Field Guide to Researching a Home's History
(Updated July 2009)
Ever wonder who lived in your home before you? Would you know how to find out? If your home is a landmark or if it housed a famous resident you may already know its history. Others require more effort and research. This Field Guide will get you started and also provide information on architectural styles of homes in the United States. (D. Foligno, Project Specialist)
Useful Documents for Researching a Home's History
- Title & Deed research
- Tax assessment records
- Building permits
- Architects' records
- Photographs
- Fire insurance maps
- Oral histories & interviews
- Census records
How to Research Your Home
How to research the history of your house, (WikiHow.com).
When was my house built, and who lived there, (RenovateDSM.com).
Building histories tutorial, (Denver Public Library).
Your House Has a History, (Chicago Dept. of Planning & Development) - Step-by-step guide to tracing a home's history.
Finding the history in your home, (Old House Web.com).
Researching a historic property, (National Register of Historic Places, 1998) - Sources and techniques
How to research your house, (Save Our Heritage Organization).
Architectural Styles
Residential Styles, (REALTOR® Magazine Online).
Architectural styles of America, (Northern Arizona University, June 2006).
Sears Roebuck Houses, (Arts Crafts.com, 2005).
The house that romance built, (REALTOR® Magazine Online. May 1, 2005).
Victorian architecture, (Victoria Station).
Classic home collection, (Architecture Week).
Architecture quiz, (REALTOR® Magazine Online).
Painted ladies, (Wikipedia.org).
Buying & Selling Older Homes
House hunting? Think small, old, (Boston Globe, Apr. 14, 2007).
Tips for marketing an older home, (Columbus Board of REALTORS®, Mar. 2007).
How to buy historic homes, (HowToDoThings.com, Aug. 7, 2006).
Marketing older homes, (Realty Times, Aug. 11, 2005).
Buying a home in an historic district, (Bob Vila.com).
A new approach to selling older homes, (REALTOR® Magazine, Apr. 2005).
Know the style, sell the house, (REALTOR® Magazine, Jan. 2004).
Related Websites
State-by-State Registry of Historic Places, (National Register of Historic Places) - Find out if you live in a historic home.
National Register Publications, (National Park Service Register of Historic Places) - Free, downloadable research guides.
Historic Preservation Organizations, (Old Houses.com) - National and State resources.
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, (Ancestry.com) - Maps charting the growth of American cities. Links to collections for several cities.
Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties, (U.S. Secretary of the Interior).
How to preserve your historic home, (National Trust for Historic Preservation).
Preservation Directory, (Preservation Directory.com) - Historic preservation online resource.
That's my old house, (Thats My Old House.com) - Every house has a story.
eBooks & Other Resources
eBooks.realtor.org
The following ebooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:
American Architectural History: A Contemporary Reader
Field Guides & More
These Field Guides and other resources in the Virtual Library may also be of interest:
Field Guide to Historic Properties
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The inclusion of links on this Field Guide does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked to this Field Guide complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.
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