Making Sense of Historic Heights Design Guidelines
Understanding historic design guidelines isn’t just academic — it affects renovations, resale value, and buyer interest in the Heights. I use this insight to help sellers price their homes accurately and help buyers avoid unexpected restrictions.
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As a longtime Realtor focused on the Houston Heights and Inner Loop markets, I help buyers and sellers navigate the unique nuances of these neighborhoods — from pricing strategies to understanding historic design guidelines that impact property values.
Do I need a Certificate of Appropriateness?
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.
Before submitting a request for a COA, it is important that you refer to any available deed restrictions to be sure your build or revisions comply, then, where applicable, refer to the written guidelines for your area. If there are no guidelines, let the deed restrictions be your guide.
Is every house considered "Historic"?
Not every structure in the historic district is a contributing structure. If you want to know if a home is considered contributing, you want to go to the inventory within your district and check.
How many Historic Districts are in the Heights?
Currently, there are 7 mapped Historic Districts within the Heights; they are as follows: Woodland Heights, Houston Heights East, West, and South, Norhill, Freeland and Germantown. Though all of these historic districts require a Certificate of Appropriateness prior to doing any external construction (including repair and renovation), only 3 of these districts actually have defined, written guidelines: Houston Heights East, West and South. At this point, the remaining 4 districts do not have historic guidelines per se but if you follow the established guidelines of Historic Heights E/W/S, you have a good chance of passing. But remember, since there is no guideline, the review will be subjective, that isn't to say the Board will not be cooperative it just doesn't have a set of guidelines to go by for those specific districts.
What about Deed Restrictions?
Norhill has a neighborhood association so their deed restrictions are fairly explicit and organized. Germantown and Freeland do not seem to have written deed restrictions, so, here is where it might be most ambiguous. My suggestion would be that if you are in Germantown, refer to the Woodland Heights Deed restrictions and if in Freeland, refer to the Historic Heights Guidelines for reference.