Approve rear additions and new siding only where rot is present. Deny reconstruction of front porch with turned wooden posts, turned wooden balustrade, fretwork and brackets. Deny replacement of brick foundation with simulated stone foundation.
The project scope includes several objectives:
1. Support the existing house, remove existing crawl space/partial basement and excavate to provide new foundation walls to be covered in simulated stone. A professional house-moving company with historic house experience is to provide structural support for the existing house from the Main floor up.
2. Provide an addition to the rear of the existing home and new basement spaces.
The rear addition will house a garage at the basement level accessed from the alley, a new stair and an elevator. A rear-facing porch will be added at the main-floor level. An existing closed-in side porch will be opened up with new windows. A wood and glass connector piece between the original house and the addition has a low slope membrane roof. The new addition will be within the existing setbacks established by the existing house.
3. Remove and rebuild the existing front porch columns,r ail, and floor.
The existing front porch column, brick piers, balustrade an floor will b demolished and a new wooden porch structure wil be constructed wth turned posts, decorative brackets, fretwork and turned balustrade. The front steps are to be covered in simulated stone and the new porch floor will be wood. A non-original window on the front porch will be removed and replaced with a longer window to match the existing front windows. The existing porch roof/structure and roof balustrade will remain and be repaired in-kind and painted.
4. Remove and replace the existing sding. New wood siding to match the existing will be installed. The existing wood corner boards, fascia and other wooden trim will be replaced as necessary in-kind.
Two-story frame with weatherboards, imbricated shingles in gable, hipped roof with lower cross gables, 1/1 dou ble hung windows. Two-story full front porch with square posts with square panels on brick balustrade on first story. Square balustrade on 2nd story. Brick foundation, irregular plan. Leaded transom and sidelights at entry.
1) 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.
2) The applicant asserts that the existing columns have insufficient structure to support the porch roof.
3) The applicant asserts that the existing siding has deteriorated to the point that it is extremely difficult to repair.
4) The applicant asserts that the rear addition is complimentary in style to the existing house as a carriage house subservient to the historic home.
STAFF FINDINGS
1) The only stone foundations identified in a survey of the 4th and Gill District were of ashlar, which is a rectangular cut-faced stone. No irregular field-stone foundations were identified.
2) There is no evidence that stone was used on the foundation of the subject house. The guidelines state that "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."
3) If the brick foundation is to be replaced, the applicant must provide an engineer's report indicating foundation failure. The applicant has indicated that this report will be provided to the HZC.
4) The Craftsman porch columns and brick balustrade have not been dated, but materials and design indicate that it dates to at least the 1940s, in which case it is old enough to have acquired historic significance in its own right.
5) There are at least four other Queen Ann/Colonial Revival-era houses in the district which exhibit the evolution of the porches from that era to Craftsman-style porches. This is important documentation of local implementation of a nationwide historic trend that occurred from the late 1910s through the 1940s.
6) No documentation exists that the porch of the subject house was decorated with turned posts and balustrades, gingerbread, decorative brackets or fretwork. Therefore, the application of these undocumented stylistic elements from an earlier era would create a false sense of history and cause the house to lose authenticity. The existing porch columns, piers and balustrade are authentically historic.
7) Staff recommends rebuilding the porch piers in brick brick topped with paneled square posts of similar style to the existing, but in a structurally substantial manner. A simple square wood balustrade could be installed between the rebuilt piers since it would not make a major new design statement and the recreated Craftsman columns would adequately convey the original stylistic evolution of the house.
8) The guidlelines state: "Replace only the deteriorated wood. Reconstructing in order to achieve a uniform or "improved" appearance is inappropriate because good historic materials can be lost." A survey of exisiting rot versus wood in good condition has not been presented; therefore, staff recommends approval of replacing only the rotted wood.
9) The proposed flat-roofed connector to the proposed rear addition adequately signals a transition from the old to the new.
10) The proposed rear addition defers to the main structure since it is lower in height and offset by the connecter. The proposed garage doors are appropriate since they adequately simulate those that would have been typical on a carriage house or early garage structure.
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.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.
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
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, such as balconies or solar greenhouses, on
non-character-defining elevations, and limit the size and scale
in relationship to the historic building.
5. Rather than expanding the size of the historic building
by constructing a new addition, try to alter interior spaces
that do not define the character of the building to
accommodate the new space needs.
6. It is best not to add additional stories. If required for the new
use, make sure they are set back from the wall plane and are as
inconspicuous as possible when viewed from the street.
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
2. Identify and preserve masonry features that define the historic
character of the building, including walls, railings, columns
and piers, cornices and door and window pediments.
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. Examples can
include large sections of a wall, a cornice, balustrade,
column or stairway.
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.
New masonry features should be compatible in size, scale,
and texture.
WALLCOVERINGS
1. Do not use destructive paint removal methods such as propane
or butane torch, sandblasting or water blasting. These methods
can damage historic woodwork.
2. Replacement siding should duplicate the original. Trim and
patterned shingles should also duplicate the original.
3. New buildings/additions should also use corner and trim boards and
appropriate door and window trim.
6. Replace only the deteriorated wood. Reconstructing in order to
achieve a uniform or "improved" appearance is inappropriate
because good historic materials can be lost.
7. An entire wooden feature that is too deteriorated to repair or is
completely missing should be replaced in kind. Replacement parts
should be based on historical, pictorial, and physical documentation.
9. Remove damaged or deteriorated paint only to the next
sound layer using the gentlest method possible (e.g.,
hand sanding or hand scraping). Older paint layers help
protect the wood from moisture and sunlight. Paint
removal should be considered only where there is paint
surface deterioration or failure, and as part of an overall
maintenance program which involves repainting or
applying other appropriate protective coatings.
10. When paint must be removed, hand-scraping is the best method
to use. Electric hot-air guns can be used on decorative wood
features and electric heat plates on flat wood surfaces. Use
chemical strippers to supplement other methods such as hand
scraping, hand sanding and electric heating devices. If detachable
wood elements such as shutters, doors and columns are
chemically stripped, do not allow them to soak in a caustic
solution, which raises the grain and roughens the wood. If using
electric heating devices, be sure to keep a fire extinguisher handy,
since fires can easily be started and wood can be scorched.
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