How we got started/the beginning of the project

We bought this gorgeous and historic bed and breakfast October 13, 1986.  In 1995, we applied for the building to become a Boulder County Landmark and the following year we applied and made it into the National Register of Historic Places.  It took another 10 years for us to be ready to restore it.  To prepare for this day, we applied for and received a $10,000 grant from the Colorado State Historic Fund in 2001 to conduct an historic structure assessment (in the resources section).  As part of the assessment every potential issue with the building was documented in order of priority.  You can’t get a state historic fund grant without this assessment.  Of the many high priority issues, we chose the front porch to work on first, as not only did it face the street, but also it was downright dangerous.  Our first big lesson came when we realized that the Boulder County Landmark listing included the entire building, but not the land.  Without the land, we could not get a building permit. Oddly, the assessment missed this pesky detail. That meant we had to reopen the national register nomination and the Boulder County Landmark to include the three vacated streets that make up a significant portion of the land that the building sits on.  You cannot get a building permit or be eligible for government tax credits (more on that later) if you do not own the underlying ground. If you have a project you are thinking about or are in the middle of, be absolutely certain you’ll run into an issue similar to this; don’t let it get the best of you, consider it an opportunity.  It’s just a process.