Historic District Check for Madison Homes

The Five Districts

Madison has exactly five local historic districts. The ordinance lists the same five, and the city's district map has five boundaries.(MGO 41.11) The Landmarks Commission reviews every exterior change in them. Interiors aren't reviewed.(City of Madison)

A neighborhood name isn't the same as a district. University Heights lies inside the Regent neighborhood. Third Lake Ridge and the two-block Marquette Bungalows district lie inside Marquette. Mansion Hill and First Settlement are in the Capitol Neighborhoods area. Acres and shares come from the city's own district and neighborhood maps.(City of Madison GIS)

Since 2022 all five districts follow one set of standards, MGO 41.22 to 41.27. The only district-specific rule is a height cap in Marquette Bungalows.(MGO 41.18(1)(c)) The city's illustrated design guidelines show what each standard looks like on a real house.(Design guidelines)

What's Not Allowed

These are written as prohibitions in the standards. The Landmarks Commission can grant a variance for economic hardship, historic design, an alternative design or the public interest, after a public hearing.(MGO 41.19)

• Painting, stuccoing or otherwise covering brick or stone that has never been painted or covered. Masonry that's already painted can be repainted.(MGO 41.25(3)(a)1)
• Sealers or water-repellent coatings on the face of brick or stone.(MGO 41.23(3)(a)4)
• Wrapping trim or ornament (in aluminum or vinyl, for example).(MGO 41.25(3)(b)4)
• Removing historic features from any side of the house you can see from the street.(MGO 41.25(1)(b)2)
• Removing a chimney you can see from the street, or changing how it looks.(MGO 41.25(4)(d)1)
• Round soffit vents, static or powered roof vents, wind turbines and attic fans visible from the street. Low ridge vents and rectangular soffit vents are allowed.(MGO 41.25(4)(e)3)
• Enclosing a street-visible porch with solid walls. Framed screens or storm panels are the allowed way to close one in.(MGO 41.25(6)(c)2)
• Additions on the front of the house, unless they rebuild a documented historic feature.(MGO 41.26(1)(a)1)
• Balconies on the street-facing sides of an addition.(MGO 41.26(6)(b)4)
• Rooftop mechanical equipment that's highly visible from the street.(MGO 41.25(7)(a)3)
• Electrical conduit run on the outside of a wall you can see from the street.(MGO 41.25(7)(c)3)
• Doors with a textured fake wood grain.(MGO 41.25(5)(d)2)

What Needs Approval

You need a Certificate of Approval to build something new, change the outside of a building, demolish or move one, put up a sign, or divide or combine a lot.(MGO 41.12) An alteration is any exterior change that replaces existing materials or changes how something looks.(MGO 41.25(1)(a))

Allowed if it meets the standards

• Historic windows have to be repaired if repair is practical. Replacement is approved only when they're beyond repair, not economically feasible to repair, or test positive for lead, and the city asks for a written assessment from a contractor who repairs windows.(Appendix D)
• Replacement windows must copy the originals' design details. Divided-light windows need true divided lights, or grids on both sides of the glass with spacer bars between the panes.(MGO 41.25(5)(c)3)
• Storm windows must match the window's pane pattern or be one-over-one, with painted or non-reflective frames.(MGO 41.25(5)(c)6)
• New window or door openings only on walls not visible from the street, or at least 12 feet back from the front of the house.(MGO 41.25(5)(a)2)
• Storm doors must be full-light or full-view, wood or aluminum.(MGO 41.25(5)(d)3)
• Garage doors must look like the ones typical of the district.(MGO 41.25(5)(e)1)
• Replacement siding must match the original exposure within one inch, and every layer but the first has to come off before re-siding.(MGO 41.25(3)(b)1)
• Repointing mortar must match the historic mortar in strength, makeup, color, texture and joint profile.(MGO 41.24(3)(a)1)
• You can't change the roof's visible shape. New roofing must copy the historic material or be compatible with roofs in the district.(MGO 41.25(4)(b)2)
• A skylight visible from the street must be flat, parallel to the roof, painted to match and at least 12 feet back from the front edge.(MGO 41.25(4)(c)1)
• A street-visible dormer goes on a side slope, at least 12 feet back from the front edge of the roof, no higher than the main ridge.(MGO 41.26(4)(f)2)
• Solar panels are allowed. On a sloped roof they must lie flat, parallel to the roof, in a grid lined up with the ridge and eaves.(MGO 41.25(7)(b)1)
• Grilles, vents, meters and equipment attached to the house must be finished or painted to match it.(MGO 41.25(7)(a)2)
• A historic porch has to stay. If it's too far gone to repair, it's rebuilt to match the evidence of the original.(MGO 41.25(6)(a)2)
• A front-yard fence or retaining wall must match the style historically found in the district.(MGO 41.25(2)(a)1)
• Wood has to stay painted or stained, and porch wood must be painted or opaquely stained. The standards don't set paint colors.(MGO 41.23(3)(b)1)
• A new garage or shed must be minimally visible from the street and clearly secondary to the house.(MGO 41.27(1)(b)2)

Goes to the full Landmarks Commission

• Every addition and every new building goes to the full Landmarks Commission.(MGO 41.22(3))
• A public hearing is required for an addition that grows the footprint more than 150 square feet, or a garage or shed over 150 square feet (decks and open porches don't count).(MGO 41.17(3)(f))
• Demolishing or moving a building takes a Certificate of Approval and a public hearing. Damage from the owner's own neglect can't be the reason it's approved.(MGO 41.18(2)(g))

City staff can approve

Under the Commission's Policy Manual, adopted February 9, 2026, staff can approve smaller jobs like these. They can still send any request to the full Commission.(Policy Manual)

• Re-roofing asphalt or fiberglass shingles with new rectangular asphalt or fiberglass shingles.(Category 2)
• Replacing outdoor mechanical equipment with the same size and layout.(Category 2)
• A small, simple garden shed in the back yard.(Category 3)

No approval needed

• Maintenance only. It still has to follow the city's maintenance standards.(MGO 41.22(1))

Getting a Certificate of Approval

1. Apply before you apply for the building permit. The building inspector can't issue a permit for this work until the certificate is approved.(MGO 41.21(1))
2. Email the application to landmarkscommission@cityofmadison.com. Small projects need photos, a description of the work and product specs. Larger projects also need the Landmarks Commission application form.(City of Madison)
3. Commission projects are due by noon on a deadline about five weeks before each meeting. Meetings are virtual and start at 5 p.m.(2026 schedule)
4. The Preservation Planner or Commission must decide within 60 days of a complete application.(MGO 41.17(5)) The certificate expires after two years if you don't get a building permit.(MGO 41.17(7))
5. You, your alder, or owners of 20% of the lots within 200 feet can appeal a Commission decision to the Common Council within 14 days.(MGO 41.20(2))

Work done without a certificate can be ordered removed or changed.(MGO 41.21(3)) A first violation carries a forfeiture of $250 to $500, and each day can count separately.(MGO 41.14(4)) Owners also have to keep the building from decaying.(MGO 41.14(1)(a)) The city hasn't published a fee for a certificate, so ask the Preservation Planner.

Denials do happen. In January 2026 the Commission turned down a roof replacement on Jenifer Street in Third Lake Ridge, and the Common Council upheld that on appeal in March.(Legistar)

The certificate comes before the regular permit, so plan for both. The Madison remodel permit guide covers the building permit side.

Landmarks and the National Register

Individually designated landmarks, inside or outside a district, need the same Certificate of Approval for exterior changes.(MGO 41.09(1)) The work is judged against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation instead of the district standards.(MGO 41.18(1)(a)) The address check above matches the 182 properties in the city's landmark table.(City of Madison)

The National Register of Historic Places is separate. The Landmarks Commission doesn't regulate it.(City of Madison) Listing alone places no federal restrictions on a private owner.(National Park Service) So a house in a National Register district, like the Langdon Street district, has no extra exterior review unless it's also in a local district or is a landmark. To look up your house's history and listings, see when was my house built.

Capitol Height Limit

State law says no part of any building within one mile of the center of the Capitol may exceed 1,032.8 feet above sea level.(Wis. Stat. 16.842) The legislature passed it in 1990 to protect the view of the Capitol.(1989 Act 222) Madison's zoning code repeats the limit as the base of the Capitol's columns, "187.2 feet, City datum."(MGO 28.134(3))

The 187.2 figure is often quoted as a height, but it isn't one. City datum zero is 845.6 feet above sea level, so 187.2 feet on that datum is the same 1,032.8-foot elevation in the statute.(MGO 28.134(3)) How much building that allows depends on the ground under it. A lot on low ground near the lakes has more room under the line than one near the top of the hill. For comparison, the Capitol itself is 284.4 feet from the ground floor to the top of the statue.(Wisconsin Department of Administration)

Downtown, a separate Downtown Height Map limits stories block by block, from 3 to 12 stories. The blocks around the Square are marked "CV," where the Capitol limit is the cap.(MGO 28.071(2)(a)) A house elsewhere in the circle also has its zoning district's own limit, which is 2 stories and 35 feet in the common single-family districts.(MGO ch. 28) Garages and sheds can be no taller than the house or 15 feet, whichever is lower.(MGO 28.131) The city has no map layer for the one-mile circle, so the address check measures from the center of the Capitol grounds parcel. Near the edge of the circle, ask Zoning.

How we did this: the rules come from MGO chapter 41 (the city-hosted copy, codified through August 2026), the Landmarks Commission Policy Manual and the city's design guidelines. District boundaries and neighborhood shares come from the City of Madison's open GIS layers, measured on a 5-meter grid. The data behind the tool is open: JSON (schema).

Questions

Do I need permission to replace windows in a Madison historic district?

Yes. Replacing windows is an alteration, so it needs a Certificate of Approval before the building permit. If the windows are historic, the city expects repair. It approves replacement only when the windows are beyond repair, not economically feasible to repair, or test positive for lead, and the new windows have to copy the originals' details.

Is University Heights a historic district?

Yes. University Heights is one of Madison's five local historic districts, designated in 1985. It lies within the Regent neighborhood association area. The local district is larger than the National Register district of the same name, and only the local district is regulated.

Is the Marquette neighborhood a historic district?

Part of it. Two local districts sit inside the Marquette neighborhood: Third Lake Ridge, the city's largest, and Marquette Bungalows, a two-block district. Together they cover roughly a third of the neighborhood, so whether your house is covered depends on the address.

Does National Register listing restrict what I can do?

Not by itself. The National Register is honorary, and the Landmarks Commission doesn't regulate it. Listing places no federal restrictions on a private owner, though it can make a house eligible for historic tax credits. Only local districts and local landmarks need a Certificate of Approval.

Can I paint my house any color in a historic district?

The city's standards require wood to stay painted or stained and forbid painting brick or stone that has never been painted. They don't set paint colors. Ask the Preservation Planner before you start if you're unsure.

What happens if I do the work without approval?

The Landmarks Commission can order the work removed or changed. Violations carry a forfeiture of $250 to $500 each for a first offense, and each day can count as a separate violation.

Related Guides

• Madison remodel permits: the building permit that follows the Certificate of Approval.
• When Was My House Built?
• Older Homes
• Lead Paint and Asbestos Rules
• Madison ADU rules: backyard cottages and basement units.