Historic Zoning Commission

Old North Knoxville H-1: Level II

4-E-17-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Major replacement of materials

Replace asphalt shingles on 9/12 hipped roof on main house, porch and porte cochere with galvanized "Classic Rib" metal roof in a bronze color referred to as "Bunished Slate." All ridges will finished with trim, and the roof will be ventilated through soffit vents.

Site Info

Two-story frame with hip roof with lower cross gables and composition shingle roof. Paired and tripled two over one windows. Vinyl siding to emulate weatherboard on first story, vinyl shakes on second. Corner boards. Paired cornice brackets under overhanging eaves. One-story front and side wrap- around porch with extending porte cochere, square 10" to 12" columns, sawn wood balustrade with 2x2 balusters on 4-1/2" centers. Split-face block foundation. Minimum foundation height - 24". Height of first story - 9'-1". Height of second story - 8'-1". Slope of roof 9/12.

1) The subject house is considered to be a noncontributing structure within the Old North Knoxville (ONK) H-1 due to it's construction date of 2005. The style alludes to a Craftsman four-square.
2) Changes to noncontributing houses are reviewed by the Historic Zoning Commission (HZC) to assure that they are compatible with surrounding houses and the street context.
3) Today, the roofs in Old North Knoxville are nearly all asphalt shingles.
4) Historically, there were a variety of original roofing materials, such as standing seam metal or metal shingles, wood or slate shingles, large patterned asphalt or asbestos shingles, or shaped roof tiles of terra cotta or concrete. The historic roof colors would have been darker shades. Historically, standing seam metal roofing was occasionally utilized on 1920s Craftsman houses in some cities.
5) There is no record in the MPC data base of the HZC approving ribbed metal roofing in the ONK or Fourth and Gill historic districts; although standing seam-look roofs have been approved.
6) There are two examples of ribbed metal roofs installed on one-story gable-roofed houses nearby at 1317, 1319, and 1406 N. Fourth Avenue; however, these houses are not within the local H-1 overlay or the National Register of Historic Places.
7) Staff was able to identify seven applications for standing seam metal roofing that have been approved in various historic districts; however, it appears that none have been installed except at 422 Cumberland Avenue. This house is the James Park House which was constructed in 1812 (pictured at the end of this application). The applicant has surveyed roofs within the ONK district and has relayed that several metal ribbed roofs have been identified, but the information on these is not available to staff at this time to include in this staff report.
7) The hipped roof of the subject house displays the roofing material more prominently to the streetfront than do the side-gabled houses; so it will be very visible in the streetscape from all sides of the house, including that installed on the porch and porte cochere roofs. The proposed dark bronze color (as opposed to natural metal finish or brighter colors) will help reduce the prominence.
8) The ribbed metal roof attempts to simulates a standing seam metal roof, while 5-V-groove or corrugated metal roofing is only appropriatea for accessory structures or rear porch roofs.
9) The HZC will need to determine if the ribbed metal roof adequately simulates a standing seam roof which was sometimes historically utilized in the area of the historic districts. The ribbed metal roofing has been approved by the Old Mechanicsville Neighborhood for use in that historic district