Some people would be thrilled, others wouldn't. Some might even suspect you of planning on robbing them. You have to take your chances on what kind of response you'd get. You'd need to plan your approach very carefully.
Of course, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Do you have a local Landmark Society or something of that nature? It might be much easier to approach them about a project like this, because knocking on people's doors with some official Landmark Society ID would probably get you more cooperation. I know I'd never let a stranger take pictures of the inside of my house.

There are situations where you just have to try, and see what happens. You could obscure the address when you take a photo, so the visitor to your blog would know the general area, but not the specific location of each house. I think that some homeowners will be cooperative with your project.

Getting an area designated a Historic District is one of the sure fire ways of keeping "progress" at bay.
My nieghborhood will never be home to McMansions or any home that is not in keeping with the feeling of the rest of the neighborhood.
Is there any way for you to work towards this?

I would be thrilled. We went to the local library and there in the lobby was a big picture of our house that had been taken recently and unbeknownst to me. It had a story that went along with it about the history of it and even a legend that some bank robbers from 1870 had stashed their loot in a well on the property but had never recovered it. I have to tell you that at first I was a bit taken aback that nobody told me about this, but then I got over it and I was proud. Old house owners, I think, are proud of their properties and their heritage. I think your blog is a great idea!

Well, Thanks you all who answered. We have a historical society here but it is mostly just a board of poeple who get together and vote on things. I asked one of them if the blog idea was a good one and they said I should mostly focus on homes that are in danger of being demo'd or in disrepair. Although I think that is a good idea, and I probably will feature some of those homes on my site, I don't want to strictly do that because I think my blog will lose the "fun" aspect I want to go for.

I feel a lot of the same concerns you all feel, mostly for the present homeowner. The last thing I would want is for those current owners to get tons of calls or letters from realtors, scammers, or have their home "staked" out for any reason. Never would I post the address or state where the house is located, I just would say it's in my town.

I am going to try to go to town meetings and try to pitch this idea. Do you think I should put an ad in the paper? I feel very apprehentious about knocking on peoples doors. First of all, it's THEIR home.

I spent a lot of time last night tossing and turning in my bed thinking about this.

My brother lives in a old craftsman house and he said he would let profile his house first because, well, he IS my brother! LOL! And I talked to my neighbor today who is in the throws of remodeling her 1920's bungalow and she said she would love for me to profile her house too, but she wants to see the blog first just to get an idea of what's it about.

The thing is, I don't want anybody in this town thinking I am a nut. When you put things out there on the net for people to look at for an artistic point of view, there will be some who are a little crazy and there is no way of telling what they might do. I just don't want to put the home owners at risk for anything. I even talked to my brother and I thought if I just advertised at the libary or local town meeting the home owners wiil come to me and that won't seem so wierd?

Miac,

You project sounds very interesting to me, and though I would be wary, I would hear you out if you approached me. But then I have been thinking of doing something similar for some time so I have thought about the issues you raise!

I am a little pressed for time today, so I'll have to come back and add more comments but here are a few things to start with:

Have you studied house styles (and local variants) enough to be able to identify them pretty accurately from the outside?

Do you know how to winkle out the reported age of the structure from local property assessment records?

Do you know how to do deed chains in county or town land records so you could trace the history of a particular building back?

Do you know where there are old maps or photographs that might show earlier views of old buildings?

These are all things that you might find useful in approaching homeowners and asking for permission to take pictures of the exteriors.

Pictures of the interiors are a whole 'nuther matter, and I wouldn't hold out much hope there. The interior pictures would not only open people up to possible theft/burglary issues, but to be honest, many people have made upgrades that haven't been reported to tax officials and wouldn't want to reveal that! Plus it's an invasion of privacy, that I, for one, would veto on that grounds alone.

There is one other slightly sticky issue (well two, really). Despite their apparent lack of interest, your local historical mavens may get their feathers ruffled if someone else independently begins a project on their "turf". I would try again to redefine your project, but work with them, not separately.

The other potential sticking point is this: Your project which begins as a labor of love, a benign community benefit and your personal avocational interest will be misinterpreted by some people to mean that you are doing something that could be the prelude to taking away some property rights by imposing historic district regulation, etc. So they will be inherently hostile to it right off the bat, having heard urban legends about historical districts standards that regulate the number of plys in one's toilet paper.

If I were you I would try to making some kind of patch with existing local historical folks; I would stick strictly to exteriors; I would try to have some additional data to offer homeowners when I first approached them (photocopies of old maps, deeds, etc.); and I would start very modestly, and not in a tight geographic area that might be seen as a historical district, instead I would start with particular class (age, style or feature of buildings), perhaps keyed to some well known local subject.

If you go ahead, I would also do some advance publicity so at least some people might have heard or read about it in advance of you arriving on their doorstep; I would make up a one-page flyer of information about what you are doing to hand out when you visit, to leave behind if no one is home and to post around town on bulletin boards. I would make sure your town clerk or town hall knows what you're planning, as people may call there. I would also go to the trouble of contacting your local police and giving them a heads-up including when (days, time) you'll be driving around, what your vehicle looks like, etc. These days people may call 911 and report a suspicious car or person, and the cops will be happier if they can say they know who you are!

And if you possibly arrange to do so, don't start with any well-known controversial issue, as that will connect you with people who are rabidly pro or anti some project and you may have to spend extra time untangling yourself later.

By the way, what you are doing is called an historical building survey and is a familiar and well-documented activity in preservation circles. In New York, where I live, there are even official looking forms (in carbonless triplicate!) that can be used to collect and record the info. You may find useful things and help if you can contact your State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO, "ship-o"). You might also find some additional info in that series of preservation briefs that I am always sending people to. I may be wrong, but I think there is one on doing an historical building survey.

What state are you in?

I wish you very good luck with your project, and stamina!

Molly~

This is just my opinion here: I think you have to clarify what your intention is here. Is it to save old homes that are in danger of being demolished or remodeled? Or is it to celebrate old homes in your town in general?
I ask this because I believe that in order to save homes from being demolished or inappropriately remodeled, you have to have laws on the books. Some developer or homeowner who only sees $$$$ profit will not be swayed by a blog.
I live in a city of 200,000. My city has been trying to get historical districting implemented for 7 years. The effort was spearheaded by a grassroots group within the Historical Perservation Society. At this point, the Historical Districting Guidelines are just now being sent to the City Council for a vote. The guidelines are 160 pages long. It is expected that the first district won't become a reality for at least 2 more years. The survey itself is expected to take 9 months for the very first district. Other proposed districts in the city haven't begun anything yet.
So if you want to save homes, I think you have to work with a group like the Historical society.
If you only want to celebrate the homes in your town, a blog is fine. Just don't expect it to stop some developer from tearing down a home or a homeowner from installing cheap vinyl windows on a period home. Basically, our country is divided into people who appreciate older homes, and people who couldn't care less.

I don't think I would mind except I would not want my name or address to appear either on the picture or on the blog.

Why not contact the local paper and see if they might be interested in a new column on local historic homes, maybe
1-2 times a month?

Molly,

I would love for someone to take an historical building survey in my area, but I could never do it (kids, job, etc.) Do you know how one might find an organization that might be interested in undertaking something like this? (I live in NY, too).

- Rachel

Rachel,

I doubt you could get someone would take it for you, for free. It's usually done when there is group of interested people who take it up or a when professionals are engaged by a local government or even by a graduate student amassing material for a thesis. If you are lucky enough to have some funds, I'm sure you could find an arch. hist. student who might undertake as a summer's job.

It is not hard to do, and you can get more information on how to record the info from where ever your nearest NY State Historic Preservation Office. I believe it is an arm of the NY State Parks department. If you are anywhere near the Capital District, the local one there is on Peebles Island in Waterford.

The main question in undertaking a survey is why and what will happen to the info. I have (very slowly due to time constraints) been collecting data about my own very small town. I am mostly interested in pre-1900 farm buildings (like my own), so am always on the lookout for them. Over many years I have been chaining titles on these older properties, and collecting maps, old pics, etc. When I've got enough, and have more time, my idea is to take this info and go talk with the current owners of these 100+/- houses and ask for permission to photograph them. My point in bringing something to them when I approach them is to sort of have something to trade in return for what they know about their buildings.

Molly~

We live in middleof 40 acres ,you would think no one would come back here.Well Ive been approaced numerous times .If people could use our property for picture taking after proms,weddings,just taking family photos of the kids,
We are on a map of historic homes put out by one historical society,people pull in look around and leave.
My son walked out of barn 2 weeks ago there was a lady taking photos of my pond and swans.Never asked.I would like to know these things...I would never just invite myself on someones property to take pics without asking.

""My son walked out of barn 2 weeks ago there was a lady taking photos of my pond and swans.Never asked.I would like to know these things...I would never just invite myself on someones property to take pics without asking.""
......Here in Maine you hear stories about women who've been busy working in their kitchens, looking up and seeing some tourist peering in and taking pictures of them in their "quaint old Maine kitchen". I heard what really bugged one woman was the fact that they guy stompped all over her flower bed.

My son walked out of barn 2 weeks ago there was a lady taking photos of my pond and swans.Never asked.

Maybe a "Private Property. No Trespassing" sign at the road end of your driveway?

Seriously, that's rude.

Great advice from all here. Since you asked "how would you feel", I'll answer just from that point of view. I live in an already designated historic district. I have already been before the historic preservation commission of my town and am pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into THAT perspective on keeping the historical character of the neighborhood. I live on a city street near city center, so I would have no issues with someone standing on the sidewalk and photographing the home without my knowledge. I would be pleased to learn of your interest if you were in my town. I would even allow an interior photo or two, but nothing that would reveal security info. A photo of the fireplace, or interior woodwork, or staircase -- these would present the historic character without telling much of interest to potential theives.
I applaud your project and interest. Just the interest in celebrating history and in educating people to the presence of historical clues in our world is so valuable to counter the commercialization of our culture. So go to it, I say, and best of luck! Send us the URL when you are up and running.

miac I live in an area with similar issues. There is an active historical society and there are ways to prevent at least some of the abuses..there may be laws already on the books, and when a developer asks for a deviance the community here speaks up to prevent what we see as over densifying...putting up too many units where there is not the parking or traffic space for them, or building a house too close to the sidewalk when all the others on the block have a front lawn. You should look around and see if such a group exists...there may be some control to be had. Good luck..I know it's hard with everything else we have to do, but it sounds like you're up for it!