Staff recommends approval of Concept 3 with square wooden columns on piers and a square wooden balustrade based on the findings of fact and the design guidelines. The owner/applicant will be responsible for providing a property survey to Building Inspections to determine if any of the work is potentially within the City's right-of-way.
LEVEL I
Re-point brick foundation as needed according to Preservation Brief #2 provided. Replace porch flooring in-kind as needed.Remove two non-original, late 2/1 double-hung window sashes on east-side 1st and 2nd levels and one on the rear 1st level that were improperly retroffited to fit into the openings. Replace with wood 1/1 double-hung windows previously approved by the HZC to match those on the remainder of house. Remove stationary single-light window on rear east side from non-original, late opening and replace with operable 1/1 double-hung sash to fit current opening.
LEVEL II
Lower foundation wall of porch to floor level and add wood columns, square or turned balusters and molded handrail to front porch as indicated in submitted drawings. Replace deteriorated wood double-hung windows in-kind on side and rear of house utilizing specification for front window replacements previously approved by HZC.
Altered one-story two-thirds front porch with shed roof, battered columns on brick piers, brick balustrade and brick foundation- Craftsman influenced. (contributing).
1) The Queen Anne cottage was built in approximately 1895 and the existing porch was added c. 1920.
2) Although the existing Craftsman battered porch columns and masonry balustrade cannot be dated precisely, the materials and design indicate that they date to the 1920s, in which case they early enough to have acquired some degree of historic significance in their own right. However, the tall, solid brick wall supporting the porch is an ill-conceived design.
3). There are at least four other Queen Ann-era houses in the district which exhibit the evolution of the porches from the Victorian to Craftsman style. This stylistic transition shown porches is indication of local implementation of a nationwide historic trend that occurred from the late 1910s through the 1940s.
4) Some photo-documentation exists to indicate that the stairs leading up to the original porch, had a turned or square-picket balustrade.
5) The brick pier porch column supports shown in Context 3 would continue to convey the stylistic evolution of the porch from the Victorian to a more Neoclassical/Craftsman style. The simple square 2x2 balusters would be less conjectural than turned balusters and would be compatible with the square brick piers.
6) The proposed removal of the solid masonry balustrade will break up a tall expanse of stucco foundation, which currently causes the house to stand out as an anomaly among streetscapes where the porches are more at street-level and pedestrian-scaled.
7) According to a 1917 Sanborn map (attached), the porch originally more shallow, with the front edge lining up with the front of the projecting bay to the west.
8) The windows proposed to be replaced exhibit the same degree of deterioration as the windows previously approved in October 2013 for replacement.
Home | contact@knoxplanning.org | (865) 215-2500
Knoxville-Knox County Planning
City-County Building | Suite 403 | 400 Main Street | Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
