There are a wide variety of historical homes all around Portland. That said, many have been added on to in such a way as to harm the overall historic look of the home. These types of home need restoration. There are also many gorgeously preserved homes that just need upkeep.
There are resources available fore such homes and companies which specialize in older or historical homes. For example, the Architectural Heritage Center helps homeowners and architects in their pursuit for historical Portland home preservation. This is the place to go to discover what your home used to look like, so you can restore its looks while modernizing appliances, plumbing, etc.
Understanding how your home used to look is a key part of historical preservation and restoration, and working to create the same look can be a giant task. One significant part of such a task is considering the look of the roof.
While older homes may have had shingle or shake roofs originally, modern homeowners may want a more substantial roof and go for metal roofing. This does not have to consist of changing the entire look of a roof, however. Metal roofing actually comes in shingle/shake form and can be modified to look like the original roof color.
Another option is getting the roof restored with specialty material so it fits the original look perfectly. This is always possible – though there are likely to be a few modern projections coming out of the roof, which are essential to the overall home function.
Overall, it’s perfectly possible to restore a home to its original, historic glory. With research, the right help from the right contractors and vendors, and an eye for detail, your historic Portland home can become the masterpiece it once was.