Historic District Rules on Cape Cod, Town by Town

Historic review on Cape Cod comes in three forms: the Old King's Highway Regional Historic District, which covers the north side of six towns; local historic districts created by individual towns; and demolition delay bylaws that apply to older buildings almost everywhere. Knowing which ones apply to a house is the first step of any exterior project.

The Old King's Highway Regional Historic District

The district was created by the state in 1973 and covers the land north of the center line of Route 6 in Sandwich, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster and Orleans. In Orleans the line follows Route 6 to the rotary and then the Eastham town line out to the bay. Each town has its own OKH committee, and appeals go to the regional commission.

Inside the district, a certificate is needed before changing exterior features visible from a street or public place: materials, color, texture, windows, doors, lights and signs, plus new construction and demolition. Some work is simpler:

• Like-for-like repair. Replacing shingles or clapboards with the same material is treated as maintenance. Switching from wood to vinyl, aluminum or fiber cement is not.
• Exemption certificates. Towns issue faster exemption certificates for common work. Brewster, for example, exempts architectural asphalt roofs in black, gray or weatherwood and natural cedar at up to 5 inches to the weather. Orleans lists cedar or approved-color asphalt roofs, cedar or clapboard siding, gutters, storm windows and rear wood decks on single-family homes.
• Painting white needs no approval.

Read more in our Old King's Highway guide.

Local historic districts

These towns have their own districts, with their own commissions:

• Falmouth: seven districts, in Davisville, Falmouth Village, North Falmouth, Quissett, Waquoit, West Falmouth and Woods Hole. Changes in design, materials or color need a certificate after a public hearing. Falmouth.
• Barnstable: the Hyannis Main Street Waterfront Historic District, in addition to OKH on the north side. Barnstable.
• Dennis: the South Dennis Historic District around Main Street, in addition to OKH. Dennis.
• Harwich: the Harwich Center Historic District along Main and Parallel Streets. Harwich.
• Mashpee: the Mashpee Historic District around Main Street and Great Neck Road North. Mashpee.
• Chatham: the Historic Business District Commission reviews the commercially zoned districts, mostly along Main Street and Route 28. Re-roofing and siding replacement there can be approved administratively. Chatham.
• Eastham: the Olde Towne Centre Historic District. Eastham.
• Provincetown: the Provincetown Historic District, with detailed guidelines for windows, roofs, siding, porches and fences. Provincetown.

Bourne, Wellfleet and Truro have no regulatory historic district for exterior design, though all three review demolition.

Demolition delays

Most towns can delay the demolition of an older or significant building while alternatives are considered. The periods differ:

• 6 months: Yarmouth; Provincetown, outside its historic district.
• 12 months: Bourne, Dennis, Falmouth (for buildings on its List of Significant Buildings), Orleans, Eastham and Truro.
• 18 months: Barnstable, Chatham, Harwich, Mashpee and Wellfleet.

Sandwich and Brewster have no separate demolition delay bylaw, but demolition inside the Old King's Highway district still needs a certificate.

The age thresholds vary too, commonly 75 or 100 years. In Wellfleet, removing exterior walls or a roof counts as demolition, and in Provincetown's historic district demolition is effectively prohibited except in extraordinary circumstances.

What this means for your project

On a house inside any of these districts, the design comes first, then the application, then the building permit. We prepare the drawings, product details and photos the committees ask for, and plan the schedule around their meeting dates.