Historic Zoning Commission

Fourth and Gill H-1: Level II

5-J-13-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Replacement/repair

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED REVISION TO September 20, 2012 PROPOSAL: Remove front porch floor, posts, and balustrade/piers. Reconstruct front porch in classic style with tapered round columns and turned balustrade on first level and on porch roof. Enclose proposed rear addition with 1/1 double-hung wood windows over wood panels on all sides to convey a sleeping porch. The September 20, 2012 proposal indicated a roofed open porch with balustrade.

The existing non-original front porch columns, deck and railings will be removed. The existing columns have no structural support within the woodwork to support the porch roof and the brick is deteriorating. The porch columns and railings will be rebuilt to best represent what might have originally been in place and similar to many houses within the neighborhood using an unfluted, roman Doric columns and a new railing with turned spindle balustrades. Brick will be used below the porch and steps. The front steps are to simulate stone and the new porch floor will be wood. The existing porch roof/structure will remain and be repaired in kind and painted. The existing porch roof railing is deteriorated and will be replaced to match that of the new first-level floor porch.

10-8-2013 MODIFICATIONS
Existing french cement-shingles on roof to be replaced by wooden shingles to match original existing on roof. A hipped roof side porch iwith square balustrade is to be added to south side. Twin double-hung 1/1 windows are to be added to the first and seconde levels of the additions, along with a full-light door on the 2nd level. A one-level low hipped roof addition is also to be added to the south side of the proposed rear addition, with a pair of horizontal panelled wood doors. Two light tubes are to be added to the rear addition south slope of roof.

Site Info

Two story frame with weatherboard wall covering and imbricated shinges in gables. Hip roof with lower cross gables and Roman cement tile roof covering, cresting and rectangular attic vents. One over one double hung windows. Two story full front porch with square wood posts with recessed panels on brick balustrade on first story and sawn wood balustrade with posts with recessed panels on second story. Interior offset rear brick chimney. Brick foundation. Irregular plan. Leaded transom and sidelights at front entry.

1) Staff withholds recommendation on stone steps until specifications/samples are submitted.

2) The applicant asserts that the existing brick and mortar are deteriorating to the point of disintegration in many areas and are not supported by a proper foundation.

3) The applicant asserts that the existing columns have insufficient structure to support the porch roof.

STAFF FINDINGS

1) Since the house foundation has been found to be structurally deficient, the porch posts, brick balustrade/piers will need to be dismantled in order to correct the foundation deficiency. Since it is necessary for this non-original porch to be dismantled, the owners would like to take the opportunity to rebuild a porch that is more stylistically true to the later Queen Anne style as supported by academic manuals and similar-era houses in the neighborhood.

2) There is no documentation that indicates the design of the original front porch. The Craftsman wooden front porch columns and brick piers/ balustrade appear to date to between the 1920s and the 1940s. However, it was stated by Comm. Whetsel at the September 20, 2012 HZC meeting that her husband replaced the wooden porch columns in the 1990s.

3) The brick balustrade/piers represent an early change to the porch and the 1990s column replacement represents a later change. Therefore, the porch appearance has been changed at least twice.

4). The September 20, 2012 HZC meeting minutes state the recommendation of the staff and the neighborhood representative was that "the porch be rebuilt in a simpler and less embellished manner since there is no documentation."

5) The simple, classic round tapered porch columns and turned balustrade represent a typical era of porch evolution for traditional Queen Anne houses that is referred to as the "Queen Anne Free-Classic" era. The simpler design is less conjectural than attempting to select from a wide variety of turned porch posts and bracket embellishments.

6) The installation of 1/1 wood double-hung windows over wood panels below to enclose the proposed rear addition (rather than constructing a covered porch with balustrade as approved in the September 20, 2012 proposal) appropriately conveys a sleeping porch configuration, which is appropriate for the era.

The following SECRETARY OF INTERIORS STANDARDS are particularly applicable to this proposal:
2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.

3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.

4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved.

5. Distinctive features, finishes and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.

6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the historic integrity of the property and its environment.

10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired.

FOURTH AND GILL DESIGN GUIDELINES (all design guidelines apply)

NEW ADDITIONS
1. Locate attached exterior additions at the rear or on an inconspicuous
side of a historic building, limiting the size and scale in relationship
to the historic building. Proportion is very important.

2. Design new additions in a manner that makes clear what is
historic and what is new.

3. Consider the attached exterior addition both in terms of the new
use and the appearance of other buildings in the Historic district.
Design for the new work may be contemporary or may reference
design motifs from the historic buildings. In either case, it should
always be clearly differentiated from the historic building and
be compatible in terms of mass, materials, size, texture, scale,
relationship of solids to voids, and color.

4. Place new additions on non-character-defining elevations, and
limit the size and scale in relationship to the historic building.

7. New work should not appear to be as old as the historic
building. Do not duplicate the exact form, material, style,
and detailing of the historic building in the new addition.

8. New additions should not cause a lessening or loss of
historic character, including the historic building's
design, materials, workmanship, location, or setting.

PORCHES
" . . . individual [porch] details should be repaired and preserved,
or replicated if good documentation of the original porch exists."

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.

MASONRY
3. Replace an entire masonry feature that is too deteriorated
to repair. Use the remaining physical evidence to guide
the new work, and match new to old.

4. If historical, pictorial or physical documentation cannot be
found about a masonry feature, a modem design sympathetic to
the building is more appropriate that a hypothetical historical one.