Historic Zoning Commission

Old North Knoxville H-1: Level II

7-H-14-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Major repair or replacement of materials or architectural elements

Level II: Replace existing metal scrollwork porch supports on front with pairs of turned wood posts with square bases. Add decorativewood sawn brackets to porch posts. Replace metal front porch balustrade with 2x2 square or turned wood balustrade with intermediate rail below top handrail to meet building code height. The paired porch support posts are proposed in order to provide a post to which the step handrails will attach at the top of the porch, while maintaining a porch post tight against the inside of the corner of the porch wall.

Replace siding in front gable of projecting wing with wood shingles of a style to be determined. Cover concrete front porch floor with 5-1/2-inch-wide wood boards on sleepers installed parallel to the front façade. Face edges of porch floor with a finshed board and bullnose trim to conceal the edges of the boards.

Site Info

One-and-one half-story frame with asbestos shingle wall covering. Hip roof with cross gables, asphalt shingle covering. Double-hung one-over-one windows. One-story two-thirds porch with replacement metal columns and balustrade. Stuccoed foundation. Irregular plan. Projecting bay on south elevation. (Contributing)

1) No building permits are on file for the earlier exterior changes to the house by a previous owner.
2) No photo-documentation of the house's earlier appearance has not been submitted, and is not on file with MPC.
3) The current metal porch supports and balustrade, and concrete floor are inappropriate replacements for the house style and era.
4) The typical porch floor for this style and era of house are narrow tongue-and-groove boards installed perpendicular to the façade. In this case, a prior owner replaced thewood porch floor with concrete.
5) There are at least 12 other houses in the adjoining blocks of E. Oklahoma Avenue that have the same form and are of the same era as 409 E. Oklahoma Avenue. Three of them exhibit shingles in the gable. Therefore, it is likely and appropriate that this house originally exhibited shingles in the front gable.
6) The one -and-a half-story Queen Anne houses along E. Oklahoma were simple working-class cottages without elaborate decorative elements. There are two cottages that have canted projecting bays rendering them somewhat more elaborate. The house at 409 E. Oklahoma is one of the simpler ones with a squared projecting wing and not a canted bay. Only one of the 12 similar houses has decorative sawn brackets on the porch posts and they appear to be non-original brackets because they are out of proportion to the porch. Therefore, the proposed decorative sawn brackets and paired porch posts are overly conjectural and convey a false sense of history.
7) Given that both turned and square balustrades and posts are typical on these types of houses, either would be appropriate in this case.