Historic Preservation Resources for Homeowners

National Park Service Preservation Briefs

The baseline resource for many preservation issues. Some of the most relevant to houses in the Swampscott historic districts include:


Boston Landmarks Commission

The Landmarks Commission's online Resources page contains links to many good sources for historic preservation information and ideas. Good information on maintaining historic wood windows.


Cambridge Historical Commission

Some excellent publications on maintaining historic homes. These will be made available at the Reference Desk at the Swampscott Public Library:

  • Charles Sullivan, Eileen Woodford and the Staff of the Cambridge Historical Commission. Maintaining Your Old House in Cambridge.
    An invaluable illustrated guide for owners or tenants who live in a Cambridge house built before 1930. The book offers straightforward, practical advice on repairing and maintaining the home without sacrificing its stylistic integrity. ($8.00, for sale at the Commission).
  • Cambridge Historical Commission. Painting Historic Exteriors: Colors, Application, and Regulation.
    Guide written to help homeowners and those who work in historic preservation achieve appropriate exterior paint color schemes for buildings of different periods and styles. Painting Historic Exteriors contains 80 pages with illustrations and tables and comes shrink-wrapped and 3-hole punched ready to be inserted in a binder. ($8.00, for sale at the Commission).

Window Restorations

Historic windows are one of the most important character defining elements of a historic house, and many of the replacement windows on the market simply don’t reproduce the historic appearance and last as long as historic sash made of old growth wood. Two local resources for repair and restoration of wood windows are:

  • Old Town Repair in Marblehead:  Website | (781) 613-5145
  • The Window Woman in Peabody:  Website | (978) 532-3070

Paint Colors

While color is not part of the jurisdiction of the Local Historic District, the Commission will help interested homeowners find resources for historic building color palettes. Some online resources: