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Our Mission
Preservation of Historic Communities
The Capitol Historic Trust is dedicated to the preservation of our architectural heritage in the areas in and surrounding our nation's capital. We are a not-for-profit organization founded to encourage historic property owners to permanently protect their historic properties while enjoying a tax incentive. The Trust favors the voluntary preservation enabled by the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program enacted by Congess. The pragmatic approach of the Program allows preservation efforts to effectively coexist with the full social and economic use of historic properties.
Letter from the President
The mission of the Capitol Historic Trust is the preservation of historic communities. We accomplish this mission primarily through the acceptance of donations from historic property owners of façade conservation easements. We utilize the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program to encourage owners to voluntarily protect their property's historic architecture in perpetuity. Our goal is to create a synergy between the Trust and local preservation groups and commissions.
The Capitol Historic Trust is committed to monitor easements and review proposals for façade changes to ensure that the architectural integrity of the façade is maintained. We not only pledge our full commitment but are actively expressing our commitment by:
- Conducting annual property reviews for all donated easements;
- Building our monitoring database following tried and tested monitoring and enforcement practices; and
- Creating a Stewardship Endowment that will always have enough funds to pay for the perpetual monitoring and enforcement of the easements currently held by the Trust.
Our easement deed allows for no changes to the visible façades of the historic property without our specific approval. For properties under local ordinances, we are primarily an insurance policy for those cases which will need our attention in the future. Our headquarters is located in Washington, DC, where we have experts to review photographs taken at the time of easement donation and during our annual property review. We also engage local architectural historians to assist in the change approval process.
We welcome all questions and inquiries about the Trust and its approach to the protection of historic properties. Please don't hesitate to contact us by calling at our number below or sending us an email to info@capitoltrust.org. We consider our website to be an excellent source of information on the Trust and the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program. For those with an interest in the accounting and legal aspects of the program, we suggest a visit to the website's Tax Law Library.
Your interest in the Trust and the Historic Preservation Tax Incentive is greatly appreciated. Please feel comfortable contacting me directly with any questions you may have. The Trust and I remain at your service.
Sincerely,
Florence Muller
President
Capitol Historic Trust