Charlie Allen Renovations

Charlie Allen Renovations has been working on old Cambridge houses since 1978. The company says it has remodeled and restored scores of homes around Greater Boston in the near half-century since, and it describes the work as design-build: restoring an older house while blending modern amenities into its period character. Houzz lists it serving 25 Greater Boston towns from its River Street base in Cambridge. A 2010 Harvard Magazine piece said Charlie Allen had won preservation awards from historical commissions, along with awards for remodeling from shelter magazines and the construction industry. Its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration, #197942, is active on the state registry. The Better Business Bureau has had the company accredited since 2019 at an A+ grade, and lists a construction supervisor licence, CS-057849, alongside it. On Houzz the firm carries NARI's Certified Remodeler, Lead Carpenter and Green Remodeler credentials and NAHB's Certified Lead Remodeler and Aging in Place Specialist — that last one matters if the plan is to stay in the house for the long haul. It rates 5.0 from nine Houzz ratings and 5 stars from two on Google, and its site turned up in an r/CambridgeMA thread in May 2026. For a period house in Cambridge or the inner suburbs — a restoration a historical commission will weigh in on, or a first floor reworked for aging in place — this is the kind of job the company is built around. Before signing, settle the design-phase fee, the schedule, and how change orders get priced.