Belmont-Hillsboro Deck Builder: Where the Conservation Overlay Reviews What the Street Sees

Belmont-Hillsboro is Nashville's youngest formal preservation overlay. The Metro Council adopted the Belmont-Hillsboro Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay under Ordinance BL2017-630 on March 7, 2017, then expanded the boundary six months later under a follow-up ordinance dated September 5, 2017. Unlike the full Historic Preservation Zoning Overlays in Edgefield or Lockeland Springs, Belmont-Hillsboro is a Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay — a lighter regulatory category that reviews what the street sees and gives more flexibility on what it does not.

For a deck behind a 1910 Belmont-Hillsboro bungalow, that distinction usually works in the homeowner's favor. The Metro Historic Zoning Commission reviews street-facing exterior alterations, demolitions, and new construction with substantial weight. It reviews back-of-house deck additions with less weight. But "less weight" is not "no weight," and understanding which parts of a deck project the MHZC will review before drafting the framing plan is the difference between a project that gets approved on the first submission and one that comes back for revisions.

Deck Craft has been working Belmont-Hillsboro from our office on Public Square in Franklin since 1999 — well before the Conservation Overlay existed. The neighborhood was already self-organizing around historic preservation through Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors (BHN) decades before the formal overlay was adopted. The 2017 designation codified the cultural preservation ethic that the neighborhood had already been protecting for a generation.

The 2017 Conservation Overlay: A Different Animal

The Metro Historic Zoning Commission administers two materially different categories of overlay zoning. Understanding which one your address falls under matters before any design work begins.

A Historic Preservation Zoning Overlay — the category that covers Edgefield (1978, the city's first), Lockeland Springs, and the historic core of Old Hickory Village — operates under strict design guidelines that govern materials, dimensions, exterior alterations, and routine maintenance on every property within the boundary. Replacing a window, painting a porch, changing trim color — much of this requires MHZC review.

A Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay — the category that covers Belmont-Hillsboro (2017) and several other Nashville neighborhoods — operates under lighter design guidelines focused primarily on additions, demolitions, new construction, and major exterior alterations visible from the public right-of-way. Routine maintenance and rear-facing alterations not visible from the street typically do not require MHZC review.

The 2017 ordinance creating the Belmont-Hillsboro NCZO defined the boundary, established the design guidelines, and gave the MHZC review authority over the items the conservation framework covers. The ordinance was the result of years of advocacy by Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors and was adopted with substantial community support to preserve the neighborhood's architectural character against the same teardown-and-rebuild pressure that had reshaped surrounding neighborhoods.

What MHZC Reviews on a Belmont-Hillsboro Deck Project

For a Belmont-Hillsboro deck project, the MHZC review focuses on what is visible from the street rather than on the project's full scope. The practical implications:

A back-of-house deck not visible from the public right-of-way generally does not require formal MHZC review under the Conservation Overlay framework. The standard Metro residential building permit applies, but the historic-overlay layer that makes Edgefield projects more involved is largely absent for back-deck work in Belmont-Hillsboro.

A side-of-house deck visible from the street typically does trigger MHZC review because the addition is visible from the public right-of-way. The review focuses on materials, scale, and proportions relative to the existing house and the streetscape.

A wraparound deck or porch addition that wraps around to the front triggers full review because the project is visible from the street and substantively changes the front elevation's character.

A demolition of an existing front porch triggers review even if the replacement is sympathetic to the original architecture, because demolition of street-facing elements is one of the things the Conservation Overlay was specifically created to govern.

In practice this means most Belmont-Hillsboro deck projects we work on — additions to the back of the house behind the primary residence — proceed through standard Metro permitting without an MHZC review cycle. Projects that touch street-facing elements get the additional review layer, and we factor the timeline accordingly.

The Bungalow Architectural Vocabulary

The dominant housing stock in Belmont-Hillsboro was built between roughly 1900 and 1930. Craftsman bungalows, foursquares, and Folk Victorians make up the largest share. The defining architectural elements are the front porch, the deep eaves, the tapered porch columns or stone porch piers, the leaded or divided-light front windows, and the modest scale that characterized middle-class urban housing in the early twentieth century.

A back-of-house deck added to one of these homes has to operate within the bungalow's proportional vocabulary even when the MHZC is not formally reviewing the back elevation. The reason is architectural rather than regulatory. A bungalow's proportions are tight, and a deck that is oversized, over-detailed, or built in a contemporary visual language reads as wrong from inside the house even if no one on the street ever sees it.

The proportions that work consistently on a Belmont-Hillsboro bungalow:

Railing baluster spacing that matches or echoes the front porch's railing spacing. If the front porch has 1.5-inch square balusters at four-inch spacing, the back deck's baluster system should reference that geometry. Contemporary horizontal cable rail or aluminum infill reads as out of period.

Post profiles that echo the porch column language. If the front porch has tapered Craftsman columns on stone piers, the back deck's posts should pick up that visual cue — typically through a built-up wood column with a base detail that matches the porch.

Cap and trim profiles that match the existing exterior trim. The deck reads as integrated when the cap profile, fascia detailing, and finish color match the trim already on the house.

Step rise-to-run proportions that feel consistent with the existing front porch steps. The bungalow vocabulary uses gentler, more generous steps than contemporary code minimums require. We design to the architectural language rather than to bare code.

The Sub-Neighborhoods of Belmont-Hillsboro

Belmont-Hillsboro is not architecturally uniform. Different sub-areas have different character.

Belmont Boulevard — the broad central street with the largest and most architecturally substantial homes in the neighborhood. Frequently larger lots, more mature trees, and the most consistent preservation ethic.

The numbered avenues (17th, 18th, 19th Avenue South) — narrower streets with more uniform bungalow stock from the 1910s and 1920s. Heavy concentration of original Craftsman architecture.

Linden Avenue, Acklen Avenue, and Magnolia Boulevard — the Belmont-University-adjacent blocks, with a mix of original residential stock and some homes that have been converted to student-adjacent uses.

The Hillsboro Village edge — the western boundary running up against the Hillsboro Village commercial corridor. Mixed character with some homes that have been substantially renovated for higher-density use.

The MHZC Conservation Overlay covers the formal boundary defined in the 2017 ordinance and its expansion. Properties immediately adjacent to but outside the formal boundary are not subject to the overlay even if they read as part of the neighborhood architecturally. The formal boundary should be confirmed on the Metro zoning map before assuming overlay applicability for a specific address.

Belmont University Adjacency and the Hillsboro Village Edge

Belmont University's main campus sits along Belmont Boulevard at the north end of the neighborhood. The university's institutional presence affects the surrounding residential market — some properties on the immediate university periphery are owned by the university or by investors leasing to students, and the deck conversation on those properties is different from the conversation on owner-occupied family homes deeper in the neighborhood.

For owner-occupied projects, the Belmont-Hillsboro market is a stable, relatively narrow demographic of homeowners who chose the neighborhood specifically for its architectural character and walkability. The deck investment is usually viewed as a long-term improvement to a long-term home rather than as a short-cycle resale-driven project. That changes the design conversation. The materials specification trends toward longer-service-life products even when the upfront cost is higher.

The Hillsboro Village commercial corridor on the western edge of the neighborhood — anchored by the Belcourt Theatre, Pancake Pantry, Fido, and the surrounding restaurant cluster — is part of the neighborhood's daily life. Most Belmont-Hillsboro residents walk to Hillsboro Village on weekends. The proximity is part of the neighborhood's value proposition, and most homeowners prioritize outdoor space (decks, porches, garden integration) that supports the same kind of pedestrian, neighborhood-scale lifestyle.

Metro Codes Permitting and the 2018 IRC

Belmont-Hillsboro falls under Metro Nashville/Davidson County jurisdiction with permits processed through the Metro Codes Department at 800 Second Avenue South. Metro adopted the 2018 International Residential Code, the same edition in effect in the City of Brentwood, the City of Belle Meade, and across East Nashville. (For comparison, the City of Franklin operates on the 2024 IRC, the Town of Nolensville on the 2024 IRC, and unincorporated Williamson County on the 2021 IRC — three different and more current code editions in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area.)

For a Belmont-Hillsboro deck the relevant code sections are IRC R507 (decks) and R403.1.4 (footings). R507 in the 2018 edition unambiguously requires positive mechanical lateral load connection on every attached deck. R403.1.4 footing depth is twelve inches below grade minimum, with the practical depth often deeper to reach undisturbed soil below decades of root accumulation on these older lots.

The standard residential permit submittal package applies. Where the project triggers Conservation Overlay review, the MHZC approval letter is added to the package before the building permit is issued.

Materials That Honor the Bungalow Architecture

For original Belmont-Hillsboro bungalow stock, the dominant material recommendation is painted or stained pressure-treated wood finished to match the existing exterior trim. The architectural language of a 1910 Craftsman or a 1920 foursquare reads correctly with wood and reads incorrectly with most contemporary composite specifications.

Where composite is appropriate — typically on more recent additions, on rear elevations not visible from the street, or on projects where the homeowner has explicitly chosen a contemporary vocabulary that breaks from the bungalow's original language — TimberTech AZEK Vintage in heritage-color palettes integrates more cleanly than standard contemporary tones. Trex Transcend in deeper espresso or havana reads less aggressively against bungalow trim than the lighter colors.

Railing systems should default to traditional wood baluster construction unless the project explicitly takes a contemporary direction. Horizontal cable rail and aluminum infill reads as wrong on a 1910s bungalow regardless of how well-made it is.

Decking board direction matters more than most homeowners realize. The bungalow's primary architectural lines run perpendicular to the street. A deck installed with boards parallel to the street typically reads as integrated with the home; boards installed perpendicular to the home's long axis typically read as added-on. We design board direction as part of the architectural-integration consideration rather than as a default.

The Resurface vs Rebuild Conversation on 1910s Stock

Many Belmont-Hillsboro homes have decks added in the 1990s or early 2000s — typically pressure-treated builds that are now twenty to thirty years old. The rebuild-versus-resurface conversation on these projects almost always lands on rebuild rather than resurface, for the same reasons the conversation lands the same way on Brentwood and East Nashville projects:

The framing has aged past its design service life. The hardware galvanizing has degraded. The lateral connection requirement that the 2018 IRC made unambiguous typically was not installed. Resurfacing replaces the cosmetic boards while leaving the structural problems in place.

For a property where the homeowner intends to stay long-term — which describes most of the Belmont-Hillsboro market — the rebuild engineered to current code is the recommendation that holds up. The rebuild pays back over the next twenty-plus years rather than buying a few additional years before the underlying conditions force the conversation again.

Working With Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors and the Community Context

Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors (BHN) is the formal neighborhood organization that advocated for the 2017 Conservation Overlay and that continues to maintain the institutional memory of the neighborhood's preservation values. BHN.org publishes design guidelines, hosts community meetings, and serves as the informal point of contact for questions about appropriate alterations within the overlay.

For projects we are working on Belmont-Hillsboro homes — particularly those touching street-facing elements that will be reviewed by MHZC — we sometimes consult informally with BHN to understand the neighborhood's expectations before we file the formal review packet. This is not required and not part of the regulatory process, but it tends to produce projects that clear MHZC review faster because we have anticipated the design considerations the neighborhood will raise.

A Personal Note on Walking the Belmont-Hillsboro Streets

The Belmont-Hillsboro we worked in 1999 looked substantially the same on the street as the Belmont-Hillsboro we work in 2026. The houses are the same houses. The mature trees are largely the same trees. The architectural character of Belmont Boulevard and the numbered avenues is the same character. What has changed is the formal regulatory framework — the 2017 Conservation Overlay codified protections that had been informal for a generation — and the second-cycle deck rebuild conversations that the original 1990s deck installations are now generating.

Twenty-seven years of working a single neighborhood means watching the deck stock cycle one generation at a time. The 1990s decks we replaced in the early 2010s are now twelve years old and at the early end of their service life. The 1910s bungalows behind them are still the same 1910s bungalows. The architectural vocabulary still asks the same questions of the deck.

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