Preservation society educating Realtors

By Patrick Healy

Benefit Street, Providence Although most people know the Providence Preservation Society for its advocacy work, the group has been finishing up the blueprints for building a stronger educational component for the community. More specifically, the group is extending itself to inform more people about Providenceıs architectural history. Working together with the Rhode Island chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the preservation society is currently searching for editors for a book detailing Providenceıs rich history of architecture. And beginning at the end of this month the group and the Rhode Island Association of Realtors are offering a two-day training seminar to help Realtors market historic homes in Providence. Following the training the Realtors will be certified as historic house specialists and authorized to use the Providence Preservation Society logo with their names. "There are so many Realtors who make their living by selling historic houses, but most of them never studied architecture or architectural history," said the preservation societyıs executive director Catherine Horsey. "(For example), a lot of people have the tendency to describe houses as Œcolonialı even though theyıre not." Horsey is modeling this program after one she began when she was the executive director of Preservation Dallas in Texas from 1993 to 2000. "We started doing this in Dallas and all the Realtors seemed to really think it was wonderful," she said. Sharon Steele, president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors and Providenceıs The Sharon Steele Group, is planning on attending the historic house specialist certification seminar. "I think itıs a wonderful opportunity for Realtors to become well-versed in understanding historic houses and they really are a genre unto themselves," she said. Luigi Bianco, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers and the head of Luigi Bianco Design Associates in Providence, is teaching a component of the dayıs curriculum on March 1. He said he thinks there are a lot of Realtors who know about Providenceıs architectural history, but the field is so vast that there is always more to learn. Bianco plans on talking about how to determine what interior revisions have been made in a home that may be historic. As we move further into the millenium, existing buildings certainly donıt get any newer, said Bianco, and the program will help Realtors know more about these houses as they start to attain historical accreditation. "If you subtract 75 years from 2002, youıve got a lot of building types falling into the category of historical properties," he said.

Published 02/18/2002

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