Historic Zoning Commission

Edgewood-Park City H-1: Level II

3-M-13-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Replacement/repair

Install turned- baluster wood porch balustrade at 36" high on porch ends with 30" drop. (after-the-fact)

Site Info

Two-story frame with asbestos siding. Hip roof with lower cross gables with cornice returns. One-sotry 3/4 front porch with square wood porch columns. Double-hung 1/1 windows. Rectangular plan.

STAFF FINDINGS
1) There is no documentation or physical evidence that a balustrade ever existed on the porch.

2) The building code requires residential standing walking surfaces that are 30 inches above the ground to have railings that are at least 36 inches high. Balusters must be no more than 4 -3/8 inches apart.

3) Academic architecture manuals indicate that square balusters are appropriate for the Free Classic Queen Ann style of house. This simple style of free-classic house evolved just after the turn-of-the century as societal taste began to turn away from the delicately turned porch posts, brackets, and spindled balustrades, which became outmoded in favor of simpler or no balustrades.

4) The simple design of the square balusters are less conjectural than a more elaborate design for a turned baluster, and the existing porch posts on this house are square, not turned.

5) The railing detail should be the same as that approved after-the-fact for 924 Eleanor in December 2012 for the same applicant.

6) The 4th and Gill Design Guidelines (listed below) state that for new construction "details such as . . . balustrades. . . must . . .present a visually and physically appropriate appearance historically." The newly installed turned-spindel balustrade does not replicate a type that is appropriate for the style of the house.

FOURTH and GILL DESIGN GUIDELINES p. 12:
Properly proportioned porches are important to new buildings constructed in Fourth and Gill, helping new construction blend better with the neighborhood.

Porch Guideline Recommendations:
1. Repair porches on historic houses using wood floors, balustrades, posts and columns, or replace duplicating the original size and design. Reconstruction of the documented original porch is also appropriate.

4. In new construction, the proportion of the porches to the front facades should be consistent with the historic porches in the neighborhood. Details such as columns, posts, piers, balustrades and porch flooring must use materials that present a visually and physically appropriate appearance historically.