A Bangor man will again request the city’s permission to replace the slate roof on his historic home with asphalt, even though the work has already been done.
Steven Farren, who owns a home on Broadway, said he submitted the paperwork last week to ask the Historic Preservation Commission to approve the new roof he put on his home, which was built in 1880.
Farren believes his request will go before the Historic Preservation Commission in its next meeting, which is set for July 10, according to the city calendar.
The new application will come more than seven months after Farren first approached the commission on Nov. 14 to ask if he could replace the aging slate roof on his home with a type of asphalt that looks like slate.
The denial of Farren’s initial request has led to a months-long stalemate between him and city officials that highlighted how expensive and arduous it can be to maintain a historic home in Bangor. It has also served as a warning to other residents who need to replace aging elements of their historic homes in the coming years.
“I don’t think any of us are looking to do anything crazy,” Farren said. “Bringing some modern technology to houses isn’t detrimental by any means.”
Regardless of what happens at the upcoming Historic Preservation Commission meeting, Farren hopes his conflict with the city has served as a “wake up call” and encouraged the city to relax some requirements it places on historic homes.
Being too rigid with the materials the city allows on historic homes could prevent the properties from being maintained at all, Farren said. This is because historically accurate materials are often more expensive and it could be difficult to find contractors able to perform that work.
If homeowners can’t afford to perform the work the way the city requires, Farren fears that could lead historic homes to fall into disrepair or vanish altogether.
“In 1880, Bangor was the top lumber distributor in the country and there was a lot of money here,” Farren said. “That’s not the case anymore. Times have changed.”
In his second meeting with the Historic Preservation Commission, Farren plans to present two letters that prove his roof needed to be replaced quickly. The letters, which he received after his roof was denied, also show using slate wasn’t feasible due to the high cost and the limited number of contractors locally who work with it.
One letter is from his insurance company warning him that his homeowners insurance would not be renewed if he didn’t replace his roof by June 3 due to its poor condition.
The second letter outlines an inspection of Farren’s roof that Massachusetts-based New England Infrastructure Inc. performed on Jan. 17, 2025. The contractor concluded that the roof needed to be entirely replaced rather than repaired due to its poor condition.
Farren believes his slate roof was installed after the Great Fire of 1911 — which his home survived — making it more than 100 years old.
Hugh Derry, a principal at New England Infrastructure Inc. who wrote the letter, warned that a new slate roof would cost between $240,000 and $260,000. Farren would also likely need to wait until next year to have the work done, due to the limited number of contractors who work with slate, Derry said.
“Slate is a dying business and it’s antiquated,” Farren said. “Kids today aren’t saying ‘I wanna go into the slate business.’ It’s time to move on. There are better products that need to be approved.”
David Warren, a spokesperson for the city, said he’s aware that Farren intends to use new evidence to seek the Historic Preservation Commission’s permission for his roof.
“In terms of a resolution, this ultimately is for Mr. Farren to determine,” Warren said.
Warren declined to comment on any potential outcome of this issue or action the city could take if the Historic Preservation Commission denies Farren again.
The Historic Preservation Commission initially denied Farren because it ruled that materials on historic homes should be repaired or replaced with the same material whenever possible to preserve the homes. Farren appealed the decision, but the Board of Appeals turned him down on Jan. 2.
In March, Farren bucked the denials and had a new asphalt roof installed that looks like slate, which cost roughly $60,000, he said.
The city soon issued him a notice of violation that ordered Farren to “fix the violation” within 30 days. Instead, Farren appealed the notice, but the appeals board agreed on May 22 that the city was right to issue it.
The application fees Farren had to pay for each meeting amount to nearly $1,000, he said.
Farren’s home sits in the Broadway Historic District — one of Bangor’s nine historic areas — which requires him to get permission from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission before doing work that could change the appearance of his property.
Since purchasing his home in 2017, Farren has made a series of repairs and upgrades to the property, including removing asbestos and lead paint and repairing the building’s foundation, but there’s still more work to be done, he said.
Farren bought the home for $395,000 and the property is now valued at nearly $472,000, according to city records.
