• About
    • Back
    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Newsletter
    • Plans and Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Heritage BC AGM 2025
  • Programs
    • Back
    • Heritage BC Awards
    • Conference
    • Heritage Week
    • Online Course: Community Heritage Fundamentals
    • Webinars
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Heritage 101
    • Advocacy
    • Accessibility for Historic Places
    • Climate & Sustainability
    • Cultural Maps
    • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Homeowners
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Reconciliation
    • Webinars On-Demand
  • Grants
    • Back
    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Membership
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
Heritage BC
Membership Donate Newsletter
  • About

    About

    • What We Do
    • Membership
    • Donate
    • Newsletter
    • Plans and Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Heritage BC AGM 2025
  • Programs

    Programs

    • Heritage BC Awards
    • Conference
    • Heritage Week
    • Online Course: Community Heritage Fundamentals
    • Webinars
  • Resources

    Resources

    • Heritage 101
    • Advocacy
    • Accessibility for Historic Places
    • Climate & Sustainability
    • Cultural Maps
    • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Homeowners
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Reconciliation
    • Webinars On-Demand
  • Grants

    Grants

    • Heritage Legacy Fund
    • Climate Disaster Response Fund
    • Government Funded Grants
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Heritage 101
    • Heritage Quick Studies
    • Definitions and Heritage FAQs
    • Organizations to Know
  • Advocacy
    • A Guide to Making a Case for Heritage
    • Election Resources
    • Reports : Heritage Conservation in BC
    • State of Heritage: Provincial Roundtables
    • Heritage Week
  • Accessibility for Historic Places
  • Climate & Sustainability
    • Building Resilience and Sustainability
    • Climate Adaptation : Making A Case Resource Guide
    • Climate Adaptation: Framework and Implementation
    • Seismic Risk & British Columbia’s Historic Streetscapes
  • Cultural Maps
    • Mapping Heritage Resources
    • Classroom Resources
  • Heritage Place Conservation
    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
      • Community Heritage Commissions
      • Community Heritage Register
      • Heritage Conservation Areas
      • Heritage Designation
      • Heritage Revitalization Agreements
    • Conservation in BC : Reports and Factsheets
    • Heritage Real Estate
      • Insuring Heritage Properties
    • Publications on Heritage Place Conservation Practices
  • Heritage Policy & Legislation
    • Heritage Legislation in BC
    • Local Government: Library of Source Documents
    • Heritage Conservation Tools: Resource Guides
    • Webinars for Heritage Commissions, Committees and Local Governments
  • Homeowners
    • Building Code, Heritage Standards & Laws
    • Heritage Designation
    • Heritage Professionals
    • Energy Improvements & Sustainability
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Insurance
    • Materials, Construction & Design
    • Heritage Building Maintenance
    • Safety & Hazardous Materials
  • Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Resource Guide
    • ICH: Creating a Community-Based Inventory
  • Reconciliation
    • Indigenous Cultural Heritage
    • Setting the Bar: A Reconciliation Guide for Heritage
      • 1. Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge
      • 2. Acknowledging Land and People
      • 3. Celebrating Days of Recognition and Commemoration
      • 4. With a Commitment to Learn
      • 5. Committing to Strategic Organizational Diversity
      • 6. Mission-Making Room for Reconciliation
      • 7. Possession, Interpretation, Repatriation and Cultural Care
      • 8. Shared Decision Making
      • 9. Statements of Significance and other heritage planning documents
      • 10. Heritage Conservation Tools, Local Government Act
    • Racism: Do Not Let the Forgetting Prevail
    • Taking Action: resources for diversity and inclusion
  • Webinars On-Demand
  • Resources
  • Homeowner Resources

Homeowner Resources : Materials, Construction & Design

Why it matters

If you are thinking of restorations or renovations on your property, getting to know your house, and the historical materials, construction and design that make it distinct, is important.

Questions to help you start:

  • What do you know about your house?
      • When was it built? What features are distinct to that to time are important to its heritage?
      • What is your house style? What key features can you focus on preserving or restoring to keep its historic look?
      • What materials were used to build your house? Are they accessible to you now? Are there available craftspeople who know how to work with them?
      • What are its original paint colours? If they have been changed, what are historically accurate colours that you can use?
  • What is your conservation goal?
      • Do you want to simply restore the historic elements?
      • Or do you want to completely renovate and only retain the key heritage elements?
  • What is your budget?
    Heritage construction work can require specialized knowledge of construction and materials, and may cost more than a typical renovation.

Resources

» Vancouver Heritage Foundation Resources for Homeowners

  • Vancouver House Styles
  • True Colours Palette

» Glossary of House Styles, Types and Terminology (this is a general resource, not BC specific)

» Your Old House : Heritage BC Guides

  • Paint: Problems and remedies in painting the older home
  • True Colours: Authentic heritage colour & placement
  • Masonry: Maintaining historic masonry: brick & stone
  • Wood Windows: Repair & maintenance of old wood windows
  • Wood Siding: Historic wooden siding & shingle cladding

» Essential Guide to Renovating a Heritage Building


FAQ

Where can I find information about materials to use while conserving my home?

Research your house to learn what are the historic materials – try to find primary sources : deeds, original photos, construction documents. Your local library and community archives are great places to start.

If your own research reveals little, learn about historic house styles. Once you learn your house’s style, you can learn about what similar homes in your area were built with. Read the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s Vancouver House Style Guide for materials related to historic north west coast house styles. If you can’t find your house style there, try Antique Home Style, which provides an overview of broadly American historic homes.

 

How can I best participate in recognizing my home’s historic character through materials and design?

Using original materials can be expensive, and at times unfeasible. Evaluate what parts of your house are key to its historic character and heritage value. These are its Character Defining Elements. Try your best to keep those elements as close to the historic materials as possible, as they will be integral in preserving the heritage value of your home.

 

Where can I find inspiration and historic references to help with planning the work on my heritage home?

In 2010, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation launched a Vancouver House Styles Guide that will have relevancy for homes in the lower mainland and beyond. We recommend exploring it to see if your house aligns with any of their examples.

Otherwise, it is best to go to the source material for historic references. Look for primary sources – such as floor plans for historic homes, and historic photos that show the original exteriors. Many resources available online are American, but can offer general insights into types of homes. Use sites that provide bibliographies, or otherwise cite their sources.

For those interested in staying true to the historic look of their home : Be wary of blog posts that share beautiful historic homes, such as on realty sites or pinterest. They will not share the restoration process, and could be providing examples of homes that removed character defining features, changed the original colour palette, or more.


More Homeowner Resources

Homeowner Resources - building codes, heritage standards and laws Homeowner Resources - Heritage designation Homeowner Resources - Heritage Professionals Homeowner Resources - Insurance
Homeowner Resources - Building Maintenance Homeowner Resources - Funding Opportunities Homeowner Resources - energy improvements and sustainability Homeowner Resources - safety and hazardous materials
Register for the 2025 Heritage Conference
Read our 2025-2028 Strategic Plan
Become a Heritage BC Member!

Support Us

Membership Donate
Heritage BC

604-417-7243

PO Box 846
Ladysmith, BC
V9G 1A6

Connect with Us

© 2025 Heritage BC.
Website by SplitMango

As an organization of provincial scope, Heritage BC recognizes that its members, and the local history and heritage they seek to preserve, occupy the lands and territories of B.C.’s Indigenous peoples. Heritage BC asks its members and everyone working in the heritage sector to reflect on the places where they reside and work, and to respect the diversity of cultures and experiences that form the richness of our provincial heritage.