaded Glass
• #34: Applied Decoration for Historic Interiors: Preserving Composition Ornament
• #35: Understanding Old Buildings: The Process of Architectural Investigation
• #38: Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry
• #39: Holding the Line: Controlling Unwanted Moisture in Historic Buildings
• #40: Preserving Historic Ceramic Tile Floors
• #42: The Maintenance, Repair and Replacement of Historic Cast Stone

Other information and services on a wide variety of preservation topics are available on the internet through the National Park Service’s Heritage Preservation Services at http://www2.cr.nps.gov/welcome.htm or by email at nps_hps-info@nps.gov.

Financial Resources

Few financial resources exist for private homeowners of non-certified historic homes.

Some of the programs that are available include:

• US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Rehabilitation Mortgages
• Illinois Office of the Treasurer Experience Illinois! Program
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Cultural and Heritage programs

Private homeowners of certified historic homes have the above three options, as well as the IHPA’s Tax Freeze Program.

Chicago residents have one additional option:

• Would-be and current owners of Chicago bungalows can receive assistance from the Historic Chicago Bungalow Initiative.

The Illinois Housing Development Agency (IHDA) offers several programs for low income housing development and improvement, if your property applies. As they do not require conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, homeowners must independently take care to carefully rehabilitate their older properties according to the Standards to avoid negative consequences to their homes.

Other Resources

A bill is currently in the works in Congress to create a Heritage Homes Tax Incentive, which would apply to homes completed before 1952, to promote continued use of existing housing stock instead of the creation of sprawling developments. The details are still vague, but if this bill passes, many more homeowners of older properties could receive assistance for work on their homes.

The University of Illinois at Springfield maintains the Nonprofit Resource Center, a database and librarians who can assist in finding grant money. They are accessible on the web at http://www.uis.edu/library/fdc.htm.