Historic Zoning Commission

Fourth and Gill H-1:

11-D-03-HZ

Applicant Request

Install marble slabs as facing on existing front porch steps.

Site Info

Two story frame with weatherboard wall covering. Hip roof with hipped front and side dormers, asphalt shingle roof covering. One over one double hung windows. One story hip roof porch with round wood replacement columns, Ionic capitals. Two brick interior central chimneys, noe front and one rear. Brick foundation. Rectangular plan. Transom and sidelights at front entry and paired one over one double hung windows on front elevation.

The adopted Fourth & Gill Design Guidelines describe and recommend features for entrances on pg. 13. Under "Rehabilitation and New Construction, #2, "any restoration should be based on historical, pictorial and physical documentation and should be compatible with the historic character of the building and with adjacent buildings. It should not create a false historic appearance."

The steps form part of the entrance to the building. Although the applicant reported that the stones used to face the steps were marble and were unearthed in the back yard, a site visit revealed that they are Crab Orchard stone and do not appear to have been buried, or are very well cleaned. They are being laid as a veneer on the risers and treads of the steps. They are very visible from the street. Crab Orchard stone is appropriate for buildings from the 1920's or 1930's forward, and was often used as a veneer, or to form entrance steps or patios, on those buildings. The material was not used in buildings that date from the 19th or the first decade of the 20th century, and is not appropriate to the Neoclassical style of the building at 906 Luttrell.