diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index 2d1777c..bc6a7e6 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -8,5 +8,6 @@
 Bundle-Vendor: %Bundle-Vendor
 Bundle-Copyright: %Bundle-Copyright
 Require-Bundle: org.junit,
- org.junit.jupiter.api
+ org.junit.jupiter.api,
+ org.assertj;bundle-version="3.14.0"
 
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesControllerTest.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesControllerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66f61d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesControllerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2020 Martin Weber.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.CMakeGenerator;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.ICMakeProperties;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.IOsOverrides;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * @author Martin Weber
+ */
+public class CMakePropertiesControllerTest {
+
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal.CMakePropertiesController#load()}.
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testLoad() throws IOException {
+		CMakePropertiesController testee;
+		// test with non-existing file
+		Path file = Path.of(new File("does-not-exist" + UUID.randomUUID().toString()).toURI());
+		testee = new CMakePropertiesController(file, () -> {
+		});
+		assertNotNull(testee.load());
+
+		// test with empty file
+		File f = File.createTempFile("CMakePropertiesControllerTest", null);
+		f.deleteOnExit();
+		file = Path.of(f.toURI());
+		testee = new CMakePropertiesController(file, () -> {
+		});
+		assertNotNull(testee.load());
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Test method for {@link org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal.CMakePropertiesController#save(org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.ICMakeProperties)}.
+	 * @throws IOException
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testSaveLoad() throws IOException {
+		Path file = Path.of(File.createTempFile("CMakePropertiesControllerTest", null).toURI());
+		CMakePropertiesController testee = new CMakePropertiesController(file, () -> {
+		});
+		ICMakeProperties props = testee.load();
+		assertNotNull(props);
+
+		props.setCacheFile("cacheFile");
+		props.setClearCache(true);
+		props.setDebugOutput(true);
+		props.setDebugTryCompile(true);
+		props.setTrace(true);
+		props.setWarnNoDev(true);
+		props.setWarnUnitialized(true);
+		props.setWarnUnused(true);
+		{
+			IOsOverrides overrides = props.getLinuxOverrides();
+			overrides.setGenerator(CMakeGenerator.Ninja);
+			List<String> extraArgs = new ArrayList<>();
+			extraArgs.add("arg1l=1");
+			extraArgs.add("arg2l=2");
+			overrides.setExtraArguments(extraArgs);
+		}
+		{
+			IOsOverrides overrides = props.getWindowsOverrides();
+			overrides.setGenerator(CMakeGenerator.BorlandMakefiles);
+			List<String> extraArgs = new ArrayList<>();
+			extraArgs.add("arg1w=1");
+			extraArgs.add("arg2w=2");
+			overrides.setExtraArguments(extraArgs);
+		}
+
+		List<String> extraArgs = new ArrayList<>();
+		extraArgs.add("arg1");
+		extraArgs.add("arg2");
+		props.setExtraArguments(extraArgs);
+
+		testee.save(props);
+
+		ICMakeProperties in = testee.load();
+		assertThat(in).usingRecursiveComparison().isEqualTo(props);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3062a12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2020 Martin Weber.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
+ *******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal.properties.CMakePropertiesBean;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.CMakeGenerator;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.Yaml;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.CustomClassLoaderConstructor;
+
+/**
+ * @author Martin Weber
+ */
+public class CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest {
+
+	private static final String VALUE_OF_EVOLVED_PROPERTY = "value of evolvedProperty";
+
+	/** Tests whether properties persisted by a previous version of our bundle can be loaded by
+	 * a newer version of our bundle.
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testSaveLoadEvolution_1() throws IOException {
+		CMakePropertiesBean propsAtDefault = new CMakePropertiesBean();
+		propsAtDefault.reset(true);
+
+		CMakePropertiesBean props = new CMakePropertiesBean();
+		props.setCacheFile("cacheFile");
+		props.setClearCache(true);
+		props.setDebugOutput(true);
+		props.setDebugTryCompile(true);
+		props.setTrace(true);
+		props.setWarnNoDev(true);
+		props.setWarnUnitialized(true);
+		props.setWarnUnused(true);
+		props.getLinuxOverrides().setGenerator(CMakeGenerator.Ninja);
+
+		List<String> extraArgs = new ArrayList<>();
+		extraArgs.add("arg1");
+		extraArgs.add("arg2");
+		props.setExtraArguments(extraArgs);
+
+		Yaml yaml = new Yaml(new CustomClassLoaderConstructor(this.getClass().getClassLoader()));
+		String output = yaml.dump(props);
+
+		// try to load as evolved properties..
+		CMakePropertiesBean_1 in = yaml.loadAs(output, CMakePropertiesBean_1.class);
+		assertNotNull(in);
+		assertEquals(CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest.VALUE_OF_EVOLVED_PROPERTY, in.getEvolvedProperty());
+		assertThat(props).usingRecursiveComparison().isEqualTo(in);
+	}
+
+	private static class CMakePropertiesBean_1 extends CMakePropertiesBean {
+		private String evolvedProperty;
+
+		@Override
+		public void reset(boolean resetOsOverrides) {
+			super.reset(resetOsOverrides);
+			evolvedProperty = CMakePropertiesEvolutionTest.VALUE_OF_EVOLVED_PROPERTY;
+		}
+
+		public String getEvolvedProperty() {
+			return evolvedProperty;
+		}
+
+		public void setEvolvedProperty(String evolvedProperty) {
+			this.evolvedProperty = evolvedProperty;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index 7a0592d..078821a 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
  org.eclipse.cdt.core;bundle-version="5.12.0",
  org.eclipse.tools.templates.freemarker;bundle-version="1.0.0";visibility:=reexport,
  com.google.gson,
- org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.is.core
+ org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.is.core,
+ org.yaml.snakeyaml;bundle-version="1.14.0"
 Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-11
 Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
 Export-Package: org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core,
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakeBuildConfiguration.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakeBuildConfiguration.java
index 4046625..7c6a9e6 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakeBuildConfiguration.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakeBuildConfiguration.java
@@ -72,9 +72,8 @@
 
 	private ICMakeToolChainFile toolChainFile;
 
-	private final CMakePropertiesController pc = new CMakePropertiesController(() -> {
-		deleteCMakeCache = true;
-	});
+	// lazily instantiated..
+	private CMakePropertiesController pc;
 
 	private Map<IResource, IScannerInfo> infoPerResource;
 	/** whether one of the CMakeLists.txt files in the project has been
@@ -461,6 +460,20 @@
 		}
 	}
 
+	/** Lazily creates the CMakePropertiesController for the project.
+	 */
+	private CMakePropertiesController getPropertiesController() {
+		if (pc == null) {
+			Path filePath = Path.of(getProject().getFile(".settings/CDT-cmake.yaml").getLocationURI()); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			pc = new CMakePropertiesController(filePath, () -> {
+				deleteCMakeCache = true;
+				// TODO delete cache file here for the case a user restarts the workbench
+				// prior to running a new build
+			});
+		}
+		return pc;
+	}
+
 	// interface IAdaptable
 	@Override
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -468,7 +481,7 @@
 		T adapter0 = super.getAdapter(adapter);
 		if (adapter0 == null) {
 			if (ICMakePropertiesController.class.equals(adapter)) {
-				adapter0 = (T) pc;
+				adapter0 = (T) getPropertiesController();
 			}
 		}
 		return adapter0;
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesController.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesController.java
index ed234f0..9eff028 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesController.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/CMakePropertiesController.java
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@
 
 package org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.internal;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
+import java.io.Writer;
+import java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.function.BinaryOperator;
@@ -20,6 +27,8 @@
 import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.CMakeGenerator;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.ICMakeProperties;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.ICMakePropertiesController;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.Yaml;
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.CustomClassLoaderConstructor;
 
 /**
  * A {@code ICMakePropertiesController} that monitors modifications to the project properties that force
@@ -28,6 +37,7 @@
  */
 class CMakePropertiesController implements ICMakePropertiesController {
 
+	private final Path storageFile;
 	private final Runnable cmakeCacheDirtyMarker;
 
 	private String cacheFile;
@@ -40,37 +50,60 @@
 
 	/** Creates a new CMakePropertiesController object.
 	 *
+	 * @param storageFile
+	 * 		the file where to persist the properties. The file may not exist, but its parent directory is supposed to exist.
 	 * @param cmakeCacheDirtyMarker
 	 * 		the object to notify when modifications to the project properties force
 	 * us to delete file CMakeCache.txt to avoid complaints by cmake
 	 */
-	CMakePropertiesController(Runnable cmakeCacheDirtyMarker) {
+	CMakePropertiesController(Path storageFile, Runnable cmakeCacheDirtyMarker) {
+		this.storageFile = Objects.requireNonNull(storageFile);
 		this.cmakeCacheDirtyMarker = Objects.requireNonNull(cmakeCacheDirtyMarker);
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public ICMakeProperties load() {
-		// TODO implement load()
-		CMakePropertiesBean props = new CMakePropertiesBean();
+	public ICMakeProperties load() throws IOException {
+		CMakePropertiesBean props = null;
+		if (Files.exists(storageFile)) {
+			try (InputStream is = Files.newInputStream(storageFile)) {
+				props = new Yaml(new CustomClassLoaderConstructor(this.getClass().getClassLoader())).loadAs(is,
+						CMakePropertiesBean.class);
+				// props is null here if if no document was available in the file
+			}
+		}
+		if (props == null) {
+			// nothing was persisted, return default properties
+			props = new CMakePropertiesBean();
+		}
 
 		setupModifyDetection(props);
 		return props;
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public void save(ICMakeProperties properties) {
+	public void save(ICMakeProperties properties) throws IOException {
 		// detect whether changes force us to delete file CMakeCache.txt to avoid complaints by cmake
 		if (!Objects.equals(buildType, properties.getBuildType())
 				|| !Objects.equals(cacheFile, properties.getCacheFile())
 				|| !Objects.equals(generatorLinux, properties.getLinuxOverrides().getGenerator())
 				|| !Objects.equals(generatorWindows, properties.getWindowsOverrides().getGenerator())) {
 			cmakeCacheDirtyMarker.run(); // must remove cmake cachefile
-		} else if (extraArgumentsChange(extraArguments, properties.getExtraArguments())
-				|| extraArgumentsChange(extraArgumentsLinux, properties.getLinuxOverrides().getExtraArguments())
-				|| extraArgumentsChange(extraArgumentsWindows, properties.getWindowsOverrides().getExtraArguments())) {
+		} else if (hasExtraArgumentChanged(extraArguments, properties.getExtraArguments())
+				|| hasExtraArgumentChanged(extraArgumentsLinux, properties.getLinuxOverrides().getExtraArguments())
+				|| hasExtraArgumentChanged(extraArgumentsWindows,
+						properties.getWindowsOverrides().getExtraArguments())) {
 			cmakeCacheDirtyMarker.run(); // must remove cmake cachefile
 		}
-		// TODO implement save()
+		if (!Files.exists(storageFile)) {
+			try {
+				Files.createFile(storageFile);
+			} catch (FileAlreadyExistsException ignore) {
+			}
+		}
+		try (Writer wr = new OutputStreamWriter(Files.newOutputStream(storageFile))) {
+			new Yaml().dump(properties, wr);
+		}
+
 		setupModifyDetection(properties);
 	}
 
@@ -86,13 +119,13 @@
 		extraArgumentsWindows = properties.getWindowsOverrides().getExtraArguments();
 	}
 
-	private boolean extraArgumentsChange(List<String> args1, List<String> args2) {
+	private boolean hasExtraArgumentChanged(List<String> expected, List<String> actual) {
 		String wanted = "CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 		// extract the last arguments that contain String wanted..
 		Predicate<? super String> predContains = a -> a.contains(wanted);
 		BinaryOperator<String> keepLast = (first, second) -> second;
-		String a1 = args1.stream().filter(predContains).reduce(keepLast).orElse(null);
-		String a2 = args2.stream().filter(predContains).reduce(keepLast).orElse(null);
+		String a1 = expected.stream().filter(predContains).reduce(keepLast).orElse(null);
+		String a2 = actual.stream().filter(predContains).reduce(keepLast).orElse(null);
 		if (!Objects.equals(a1, a2)) {
 			return true;
 		}
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/properties/CMakePropertiesBean.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/properties/CMakePropertiesBean.java
index 241cc6b..e24b40c 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/properties/CMakePropertiesBean.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/internal/properties/CMakePropertiesBean.java
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Objects;
 
 import org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties.ICMakeProperties;
 
@@ -144,7 +143,7 @@
 
 	@Override
 	public void setCacheFile(String cacheFile) {
-		this.cacheFile = Objects.requireNonNull(cacheFile);
+		this.cacheFile = cacheFile;
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakeProperties.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakeProperties.java
index d81577b..3146982 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakeProperties.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakeProperties.java
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
  * Holds project Properties for cmake.
  *
  * @author Martin Weber
+ *
+ * @noimplement This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.
+ * @noextend This interface is not intended to be extended by clients.
  */
 public interface ICMakeProperties {
 
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakePropertiesController.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakePropertiesController.java
index 8549e96..ba0514a 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakePropertiesController.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/ICMakePropertiesController.java
@@ -11,18 +11,25 @@
 
 package org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core.properties;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 /**
- * Responsible for loading and persting @code ICMakeProperties} objects.
+ * Responsible for loading and persisting {@code ICMakeProperties} objects.
  *
  * @author Martin Weber
  */
 public interface ICMakePropertiesController {
 
 	/** Creates a new {@code ICMakeProperties} object, initialized from the persistence store.
+	 * If the persistence store does not exist, an object initialized to the default values is returned.
+	 *
+	 * @throws IOException if the persistence store exists but could not be read
 	 */
-	ICMakeProperties load();
+	ICMakeProperties load() throws IOException;
 
 	/** Saves the specified {@code ICMakeProperties} object to the persistence store.
+	 *
+	 * @throws IOException if the persistence store could not be written to
 	 */
-	void save(ICMakeProperties properties);
+	void save(ICMakeProperties properties) throws IOException;
 }
diff --git a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/IGeneralProperties.java b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/IGeneralProperties.java
index baa34b0..11ceaac 100644
--- a/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/IGeneralProperties.java
+++ b/cmake/org.eclipse.cdt.cmake.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/cmake/core/properties/IGeneralProperties.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
  *
  * @author Martin Weber
  *
+ * @noimplement This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.
+ * @noextend This interface is not intended to be extended by clients.
  */
 public interface IGeneralProperties {
 
diff --git a/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.repo/category.xml b/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.repo/category.xml
index f6e6d7d..b6c8575 100644
--- a/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.repo/category.xml
+++ b/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.repo/category.xml
@@ -208,6 +208,7 @@
    <bundle id="javax.xml.stream" version="0.0.0"/>
    <bundle id="com.google.gson" version="0.0.0"/>
    <bundle id="org.freemarker" version="0.0.0"/>
+   <bundle id="org.yaml.snakeyaml" version="0.0.0"/>
    <bundle id="org.eclipse.tools.templates.core" version="0.0.0"/>
    <bundle id="org.eclipse.tools.templates.core.source" version="0.0.0"/>
    <bundle id="org.eclipse.tools.templates.freemarker" version="0.0.0"/>
diff --git a/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.target/cdt.target b/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.target/cdt.target
index 1eebce4..b3d5f27 100644
--- a/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.target/cdt.target
+++ b/releng/org.eclipse.cdt.target/cdt.target
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
 <unit id="org.junit.jupiter.api" version="0.0.0"/>
 <unit id="org.mockito" version="0.0.0"/>
 <unit id="org.slf4j.impl.log4j12" version="0.0.0"/>
+<unit id="org.yaml.snakeyaml" version="0.0.0"/>
 <repository location="https://download.eclipse.org/tools/orbit/downloads/2020-12/"/>
 </location>
 <location includeAllPlatforms="false" includeConfigurePhase="false" includeMode="planner" includeSource="true" type="InstallableUnit">
@@ -88,4 +89,4 @@
 -ea</vmArgs>
 <programArgs>-consolelog</programArgs>
 </launcherArgs>
-</target>
+</target>
\ No newline at end of file