In 1986, the City of Holland adopted an Historic District Ordinance and designated approximately 186 properties as the Holland Historic District.  In 2001, the City expanded its' official historic property inventory with the adoption of the Washington Boulevard Historic District comprising approximately 187 addtional properties.

A Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) is required for work that will effect the exterior of any property within the Historic Districts in Holland. The Historic District Commission (HDC) reviews the applications for a CoA according to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and the HDC Design Guidelines. The HDC generally meets monthly, generally the first Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m. in the third floor conference room at City Hall. Applications must be received in the Community Services and Development Office not less than ten working days prior to the date of the next regularly scheduled meeting. There is no fee for this application. For further information contact us at 616.355.1330.

Please note the following files are in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format, and you will need to have the latest version of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer before you can open them.

Keppel's Village Study Committee preliminary report

Proposed Keppel's Village map

Proposed Keppels Village Historic District PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint Viewer (If you do not have Microsoft PowerPoint)

Historic District Resources 

Historic District Commision 2010 Meeting Schedule

• Download a map of the Historic District and Washington Boulevard Historic District

• List of Holland places on National and State Historic Register

• Download the Certificate of Appropriateness Application, which is required for work that will effect the exterior of any property within the Holland Historic District.

• Download the Historic District Design Guidelines PDF
   This 16 page brochure offers many photos and detailed suggestions about properly preserving historic homes.

• Siding Guidelines PDF

• Garage and Garage Door Guidelines PDF

• Download So You Want to Paint Your House, a detailed guide to proper exterior painting methods.

• Historic District Newsletter March, 2006 PDF

View Historic District Ordinance Codes
• View ordinance codes online. When the ordinance code page opens, expand Chapter 2 (Administration) on the left and then you will see the different Articles. The Historic District is Article XV, so if you expand that you'll see all the sections.

Satellite Dishes in Historic District

Other Internet Historic District Resources:

• Holland Historic District Neighborhood Association
http://www.historicholland.org/

• Working on the Past in Local Historic Districts, a service of National Park Services
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/workingonthepast/

• National Park Service Electronic Rehab Test
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps

• Caring for Your Historic Building, a service of National Park Services
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/care/

• Preservation Publications, a service of National Park Services
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/tpscat.htm

• National Trust for Historic Preservation
http://www.nationaltrust.org/

• Michigan History Research Links
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~michigan/links/

• State Historic Preservation Office
http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19273_19318-53069--,00.html