Historic Zoning Commission

Old North Knoxville H-1: Level II

9-F-18-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Construction of addition

Construct two-story frame addition on rear of house that follows the footprint of original back portion of house that was demolished due to fire, and extends an additional 12 feet rearward as a one-story . The new construction includes a one-story hipped-roof corner porch on the west side. The addition beyond the original rear extension of the house adds a footprint of an additional 21%. Cross-gable roof pitch of rear addition to match that of the original house. The addition will be sheathed in wood siding and roofs will be sheathed in asphalt shingles to match existing. Install wood double-hung 2/2 simulated-divided-light windows with 4-inch casing. Rear door to be wooden half-light with panels below. Rear porch and step balustrade to have 2x2 square balusters. Foundation of the addition to be smooth-finish stucco.

Site Info

Two-story frame with weatherboard wallcovering which is applied in vertical and diagonal panels below windows on front elevation. Cross-gabled roof sheathed in asphalt shingles and scalloped bargeboard. Double-hung 2/2 windows. One-story, one-bay front corner porch with shed roof and sawn wood frieze. Interior central brick chimney. Brick foundation. Rectangular plan. (Contributing)

1) The house is a contributing property in the Old North Knox H-1 Overlay and National Register districts.

2) The back portion of the house partially burned and was approved to be removed in 2004 by the HZC according to MPC files.

3) The proposed re-construction of ther rear will be built on a similar footprint as the original, except it will be two-story instead of one-story as it is shown on the 1917 Sanborn Fire Insurance map for the property. An rear addition that will project an additional 12 feet beyond the original footprint will be one-story covered by a hipped roof.

4) Although the addition is on the rear, it will be highly visible from the side street, Folsom Avenue, since the house is on a corner lot. The corner porch adds architectural interest on that side, and the transition from two-story to one-story breaks down the scale from that viewpoint.

5) A precedent exists for rear additions to be offset at the roofline so that the new roofline is not continuous with the existing. In this case, the proposed additional construction replaces a portion of the house that previously existed and is not representing an addition per se or in the traditional sense. Currently the house appears to be unusually truncated at the rear, and the proposed new construction would restore mass where it previously existed and is now missing. In this case, it is the one-story portion that extends rearward by 12 feet that will appear as an addition. Otherwise, if an addition is proposed to extend from the original mass and the original rear façade of a house, then it is more appropriate for it to follow precedent as one-story.

6) The new construction will be offset from the existing on the Folsom Avenue side (west) by 18 inches, which will help to distinguish it from the existing. The house is not highly visible on the interior side (east) since the spacing between houses is narrow. Therefore, the new construction is proposed to be offset by only 4 inches on that side, leaving the greater offset for the more visible side.

7) The proposed wood siding and asphalt shingle roof materials, window and door style, and rear porch balustrade all meet the design guidelines and are compatible with the existing house.