I see that Ronanld Reagan’s boyhood home in Illinois is a hsitoric house…how do I get the Federal Government to do the same for my birthplace? Are these “historic” houses occupied? Who owns them…can they be rented out?
Finally, suppose I get (by act of Congrees) my childhood home designated as such-can I turn it into a “ralph124c” museum? (detailing my works and achievements, etc.) as it would for a former president? 
1.) You gotta apply. See the website for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
2) They can be occupied, AFAIK, but one of the purposes of the law is to promote tourism, so it wouldn’t make sense in most cases.
3) Designated sites can and often are privately owned,
4) I would guess that “renting them out” runs contrary to the idea of preserving them.
5) Can you turn it into a museum? Yeah, otherwise what’s the point?
The town of Petersburg, Illinois has at least half a dozen homes that are on the National Register of Historic Places. I don’t know if the NRoHP is the same thing as a National Historic Site. But anyway, all of those NRoHP homes in Petersburg are occupied by families.
The Reagan house in Dixon, Illinois is staffed by tour guides, and owned by a non-profit foundation. They get the meat of their traffic during the 4th of July celebration, when the town has their annual Petunia Festival (they’re the Petunia Capital of the World, as I’m sure everyone here knew!).
Munch (who knows entirely too much about Dixon, IL for never having lived in Illinois)