Since the historic preservation program began in 1980, locally designated historic properties and districts have been adopted with a unique set of design guidelines to aid in the preservation of the site and district. These guidelines, mainly addressing exterior changes, were specific to each separate site or district, of which Lincoln had 104 individual local landmarks and 13 local landmark districts. Beginning in summer 2023, a project began to consolidate all 114 sets of design guidelines into one, illustrated, easy to use set of design standards for all local historic properties. The Design Standards provide information and recommendations for the maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation of historic buildings. They are intended to be a tool for both owners when starting projects and the Historic Preservation Commission to use when reviewing projects for approval. All individual local landmarks and properties in local landmark districts must comply with these standards when completing exterior changes to the property.
How do I find out if I own a local landmark property or have a property in a local landmark district?
The information below explains Lincoln's historic preservation program outlining the differences between a local designation and a National Register designation. The Historic Preservation Design Standards only apply to properties listed as individual local landmarks or that are within local landmark districts. By typing an address into the search bar on the map below you can determine whether the property is historic and if so, what type of designation it has. Local landmark districts have solid orange boundaries, National Register districts are red/pink, and districts with both designations are green. For individual properties, clicking on the orange dot will result in a pop up that says what type of designation is on the property.
Use the interactive image below to select a feature within the design standards such as "windows" or click on the text below to review that section of the design standards. Each section begins with a purpose statement, followed by the applicable standards. Where applicable, images showing proper and improper treatments and diagrams are included to illustrate the standards. The full set of design standards is available at the link below.
View Standards
This material was produced with assistance from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.