Remodeling Contractor in Georgetown, CO

Preserved Victorian homes in Georgetown, Colorado — illustrative reference image, not a project photo.

Georgetown is the strictest design-review jurisdiction in Clear Creek County, and it has been for longer than almost anywhere in the state. If you are planning exterior work here, the design approval comes before the building permit — not alongside it. That sequence is the single most important thing to understand about remodeling in Georgetown.

Colorado’s First Townwide Design Review, Adopted in 1970

Georgetown passed Colorado’s first townwide historic preservation and design review ordinance in 1970. The town’s Design Review Commission still administers it. Exterior work in the historic district requires a Certificate of Appropriateness, and there is a pre-approved list of minor project types that are exempt from the COA process — but anything that changes what the building looks like from the street is generally not on that list.

In practice, that means siding, windows, roofing materials, additions, porch alterations and even exterior color can require Commission sign-off before a building permit will move. Homeowners who plan around this do fine. Homeowners who order windows first and apply later are the ones who lose a season. We build the COA step into the schedule from day one and design to what the Commission has actually approved rather than to what we would prefer.

A National Historic Landmark District, Not Just a Register Listing

Georgetown, together with neighboring Silver Plume, forms the Georgetown–Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District, designated in 1966. The distinction matters: a National Historic Landmark District is a higher federal designation than an ordinary National Register listing, and here it sits on top of an active local review process rather than replacing it. The federal designation supplies the significance; the town’s Design Review Commission supplies the enforcement.

Silver Plume, at the upper end of the same district, has a population of about 207 in a stock described as small historic single-family homes and cabins, roughly 62% owner-occupied. The town’s own building-permit page is still listed as coming soon, and applicants are generally directed to the Clear Creek County Building Department. So a Silver Plume project typically means county permitting with the historic character of the shared landmark district still very much present on the ground. We work in both halves of the district and treat them as one working area with two different permit doors.

The Housing Stock: A Split Between 1880s and 1970s

Georgetown’s median construction year is 1971, and about 23.6% of homes were built before 1940 — with only around 1.1% added in the 1940s. There are roughly 788 housing units, 58.9% of them detached single-family, serving a population near 1,053.

That median hides the real pattern. Georgetown is not a town of 1971 houses. It is a town where roughly a quarter of the stock is Victorian mining-era construction and a large share was built decades later, with very little in between. The two groups need completely different approaches. The pre-1940 houses bring rubble foundations, undersized and non-standard framing, and layers of prior alteration. The later houses are conventional to work on but sit inside the same design-review boundary, which surprises owners who assume a 1970s house is exempt from historic review. It is the district that governs, not the age of the individual building.

Building Conditions Above 8,500 Feet

Clear Creek County’s design criteria apply to structural and mechanical design here. Frost depth is 42 inches generally and 36 inches for deck piers, the county is a severe-weathering jurisdiction requiring ice-shield underlayment, and design temperatures at or above 7,400 feet run to minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit. Snow load and wind exposure are assigned per parcel through the county’s ClearMap system, with no snow load reductions allowed. Georgetown’s tight lots and the town’s steep surrounding terrain mean drifting and roof-shedding paths need to be part of the design conversation, not an afterthought when the first storm arrives.

Services We Provide in Georgetown

All work below is permitted and inspected under the authority with jurisdiction over Georgetown.

Nearby in Clear Creek County

We work throughout Clear Creek County. Nearby communities:

Common Questions

Do I need a Certificate of Appropriateness for my project?

If the work changes the exterior appearance of a building in the historic district, assume yes until the Design Review Commission tells you otherwise. There is a pre-approved list of minor project types that are exempt, but siding, windows, roofing materials, additions and exterior color changes generally are not on it. The COA comes before the building permit, so it belongs at the front of the schedule.

My house is from the 1970s. Am I exempt from design review?

No. Georgetown’s ordinance is townwide and district-based, not age-based. A 1970s house inside the district is subject to the same review process as an 1880s one. The Commission may reach different conclusions about what is appropriate, but the process applies either way.

Who issues permits in Silver Plume?

In practice, the Clear Creek County Building Department. The Town of Silver Plume’s own building permits page is still marked as coming soon and applicants are directed to the county. The historic-district character is shared with Georgetown, but the permitting path is not.

How long does the review add to a project?

It depends on the Commission’s meeting calendar and on how complete the submittal is. The way to keep it short is to submit a complete, district-appropriate design the first time rather than a design that has to be revised and resubmitted. We prepare submittals against the town’s guidelines rather than testing what will get through.

Can I replace my windows with modern units?

Window replacement in the district is exactly the kind of exterior change the Commission reviews. Whether a particular unit is acceptable depends on the building and the guidelines, so the specification gets decided during design review, not at the supply house. Ordering before approval is the most common expensive mistake made here.

Talk to Us About Your Project in Georgetown

Send us the address and what you want to do. We will tell you whether the work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, what the county’s parcel-specific design values are, and how the review calendar shapes your build schedule.

Remodeling in Georgetown, CO