Edina Heritage Award Goes to Home History Website
The Edina Heritage Commission honored ThouseHistory.com with its 2024 Heritage Award, recognizing the crowdsourced platform that has documented the histories of approximately 600 Edina homes.
At the City Council retreat on March 15, the Edina Heritage Commission presented its annual Heritage Award to ThouseHistory.com, a website that allows homeowners to research and share the stories behind their properties. The award marked a departure from traditional recipients, which typically include historic buildings or preservation projects.
The platform was created by Edina native Amanda Zelski and her husband David Decker, who launched the site in 2022. The database now contains information on more than 24,000 homes across the United States, with about 600 of those located in Edina.
"The big idea behind our platform is to be able to answer what's the story with that house and capture the real moments that make a house a home," Zelski and Decker told the council during the presentation.
For Edina properties, the website draws on public records from the Minnesota Historical Society, Hennepin County History Museum, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Users can access the site for free to look up their home's history or contribute their own information. The platform also offers a free research guide, with optional paid services available for those seeking professional research assistance.
"We just love the idea of everyone coming together and crowdsourcing home history — it's the real magic when everyone is contributing that together," the creators said, expressing gratitude for the recognition. The Heritage Commission presents the award annually during preservation month to highlight efforts that contribute to local historical preservation.
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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ThouseHistory.com Platform Overview and Data Sources
Also from this meeting
▸Meeting Analysis
“we're super grateful for the award it's just been an incredible opportunity to help preserve the history of all the homes”
“the big idea behind our platform is to be able to answer what's the story with that house and capture the real moments that make a house a home”
“we just love the idea of everyone coming together and crowdsourcing home history it's the real magic when everyone is contributing that together”
▸Source Document
[Music] this year's Edina Heritage Award winner isn't a historic property it's a website congratulations thank house.com was recognized with the 2024 award the home history website was designed by Edina native Amanda zelki and her husband David Decker and was launched in 2022 the free platform allows anyone to discover and document the history of homes across the country well we're super grateful for the award it's just been an incredible opportunity to help preserve the history of all the homes right so the big idea behind our platform is to be able to answer what's the story with that house and capture the real moments that make a house a home so we just love the idea of everyone coming together and crowdsourcing home history it's the real magic when everyone is contributing that together the website has more than 24,000 us homes in its database including about 600 in Idina for the homes in Idina house novel sourced public data from the Minnesota Historical Society henpen County History Museum and Minneapolis Star Tribune the website is open for anyone to upload their own information on any home for free and with ease house novel offers a free history research guide but also has optional paid features if a homeowner wants help researching their property the commission presents the heritage award annually during preservation month to Showcase local historical preservation activity
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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