To be considered "historic," a property must have three essential attributes: sufficient age, a relatively high degree of physical integrity, and historical significance.
Age: A property must be "old enough" to be considered historic. Generally speaking, this means that a property must be at least 50 years old, although this is just a general rule of thumb.
Integrity: In addition to having sufficient age, a property must retain its historic physical integrity. For a building, structure, landscape feature, historic site, or historic district, this means that the property must be relatively unchanged. Its essential character-defining features relative to its significance must still be present. For a traditional cultural property, integrity means that the site must be recognizable to today's affiliated cultural group, evidenced through tradition, and still used or revered in some way.
Significance: Finally, and most importantly, a property must be significant to be considered historic.
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direct association with individuals, events, activities, or developments that shaped our history or that reflect important aspects of our history
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embodying the distinctive physical and spatial characteristics of an architectural style or type of building, structure, landscape, or planned environment, or a method of construction, or by embodying high artistic values or fine craftsmanship
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having the potential to yield information important to our understanding of the past through archaeological, architectural, or other physical investigation and analysis.
For more information about the neighborhood, visit our Boston Resource page or contact us for more information on any of the Boston historic homes for sale below. You can also create a free account to save all of your favorite properties and to receive email alerts when new listings come onto the market.
