The New Castle County Historic and Cultural Resource Design Guidelines are intended as an instruction manual for the owners of properties within the county that have historic zoning overlay status.
The guidelines elaborate on the U.S Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, which are the standards used by the New Castle County Historic Review Board to evaluate the projects before them; however, the guidelines are useful to the owners of all historic properties in that they offer sound advice on ways to protect the historic character of any property, whether officially designated as a historic zoning overlay district, or listed in the National Register of Historic Places, or none of the above.