That said, these dates aren’t entirely rigid, and when it comes to vernacular architecture—homes people built for themselves without a trained architect—it’s not uncommon to see a combination of styles (think a Craftsman bungalow with Greek Revival elements or a folk Victorian with Italianate flourishes).
Research from the outside in
Once you’ve pinned down the architectural style of your home’s exterior, it’s time to move indoors. “If you’re looking at the actual built history of the house, there’s a lot you can do by eye to figure out what may or may not have been added on at specific times,” Finkelstein says.
For example, a home’s original porch may have been enclosed or removed altogether, the kitchen may have moved, part of an entryway may have been used to create a powder room, or an entire section of the house may have been added years after it was constructed.
“You can start to understand what a traditional interior layout of your house may have been, and if it doesn’t really match that anymore,” Finkelstein explains. “You can piece a lot of it together based on delving deep into the style of your home—and that’s just Google searching to death ‘traditional layouts of Craftsman bungalows,’ or that kind of thing.”
Online research
Check local government land records
When Senefeld researches a home, she always starts with local government land records. In Ohio, where she’s based, that’s the county auditor’s office, but if that’s not the case in your area, contact your city, town, or county government’s office and ask which department “tracks your land value and taxes,” as she advises. At this point, many of these records are publicly available online.
“The information I look for is [the] current owners, previous owners, the date the structure was built, and the legal description of the property,” Senefeld says. “I take that information to explore deed records at our local recorder’s office. Depending on where you live, these can seem overwhelming, but I have found those who work there are willing to help guide you to the right resources.”
You can also check with your local building department, city planning office, or the equivalent in your area to see if your home’s original blueprints and any subsequent building permits are available.
Find your home on a Sanborn map
From 1867 to the present, the Sanborn Map Company has created large-scale maps depicting the residential, commercial, and industrial sections of roughly 12,000 cities and towns in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The maps were made to help fire insurance agents determine a building’s fire-related risk and provide a range of information including its size, shape, construction materials, window and door locations, and type of roof.
While that’s all interesting, what’s often the most useful when researching the history of a home is that the maps also list the names and widths of streets, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. “Bear in mind that addresses often changed, so it’s more important to look at the placement of the house on the street versus the [numerical] address,” Finkelstein explains.
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