Historic Zoning Commission

Fourth and Gill H-1: Level II

8-B-18-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Modify existing COA for accessory structure - POSTPONED FROM AUGUST 18, 2018 HZC MEETING

Request to install faux-grained fiber cement board siding on newly constructed detached garage rather than smooth-finish fiber cement board.

Site Info

The main house is a two-story frame with weatherboard wall covering. Hip roof with front cross gable, arched one-ove-one attic vent window, partial cornice returns. One-story full front porch with one-half balcony. Round wood columns with Ionic capitals on first story and second stories. Turned wood balustrade on front porch and balcony. Interior offset rear brick chimney. Brick foundation with lattice panels at front porch. Irregular plan. Cut-away-bay on side elevation. (Contributing)

1) The house that is associated with the subject garage is a contributing structure within the Fourth and Gill H-1 Overlay District and National Register District. The subject detached garage is not contributing since its construction was completed in 2018.

2) The Certificate of Appropriateness, dated August 18th, 2017 (included in this information package) and the cover sheet for the signed-off construction documents, state that "smooth fiber cement board" is the proposed material.

3) The specification that "All fiber cement board to have a smooth finish- no faux wood grain" was stated on the elevation sheets of the signed-off construction documents submitted for the building permit.

4) The main house at 1019 Eleanor has a textured siding due to multiple layers of paint; however, the appearance of this turn-of-the-century siding is not the same as that of rough-hewn cedar siding utilized in later years.

5) The guidelines and the Secretary of Interiors Standards state: "the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities, and where possible, materials."

6) The faux-grained fiber cement board siding does not altogether simulate wood texture and visual qualities because the grain is very pronounced and has a shiny appearance.

7) Fiber cement board (FCB) siding was first approved in one of the city's historic districts in 2000 on a NEW garage in the Mechanicsville H-1 Overlay. There is no record of approval of FCB in other districts until 2005. In the Fourth and Gill H-1, a total of 1 addition in 2005 and 1 new house in 2007 were approved by the HZC to utilize FCB without the specification for a smooth finish.

8) Beginning in 2012, approvals of FCB siding in all the City's historic districts were consistently conditioned on utilizing a SMOOTH finish (except for shakes). In Fourth and Gill, a total of 7 uses of FCB on NEW construction have been approved since 2012, with all but one installation approval being conditioned as "smooth finish." (The one exception for the application of faux-grained FCB was approved in 2017 on the rear addition of 1210 Luttrell Street because the 1920s house itself was sheathed in rough-hewn cedar siding.)

9) The current FCB siding on the new garage at 1019 Eleanor has two coats of a satin-type finish paint. A flat paint-coat may somewhat mitigate the texture and shine issues of the faux-grained FCB siding.