Keeping Up with ‘The Joneses': Historic Preservation and Barrier-Free/Universal Design

Graduate Design Studio

Only one percent of homes in the United States are conducive to “Aging-in-Place” design requirements and, today, more than seventy-five percent of older Americans want to stay in their homes as long as possible. This is proving to be an untenable situation. More importantly, this
conundrum becomes increasingly problematic regarding designing solutions in historic houses for “Aging in Place.”

In the Spring 2022 Historic Preservation Studio, we design for “Aging-in-Place” with a historic Mid-Century Residence, the Jones House in Charlotte, North Carolina. The new program includes a new kitchen, a new accessibility route throughout the house, a new art studio, new bathrooms, and a new primary bedroom suite. All work complies with the current Universal Design Standards and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation.