What is a Conservation Easement?
  You Should Care Who Holds Your Easement
  Easements vs. Preservation Laws
  Preservation Links

TESTIMONIAL
"The L'Enfant Trust, through its conservation easement program, has played a critical role in protecting many architectural treasures in our nation's capital, and is a great contributor to the city's preservation efforts."
Richard Moe, President 1993-2010,
National Trust For Historic Preservation

What Is a Conservation Easement?

The Conservation Easement is a property interest which, as used by The L'Enfant Trust, embodies the right to change the exterior appearance of the property it protects. When the Conservation Easement right is held by a responsible community steward, both the property owner and the community can be assured that change, which over time is inevitable, will take into account sound preservation values and the aesthetic concerns of both the property owner and the community. Federal law does not allow a tax deduction for an easement which protects only the front of a building or its ‘view from the street.'