Teardowns and McMansions

Across the nation a teardown epidemic is wiping out historic neighborhoods one house at a time. As older homes are demolished and replaced with dramatically larger, out-of-scale new structures, the historic character of the existing neighborhood is changed forever. Neighborhood livability is diminished as trees are removed, backyards are eliminated, and sunlight is blocked by towering new structures built up to the property lines. Community economic and social diversity is reduced as new mansions replace affordable homes. House by house, neighborhoods are losing a part of their historic fabric and much of their character.

Kim Del Rance of Gould Evans wrote in a post to the COTE forum today:

Having restored a "tear down" that I could only get a land mortgage on — the house had zero value — to what is now a contributing structure in a neighborhood nominated to the National Register, I know firsthand there are very few houses that cannot be repaired. Those that are called "money pits" are often still cheaper to repair than to build a house of the same quality on the same land.

Reusing land that has already been built on is better than taking over greenspace, but tearing down a house that is in fine condition is a waste of resources and embodied energy as well as removing character from historic neighborhoods... I see this as a green/sustainable issue as well as historic — I want our history and culture to be sustained as well as our air and water.

Find tools, resources, and information in the Teardowns and McMansions section of the National Trust for Historic Preservation website.