Families with old farms and waterfront cottages have been calling a lot lately. Wanting to talk about how preservation easements might help them preserve their property.

Most of the time, the owner is planning for the day when he or she sells or bequeaths the property and wants to promote the kind of stewardship they believe in for future owners. At times, families or developers are looking for ways to lower costs and hope that the easement's possible devaluation of their property will have a desired effect on their tax bill. Occasionally, historic sites or socieities contact us. They have saved a historic place, and want to sell the landmark with protections in place.

A preservation easement is very similar to a conservation easement, and obligates the owner and all subsequent owners to refrain from actions that are incompatible with its terms. It is a legal document, filed in the county registry of deeds office along with other legal documents relating to the property, so that all future owners and lenders will be informed of the restrictions when they obtain title reports.

Easements are individually customized, and protect character-defining features. An easement for an important in-town federal house might include prohibition of demolition, as well as authority to review changes to major facades and materials. An easement on a farm with many outbuildings might encompass those secondary structures, open fields, and views. An easement has more teeth than a deed restriction because the easement holder has clear enforcement responsibilities.

The Preservation Alliance, which holds easements for the Pearl of Portsmouth, Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, and Daniel Webster Farm in Franklin, and has been working with owners of old farms and waterfront properties, and conservation organizations, to meet "blended" goals of conservation and preservation for places that contain both values.

To qualify for a charitable contribution that can be deducted for federal income, estate, capital gains or gift tax purposes, the preservation easement must be a perpetual easement. Furthermore, the property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places or within a National Register Historic District.

Find more information at 224-2281 or jg@nhpreservation.org.