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Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization presented the seventh Dust to Dazzle Renovation Home Tour over the weekend.

Many of Butte's structures have a long history and are about 100 years old. Sadly, not all of them are still attractive to the public, and some of them are unsuitable to live in.

But Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization are working to change that. This weekend six homes in different stages of renovation were opened up to the public to show what could be done to bring these houses back from the brink, starting with this house on Silver Street which had only begun to be renovated.

"This is one of the ‘dust homes,' and they will restore it to its former glory. This room apparently had an oxygen tank in here, and as high as the oxygen tank was, that's how much refuse there was in this room. And you'll actually see as we enter another bedroom, it's like a scene out of the TV show 'Hoarders.' You always kind of marvel at how close residences are to each other. We're always wondering how they did their brickwork," property liaison Anna Dockter said.

To get an idea of the success of the Butte CPR, you need only cross the street.

"This was a 'dust house'. It was in pretty bad shape. This is pretty close to the 1920s (style), except for the tile work. Everything on the porch is original, the floor, the beadwork, the ceiling here, all of this is original," property liaison Julie Crowely said.

Besides the satisfaction of owning and renovating a historic home, there are other possible benefits, according to the State Historic Preservation Office.

"The Federal Rehab Tax Credit Program awards successful applicants a federal income tax credit equal to twenty percent of their rehab investment in a income-producing building that is listed in the national register of historic places," historic architecture specialist Pete Brown said.

Brown says there have been approximately 20 successful renovations using this program over the past 15 years, and property liaisons say the quality of work done on the homes is top notch in order make sure Butte's historic homes don't remain dust.

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