Buying a Gettysburg Pa Historic Home and HARB

Buying a Gettysburg Pa Historic Home and HARB

What is a HARB and why do I need one...

HARB stands for Historical Architectural Review Board, and if you are buying a home within the Gettysburg Borough Historic District you need to know what HARB is. Whether you are buying a historic Gettysburg home or not, if the home is in the Gettysburg historic district you will have to comply with HARB. A historic district is designated through the U.S. Department of Interior. However, most of the decisions surrounding a historic district came at the local level. Levels of restrictions vary from state to state and area to area, some like Gettysburg Historic District is extremely restrictive, while others are tend to work with property owners Gettysburg HARB tends rather than dictate over them.

Follow the Rules...

Here in the Gettysburg Pa area, if you are purchasing a home in the historic district, whether that property is historic or not, the buyer needs to sign off on a separate form verifying that they are aware of the property being in a historic district. Many of the restrictions when dealing with HARB guidelines revolve around exterior elements such as windows, siding, porches, decks, roof lines etc. Here in historic Gettysburg Pa a lot of attention is placed on windows, if the windows being replaced are six over six windows they must be replaced with six over six windows. No vinyl windows are allowed in the front or side if the side faces a street or alley. Pretty much if a tourist can see it, it must comply. Here is a copy of the "Application for Certificate of Appropriateness" used in here Gettysburg Pa. Recently work on renovations of the Gettysburg Borough office were stopped because the window replacements were found to be "wood look alike" not actually wooden. It was kind of funny in that Gettysburg Borough Council has been denying use of such products for property owners yet tried to slip them through on the Gettysburg Borough Hall.


Is There Opposition?...

Originally the idea was supposed to protect certain historic districts within the United States, however more and more area's have become resistant to historic district designations, simply because of the restrictive conditions that property owners must contend with. All the restrictions and guidelines can cause  renovation project to drag out and become financially burdensome. Home buyers looking to purchase a Gettysburg Historic home should be aware of these restrictions and HARBguidelines before entering into any purchase contract. Be sure and talk with your Realtor about any such conditions that very well likely will affect your purchase, maintenance, and renovations. Buying a Gettysburg Historic home is not the same as buying in any neighborhood. Ignorance of buying in a Historic district and it's HARB guidelines is not grounds for voiding a purchase contract. Get a knowledgeable Realtor to represent you.

If you are interested in buying a Gettysburg historic home, or a historic home in the Gettysburg Adams County Pa area, be sure to contact GettysburgGerry for assistance.