Synthetic slate, designer asphalt, and copper — what the COA process actually looks like in 2026.
Evanston's four local landmark districts
Most Evanston homeowners know about the Lakeshore Historic District. Fewer realize the city has three more — Northeast Evanston, Ridge Historic District, and the Suburban Apartment Buildings District — plus a growing list of individually landmarked properties. If your home falls inside any of these, exterior roofing work requires a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) from the Evanston Preservation Commission before the permit is issued.
This is not as scary as it sounds. We have walked dozens of COAs through the commission, and the process is rational, predictable, and homeowner-friendly when the application is prepared correctly.
What requires a COA
Any change to the visible roofing material, color, or profile. Like-for-like replacement (e.g., new asphalt shingles in substantially the same color and profile as the existing asphalt shingles) usually qualifies for staff-level review and skips the full commission hearing. Anything else — new material, new color family, new profile, new flashing scheme — goes to the commission.
What the commission approves (and what it doesn't)
Approved as alternates to real slate: DaVinci Bellaforte Slate and Brava Old World Slate are both well-established with the commission and have been approved on dozens of Lakeshore and Northeast Evanston homes since 2018.
Approved as alternates to wood shake: DaVinci Multi-Width Shake and Brava Cedar Shake. CertainTeed Presidential Shake is sometimes approved for less prominent secondary slopes.
Approved as alternates to clay tile: Brava Spanish Barrel Tile in coordinated color blends. Real clay tile (Ludowici, U.S. Tile) is always approved when budget permits.
Approved designer-laminate asphalt: GAF Camelot II in Antique Slate or Royal Slate, CertainTeed Grand Manor in Stonegate Gray, Owens Corning Berkshire in Charcoal Black. The commission looks for the third-dimensional layering and the muted slate-toned color families.
Not approved: 3-tab asphalt, standard architectural shingles in bright color families (terra cotta, blue, green), any shingle product that prominently reads as asphalt from the street.
How long the COA process takes
Pre-application meeting with city preservation staff: 1 week. COA application preparation: 1 week (we handle this). Commission hearing date: typically 2 to 4 weeks out from filing. Decision: same day as hearing. Total: usually 4 to 6 weeks from the day you decide to move forward to the day we can pull a building permit.
Plan for it. If your roof is failing in February and you need to be on the install schedule for May, start the COA conversation now.
What we include in a COA application
Existing-conditions photographs of every slope and elevation. Manufacturer specification sheets and color samples for the proposed material. Side-by-side rendering of the existing vs. proposed appearance from the street view. A narrative explaining why the proposed material is appropriate to the home's period and the district's character. Letters of precedent — examples of the same material approved on similar homes elsewhere in the district. Letter of authorization signed by the homeowner.
The commission appreciates a thorough, professionally prepared application. We have never had one denied when prepared this way.
Working with real slate and clay tile
If your home has an original slate or clay tile roof — which is true for many of the largest Lakeshore homes and a meaningful number of Northeast Evanston Tudors — the conversation is different. Real slate roofs in Evanston are typically 80 to 110 years old, and the slate itself is often in better shape than homeowners assume. The flashings (typically lead in original installs) and the underlayments fail long before the slate does.
A selective slate restoration — replacing 5 to 15% of broken or slipped slates, rebuilding all the flashings in copper or lead-coated copper, and installing a snow-guard system — typically extends the roof life another 30 to 50 years for one-third to one-half the cost of a full replacement. The commission strongly prefers this approach and we strongly recommend it.
The bottom line
Roofing a historic Evanston home is more expensive and slower than roofing a 1970s ranch in Skokie. It is also more rewarding, and the homes are part of what makes the city worth living in. Plan ahead, work with a contractor who has actually been through the COA process more than once, and you will end up with a roof that honors the architecture and lasts longer than the one it replaced.