These Are the Buildings the Review Is For
Article 85 applies to every Boston building fifty years or older, but applying and being found significant are different things. Landmarks Commission staff assess whether a building is identified in the Comprehensive Preservation Survey, whether it is listed on or recommended for the National Register, and whether it holds historic, architectural or urban design significance, among other criteria.
Jamaica Plain's larger Victorians and distinctive frame houses meet those criteria more often than the utilitarian stock elsewhere in the city. A significance finding brings a public community meeting, a hearing at which alternatives to demolition must be presented, and a delay of up to 90 days after that hearing closes. The statewide layer is on our page covering Massachusetts certificates, claims and excise.
How Likely Is a Significance Finding on My House?
Which Argues for Restoration
Most of the stock dates from the 1870s through the 1920s, comfortably past the 50 year Article 85 threshold. Staff have 10 calendar days from a complete application to determine significance, and a finding brings a community meeting, a hearing and up to 90 days after it closes. Smoke alarms are required on every habitable level and inside every bedroom, with a second alarm where a floor exceeds 1,200 square feet. Inspection fees are set by each municipality, and the deeds excise is collected at the Registry of Deeds on recording. Photoelectric alarms have been required within 20 feet of kitchens and bathrooms since 2010.
The practical effect of a likely significance finding is to make the clearance route slow and uncertain, and that raises what a restorable building is worth.
These houses also have more to work with than a compact triple-decker. Substantial framing, generous room dimensions and architectural detail all mean that a fire contained below the roof structure frequently leaves a great deal intact. Where the framing survived, restoration is usually both the faster and the better-valued route.
What Decides Whether a Victorian Is Restorable After a Fire?
We publish no restoration cost figures for Jamaica Plain. The stock ranges from modest frame houses to very large Victorians with significant detail, and a per-square-foot number across that range would be meaningless. A contractor experienced with period framing is the right source.
What Is My Burned Jamaica Plain House Actually Worth?
Divided Houses and What Follows
A great many of these larger houses have been divided into apartments or condominiums over the decades. After a fire that matters twice: tenancies survive and bind the next owner, and where the building is a condominium the association controls restoration of the structure rather than any individual unit owner.
Both are worth establishing before soliciting offers, because a buyer facing either as an unknown discounts for it.
Jamaica Plain in Context
The neighbourhood where Article 85 significance findings are most common on older mixed stock is covered on our page about a neighbourhood where the demolition review bites hardest. Where the housing is newer, detached and clearance is straightforward, see our page for an outer area of detached housing.
Jamaica Plain Questions
Should I Apply for an Article 85 Determination Before Selling?
It is worth considering. A "not significant" letter is a real asset to hand a buyer, and it removes an uncertainty they would otherwise discount. A significance finding is worth knowing too, because it changes what a realistic timeline looks like.
My House Was Divided Into Condos.
Then the association controls restoration of the structure and your unit's timeline is partly outside your hands. Get the association's position in writing, because a buyer will want it.
Will You Buy a House That Has Been Found Significant?
Yes. It affects the figure because it affects the timeline and the available routes, but it does not stop us buying.