Janesville – Walking Tour & Garden Walk

Had an exceptional “Old House” day today.

A couple months ago we attended a conference in Madison for Historic Preservation Commissioners, in the case of Beloit it’s the “Landmarks Commission”.  There we had the opportunity to meet folks likewise involved in other communities across WI.  Among those we met was Rick Fletcher who chairs the Janesville Historic Preservation Commission. Rick provides guided walking tours of various historic areas around Janesville.  Today we had the good fortune to attend Rick’s tour of the “Old 4th Ward”.   It was WONDERFUL!

There were ~70 people in attendance following Rick around getting some insight into Janesville history as well as period architecture. We finished up with being invited, all 70+  of us into the fine home of one of the residents.  It was a -very- cool house.

While there we were reminded that today was the Janesville Garden Walk. While sponsored by and for the Rotary Garden it consisted of eight residential gardens, five of which were in the “Courthouse Hill” historic district.  Keep an eye out for this next year and go.  It was… amazing!

To cap it all off, being “Old House” home owners and enthusiasts ourselves we really enjoy meeting and talking with others who share this interest. We had a chance to meet several homeowners in the Courthouse Hill historic district. Big fun.

Now, Janesville’s historic district house walk is coming up in August. I forget the date but will be broadcasting it here. We went last year and it was very enjoyable and we’ll be attending this year as well. It might be fun to get a group together to attend. Lemme’ know if you’d be interested or simply comment below.

~Rick M    rick@BeloitNPA (dot) org

Hey Hey! Another Great Old House SOLD!

And we’ll be welcoming some new neighbors!

Just heard yesterday that the Preserve Beloit home at 617 Harrison has sold and folks are moving in!

This is great news from multiple perspectives. If you don’t know the story this was a “problem” house on the block. At one time perhaps even the worst on the block. It was in bad shape and there were those who wanted to see it demolished.  Who knows what we could have ended up with as far as infill?

Thankfully Preserve Beloit LLC (a Hendricks co.) in partnership with the First National Bank & Trust Co. were willing to invest in our neighborhood and turn this house around. Virtually all of the original woodwork, doors and trim was saved and restored making for beautiful interiors and classic period charm. Thank you to Preserve Beloit LLC and First National Bank & Trust Co. for having the sensitivity not to gut it and engage in wholesale rip-n-replace.

We’ve been inside this home and they’ve done a wonderful job for the new home owners. Importantly, they’ve also done us all a favor having provided a wonderful service to the neighborhood and Beloit’s historic district. They took on a tough project any individual “flipper” would have either avoided or done with considerably lower standards IMO.

THANK YOU to Preserve Beloit LLC and First National Bank & Trust Co. You’re great Neighbors to have.

1217 Bushnell, Beloit WI 53511

It’s refreshing to see the fine job they’ve done with this distinctive period home. It makes a huge difference and makes for a beautiful home. Take a look at the pics on the realtor’s listing. Amazing! Check out the woodwork, lighting and hardware. They’ve really done a wonderful job with this classic and dignified “old house”. If you’re moving to the area and have an appreciation for fine old homes and want/need move-in ready you should check this one out.

Though we had not been inside we knew the prior owners and understand the house needed some work. We’ve seen a number of sad homes where the “updating” was done by those with little understanding or appreciation for the original charm or period style of the home. Those homes have been stripped of their base, window/door, crown trim and other woodwork and replaced with anemic, under-scaled home center generics. They’ve pulled out the doors, hardware and lighting and replaced with generics. They’ve cheapened the home and made it bland IMO. Once removed it is very expensive to replace and often cost prohibitive. <exit soap box>

This home is very much still intact and beautiful. Worth a look.

• - Realtor’s Listing Here.
• - This home is not within any of the current historic districts.
• - Walkability Score: 77 out of 100, “Very Walkable”.

649 Church Street, Beloit WI 53511

We go by this house all the time. Though we’ve never been in it’s a beautiful and distinctive vintage home with a strong Craftsman influence. The professionally landscaped yard is wonderful and perhaps the nicest in the areas. Church is a wonderful street of fine homes, great neighbors and only a block from the college. Very convenient.

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• - Realtor’s Listing Here.
  
• - Within the College Park Historic District. Eligible for the Historic Home Owners Tax Credit.
• - Walkability Score: 85 out of 100, “Very Walkable”.

Historic Home Owners Tax Credits

Our last meeting on “Historic Home Owners Tax Credits” was very interesting and well attended. Joe DeRose from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office clarified a lot of questions for us about how the program works and how best to take advantage of it. It would seem to be a largely forgotten or otherwise not taken advantage of here in Beloit. There have been no applications submitted in years from Beloit. We’re fortunate in that not all states have this benefit available to home owners.

This Old House recently announced their “Best Places To Buy An Old House In America“. Unfortunately we didn’t make the cut. Reviewing the winners, it was interesting that several neighborhoods cited availability of their states tax credit program among the benefits of living there.

By way of overview…

• - It is a 25% Wisconsin state income tax “credit”. Not federal tax, not property tax, not a “deduction”.

• - For example, you spend $10K combined on one or more projects, you get credited back $2,500. If you cannot use the full credit in a given year, you can carry the unused credit into the following years until you use it up.

• - There is a $10K minimum investment. This can however be spread over multiple projects and up to five years. Additionally, you’re not limited to one application. if have ambitious plans and want begin using taking the credits prior to all the projects being completed you can break it up into multiple applications, so long as these still equal >$10K each.

• - If you live within one of Beloit’s historic districts or individually listed homes you’re eligible to apply. If you do not you may still be eligible to apply.

• - There are specifics on what sorts of projects are approved and strings attached are mostly with regard to meeting “secretary of the interior standards for rehabilitation”.

• - Your project(s) need to be approved before any work is begun otherwise your application is void.

Important. You’ll need to confirm the above and your understanding. The above is to the best of my understanding.

Historic Home Owners Tax Credits - Program Description.

Historic Home Owners Tax Credits – Application.

Additionally, if you’ve questions you may contact Joe DeRose at Joe.DeRose@wisconsinhistory.org You can also contact Joe for some guidance prior to going through the application.

Personally, I wish we had applied when we moved in years ago. I suspect we could have received credit for many of the things we’ve already payed for. We’re in the process of doing so now though. Perhaps I’ll record how it goes for us here.

Express Yourself! — New. No member login to comment

Among the things we’ve been meaning to get around to is simply removing the member login to post a comment.

This is done. Try it out!

Hopefully this will encourage greater participation and exchange of ideas and opinions here online among neighbors. You’ll see the comment field below each post. You’ll also see that (if not logged in) it asks for a name and email (required) and website (optional). While the name you provide IS displayed with your comment your email is not. We ask for this to encourage personal accountability as we still do not want to foster disrespectful exchange or SPAM.

At any rate members still have rights to post topics of their own and we encourage you to do so. Soon we hope to provide a brief tutorial on how to do so for those wanting that assistance. Until that time you’re more then welcome to contact us directly at info(at) BeloitNPA(dot)org and we’d be happy to walk you through the menu to get your post up.

The Neareast Listserve – A Great Resource

While mentioned previously, if you don’t know about the Neareast Listserve I’d like to bring it to your attention. If you do know of it I’d like to remind you of it’s utility and encourage its use. I just had occasion to use it and it was very helpful.

From the website:

The Near East Side/College Park neighborhood listserv is a means for neighbors to help each other improve the community.

Although crime prevention motivated the creation of Neareast, the listserv serves other helpful functions. We live in an attractive historical area. The listserv provides a means for list members to discuss ways to improve the neighborhood, its schools, and parks, to preserve the area’s historical character, to talk about traffic and parking issues, even to announce events, help our neighbors, or seek advice on contractors, realtors friendly to the neighborhood, or house sitters.

It’s been around for a while and has been a great resource available to neighbors in and around Beloit’s near east side and “College Park” historic district. If you’re not familiar with a “Listserve” they’re a great way to broadcast to subscribers alerts or inquiries; your neighbors in this instance. And it’s easy to do. Participants subscribe to the listserve with their email address. Subscribers can then broadcast to all participants email communications.

Its a shared resource and shared responsibility. If individuals post drivel, subscribers will tend to tune it out. If individuals save it for important and meaningful notices it can be a great resource. Don’t worry about spam as it’s easy enough to identify who the spammer subscriber is and simply remove their access.

To subscribe just go to the Beloit Neareast Listserve website and follow the simple directions.

Old House & Neighborhood Networking

Having moved to Beloit from out of state several years ago most of my existing old house and neighborhood connections are likewise out of state. More recently I’ve been trying to forge relationships with individuals in other Wisconsin historic communities for the purpose of sharing ideas and best practices given WI circumstances and resources.  Little bit by little bit its coming together, has already been informative and shown benefit.

If you’re visiting this site from another historic Wisconsin community welcome! We would like to get to know you and what’s going on in your community as well.  You can reach us at info (at) BeloitNPA.org

First ever B.N.P.A. National Night Out Picnic!

Tuesday August 4th is National Night Out. And given that we’re always looking for an excuse to get together with neighbors and friends anyway this is a great occasion to do so.

• Where: Horace White Park. We’ll be gathering by the band shell.
  
• Time: 5:30-9:00
• What: It’s a picnic. While you’re certainly welcome to bring something to pass it is not expected, it’s not a “pot luck”. So simply bring what you would enjoy for a picnic.
  
• Bring the kids: We’ll have games and prizes!
• What else to bring: There are approximately eight picnic tables available though you may want to bring chairs or otherwise plan for this.
• Grills? There are no grills there. You’re welcome to bring one along though if you’d like.
  

Please invite your neighbors and friends who may not see this web posting.

BTW, there’s a small fee for reserving the park. As such we’ll be passing the hat to cover this.

Thanks to Marge F. for pulling this together for us!

Photo credit: Mark P.  (any excuse to showcase Mark’s pics and this HW park pic is among my favorites)

Neighborhood Watch – eMailing list

There are neighborhood watch related items that we’d rather not post publicly here or elsewhere. If you’ve registered with this website including your email you will be added to the email distribution list. We won’t sell or market your contact info and the only “spam” you’ll get is our own   notifying you of NPA events and information.

Importantly though, if and when there are neighborhood watch items or other things, you may want to be in the loop for these notices.

Simply register with this site. You’ll see this above and to the right on this page.

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