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Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park hold some of the most varied historic housing stock in Prince George's County. Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses line the Hyattsville Historic District, and Berwyn Heights still carries the imprint of its earliest years as a streetcar suburb in houses like the O'Dea House on Ruatan Street. Built as rail suburbs of Washington, these towns still show that history on nearly every block. If you own one of these homes, you already know what makes them so endearing.
What you may also know is that remodeling one of these homes comes with its own approval process. Which historic designation applies to your specific address determines whether a remodel needs design review, and getting it wrong can cost real project time.
This guide covers what Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park homeowners need to know before starting a historic home remodel.
Use the links below to go to the sections you want to read:
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Which Historic Designations Apply in Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park?
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What Applies When Remodeling a Historic Home in Riverdale Park?
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How Does the Historic Area Work Permit Work in Prince George's County?
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What Historic Tax Credits Can Prince George's County Homeowners Claim?
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Popular Remodeling Projects in Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park
Which Historic Designations Apply in Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park?
All three towns fall under the Prince George's County Historic Preservation Commission, which handles design review for county-designated properties. The municipalities themselves do not make designation decisions or approve exterior work. That single fact resolves most of the confusion homeowners run into here.
The National Register listings vary by town, and the Maryland Historical Trust records the official details for each. These figures come from the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
| District | Inventory number | Listed | Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyattsville Historic District | PG:68-10 | March 25, 1982 | 609 structures: 375 contributing, 209 non-contributing |
| Riverdale Park Historic District | PG:68-4 | December 23, 2002 | 524 resources: 439 contributing, 85 non-contributing |
| West Riverdale Historic District | PG:68-93 | December 23, 2002 | Extends the historic area toward East-West Highway |
| Berwyn Heights | Individual properties only | Varies | No district. Includes the O'Dea House, 5804 Ruatan Street, NPS reference 87000899, listed June 4, 1987 |
Design review through the county applies to county-designated Historic Sites and Resources, and to contributing properties within a county historic district. That review process is the Historic Area Work Permit, or HAWP, and it governs exterior work.
Do You Need Historic Approval to Remodel in Hyattsville?
Often not. Many Hyattsville homeowners inside the district boundary can remodel with standard county building permits and no design review at all.
The Hyattsville Historic District covers a residential area roughly bounded by the Northwest Branch, the B&O Railroad tracks, East-West Highway, 42nd Place, Madison Street, 37th Street, 38th Avenue, Hamilton Street, and 37th Place. Its 609 structures include Italianate, Queen Anne, Carpenter Gothic, and bungalow-style houses, along with vernacular buildings from multiple periods of the town's growth.
The City of Hyattsville does not make historic designations or determine what work a property owner can perform. Those decisions rest with the Prince George's County Historic Preservation Commission, depending on whether a home is considered historic.
National Register listing on its own places no restrictions on a private owner spending private funds. County designation on a specific property is what changes the picture: a county Historic Site or Resource requires a Historic Area Work Permit for exterior work before it begins.
What Applies When Remodeling a Historic Home in Riverdale Park?
Riverdale Park contains two National Register districts, both listed on December 23, 2002. The Riverdale Park Historic District runs roughly along Tuckerman Street, Taylor Road, Oglethorpe Street, the B&O Railroad tracks, Madison Street, and Baltimore Avenue. Its 524 resources span construction from the 1890s through infill built in the late 1990s, and include Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses alongside more modest Craftsman and Tudor Revival dwellings. The Federal-style Riversdale Mansion, built between 1801 and 1807, anchors the district.
D.J. Howell platted the community in 1889 with angular streets and landscaped traffic circles, and relatively uniform lot dimensions and setbacks carried through the district's development. That planning history is part of why the streetscape still reads as a coherent whole, and part of why the commission pays attention to street-facing changes. The West Riverdale Historic District, listed the same day, extends the historic area toward East-West Highway and the Hyattsville boundary.
As in Hyattsville, National Register listing here carries no obligations for a private owner using private funds. County designation is what triggers HAWP review, and Riverdale Park also contains individually designated county properties.
Is Berwyn Heights a Historic District?
No. The county's community survey concluded that Berwyn Heights does not qualify for listing as either a local Prince George's County historic district or a National Register historic district. Most Berwyn Heights homeowners with older houses therefore remodel under standard county permitting, with no historic design review step.
The town developed as a late nineteenth century railroad and streetcar suburb, with houses built by the Charlton Heights Improvement Company starting in 1888. The absence of a district does not make those houses any less old, and the conditions inside their walls are the same ones found in Hyattsville and Riverdale Park.
Individual properties carry designation independently of any district. The O'Dea House at 5804 Ruatan Street, a 2.5-story frame Queen Anne dwelling built in 1888 from a pattern book design, entered the National Register on June 4, 1987 under reference number 87000899, recognized for its architecture and its association with the community's early suburban development. Owners of designated properties in Berwyn Heights need county review for exterior work even without a district designation.
How Does the Historic Area Work Permit Work in Prince George's County?
The Historic Area Work Permit is the county's design review for designated historic properties. The Historic Preservation Commission reviews and approves plans for exterior alteration, demolition, and new construction on county-designated properties.
Several procedural details shape how a HAWP affects a project timeline:
- A HAWP may be required whether or not a project also needs a county building permit, and the design review comes first in the process.
- Applications are due one month before the regularly scheduled Historic Preservation Commission meeting to reach that agenda, and a missed deadline moves a project to the following month.
- Smaller items can qualify for staff-level sign-off, which moves faster than full commission review, and planning staff can identify which path a project takes.
- Exterior work drives the requirement, covering windows, siding, roofing, porches, doors, additions, and demolition, while interior remodeling generally proceeds without it.
Before you proceed with getting required permits, you need to confirm the property's designation status. The Maryland Historical Trust's Medusa database and the National Register's own search records both provide this information.
What Historic Tax Credits Can Prince George's County Homeowners Claim?
Two programs apply, and a designated property may qualify for both. Here's a closer look at the respective tax credits:
| Prince George's County Credit | Maryland Homeowner Tax Credit | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 25% of approved rehabilitation and restoration costs. New construction receives 10% | 20% of eligible rehabilitation expenses |
| Applied against | County property tax, amortized over ten years | State income tax |
| Limits | Set by the County Council in 2013 through CB-046-2013, which raised the rate from 10% | Capped at $50,000 within a 24-month period, with a $5,000 minimum spend |
| Who qualifies | Owners of individually designated properties and contributing resources in locally designated districts | Owner-occupied, single-family residence that is a certified historic structure |
| Eligible work | Repair, restoration, and preservation of exterior features | Rehabilitation work such as window repair, plaster restoration, and structural repair |
| Approval route | Historic Preservation Commission for eligibility, then the county Office of Finance | Maryland Historical Trust |
A 2017 change extended the county program's amortization period from five years to ten, giving owners more time to realize the property tax refunds.
Both programs require approval before work begins. Work started ahead of approval generally will not qualify and can affect the credit across an entire project. Program terms and dollar figures change, so confirm current details with the county Planning Department and the Maryland Historical Trust while budgeting.
What Should You Expect When Remodeling a 100-Year-Old Home?
If you own an older home in Prince George's County, chances are it's carrying at least a few of the same issues. It's best to spot them early on and account for them in your budget before the construction gets underway. These issues typically include:
- Homes from the 1890s to the 1930s usually still have knob-and-tube wiring and an electrical panel sized for a much lighter era.
- Galvanized supply lines and cast iron waste lines are usually near the end of their life by now, whether or not you've seen a leak.
- Plaster and lath walls give these rooms their crisp trim lines, and keeping that look intact takes real plaster repair.
- Sloping floors and walls that lean slightly out of plumb are common in a house that's settled over a century. Check for these before cabinets and countertops go in.
- Pre-1978 finishes often mean testing for lead paint, and older flooring or pipe insulation may need testing for asbestos too.
- Original windows are usually salvageable. Repairing them keeps the home's character intact and moves faster through design review on a designated property.
Popular Remodeling Projects in Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park
These houses came with small service kitchens, a single bathroom, and just enough bedrooms for an early-1900s family. That history still shapes which projects homeowners take on today. Here are some of the projects Southern Maryland homeowners are getting done:
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Kitchen Remodel | Open up a small, closed-off kitchen while preserving the home’s character. Because the work is interior, it generally stays outside design review. |
| Bathroom Addition or Remodel | Many older homes still have one bathroom, sometimes carved out of a bedroom. Adding a second bathroom or renovating the primary bathroom is common. |
| Rear Addition | Add square footage without changing the street-facing elevation. This helps protect the home’s character, though designated properties require a Historic Area Work Permit. |
| Second-Story Addition | Add bedrooms without expanding the home’s footprint. This is often part of a whole-home remodel that also updates systems, structure, and layout. |
| Porch Restoration | Rebuild a Victorian or Craftsman porch with period-correct columns, beams, and brackets to restore and strengthen the home’s character. |
Frequently Asked Questions About Historic Home Remodeling
Work With a Historic Home Remodeler Who Knows Hyattsville, Berwyn Heights, and Riverdale Park
Villa Builders has been remodeling historic homes in Prince George's County and across Southern Maryland since 1999. We know which designation applies to a given property and what reviews are required, and we build permit timelines into the schedule so a project does not stall waiting on commission review.
Our design-build approach keeps design and construction under one team, from the first design selections through the final walkthrough, so you always know the status of your project and who is responsible.
Please visit our gallery to see our completed historic remodels in the area.
Contact Us
If you are ready to move forward with your renovation, connect with our team and schedule a free consultation today, or call (410) 604-2283.
