Community Preservation

Traditional and Vernacular Architecture in PA

This article is a part of a series from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s excellent field guide on the architectural styles found in Pennsylvania.  In it, they’ve assigned key periods of development – from the Colonial period in the 18th Century to the Modern Movements of the 29th Century.  This article focuses on an overview of the …

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Walking Through Lancaster's History

  Lancaster’s rich history and diverse architectural styles are a virtual feast for the eyes.  Have you experienced them lately?  Now that the weather is turning, we are all looking forward to spending more time outside.  These walking tours from the City of Lancaster’s website are the perfect way to do so.   A Walk …

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Free Webinar: "Credits Where Credits Are Due: Tax Credits for Historic Preservation Projects"

Produced by Restore Media: Clem Labine’s Traditional Building, Clem Labine’s Period Homes, and the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference, the following free webinar is being offered on September 19th: Click here to register for this webinar. Credits Where Credits Are Due: Tax Credits for Historic Preservation Projects  September 18, 2012, 2:00 p.m., 90 minutes, 1.5 AIA HSW LUs …

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HIDDEN GEM: Big Spring Farm

We’ve added Big Spring Farm to our Hidden Gem list for a good reason.  With no website, no official or regular hours, no main contact information, no obvious advertisements, and yet huge preservation efforts and achievements – Big Spring Farm may very well be our most hidden gem of all. Somewhere around 5am Saturday morning, …

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Pennsylvania's Architectural Styles

  Do you know the architectural styles of Pennsylvania?                     The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has an excellent field guide on the architectural styles found in Pennsylvania.  In it, they’ve assigned key periods of development (listed below) – from the Colonial period in the 18th Century to the …

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Portland is a great place for a getaway….not so great for historic buildings.

Protect Historic Masonry Buildings from Permanent Damage Caused by Portland Mortar Historic masonry buildings are very different from modern buildings.  Historic bricks were fired at lower temperatures and are much softer and more permeable than modern bricks.  Historic buildings constructed with these softer bricks were designed to absorb moisture and then release it.  A key …

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Customizing a kitchen in Old Town, Lancaster

Sometimes preservation takes you on new, surprising paths… Yes, we have kitchens on the brain thanks to a recent custom kitchen project (that turned out to be good fodder for some really cool pictures of our millwork process, so you get to ogle them). The traditional approach to creating a custom kitchen is one we …

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Woot Woot! PA now has a Historic Tax Credit!

Exciting news just in….from Preservation Pennsylvania: Historic Tax Credit Established in Pennsylvania On Saturday, June 30, Pennsylvania became the 30th state in the country to have a state historic tax credit when Governor Tom Corbett signed the FY 2013 Commonwealth Budget and established the Historic Preservation Incentive Act. (Click on the link to read an …

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HIDDEN GEM: Ever wonder how those old mills along the streams actually worked?

Last weekend, Danielle and Jonathan spent the day at the Bowmansville Roller Mill’s open house – a Lancaster County hidden gem of preservation that sits just a stone’s throw (okay, a hearty stone’s throw) from the Berk’s County line. Put together by The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, the open house occurs four times …

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Preservationist vs. revisionist history – is there a time and a place for both?

Since I put last month’s e-newsletter to bed (obligatory you can sign up here) yesterday morning (hey, that e-newsletter is one wild party animal on the weekends), I’ve started researching this month’s snail-mail newsletter (another obligatory you can sign up for that one here).  We’re delving into the history at Independence National Park in Philadelphia since it’s fresh …

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