character home

Thanks to the generous support of the North End Neighborhood Association, I’ll spend this summer conducting fieldwork in Boise’s North End—on foot, exploring and documenting character homes.

I am conducting a comprehensive resurvey of the neighborhood’s historic fabric, updating records that have not been reviewed since the 1980s. In partnership with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the City of Boise’s Historic Preservation staff, and local stakeholders, this project evaluates architectural typologies and features characteristic of Boise’s early suburban development. 

Many of these character homes, once overlooked, may now meet the criteria for local historic designation due to their age, integrity, or evolving significance within Boise’s architectural narrative.

The goal is to provide accurate, up-to-date documentation to support informed planning and preservation decisions. This layered approach captures architectural detail, historical context, and subsequent adaptations. Rather than overwriting earlier records, it builds upon them, creating an evolving dialogue across time. Homes are evaluated not only for their original heritage and character-defining features. Later modifications are also considered for how they contribute to the neighborhood’s ongoing narrative.

Need anything? jeff@characterhome.com or ping ellery@deepwell.media—I’m probably just around the corner.

I’m deeply grateful for the generous support that made my University of Virginia journey possible. My sincere thanks go to the Colonial Dames of America Scholarship, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Henry J. Javor Bicentennial Scholarship, the Peter R. Kutscha Endowed Memorial Scholarship, the Peter L. Page Scholarship and Grant, the Frederick Doveton Nichols Award, the UVA Society of Architectural Historians, and the UVA Architecture School’s Center for Cultural Landscapes and the Darden School of Business. Their investment in my education has meant the world to me.

jeffery holley

characterhome.com 

Architectural, Art Histories + Historic Preservation - MArH '25, BArH '24

415.776.5333 Anytime

www.linkedin.com/in/characterhome

The past persists as unpredictably as the future unfolds - Daniel Abramson.