C.2 - NRD-2019-0073 - 1215 W. 9th St — original pdf

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C.2 - 1 HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION JANUARY 27, 2020 PERMITS IN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICTS NRD-2019-0073 1215 W. 9TH STREET WEST LINE NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT PROPOSAL Rehabilitate a ca. 1910 house, remove an altered porte-cochere and one-story rear addition, and construct a one-story rear addition with a roof deck. ARCHITECTURE 2-story, side-gabled, L-plan house; composite siding with 1:1 and casement vinyl-sash windows; full-width shed-roofed porch; porte-cochere. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS The project has four parts: 1) Rehabilitate the house, including replacement of composite siding with wood siding, replacement of 1:1 vinyl-sash windows with double-hung wood-sash windows, expansion of selected second-story window openings, replacement of the vinyl door with a wood door, and repair of porch materials, with in-kind replacement where needed. The porch roof will be raised by 1’9” to increase the slope of the porch roof; 2) Demolish the porte-cochere; 3) Demolish a rear addition; and 4) Construct a one-story rear addition with a footprint of approximately 700 square feet. The addition will be capped with a roof deck, clad in wood lap siding to match the replacement siding on the front of the house, and have fixed and operable aluminum- frame windows. RESEARCH Rush and Minnie Baldwin lived in the house for nearly two decades, from around 1916 until around 1934. Rush Baldwin was born in 1884 in Missouri. His family moved to Austin in 1896, when his father established the printing company that became A.C. Baldwin & Sons. Rush worked in the family business and served as president and secretary of the Austin Rotary club. He died in 1934 after a car accident, which received widespread publicity. A newspaper article announcing his death lauded him as “one of Austin’s best- known and most-respected business men.” Minnie Baldwin (nee Steiner) was born in 1891 in Austin. She married Rush Baldwin around 1912, and the couple had one daughter. Minnie was active in the First Methodist Church, the Austin Woman’s Club, and the League of Women Voters, among others. She died in 1941 in Austin. Allie Vernon lived in the house from around 1930 until her death in 1969. Ms. Vernon was born in 1878 in Texas. She moved to Austin in 1921 with her husband Thomas, who died in 1928. The couple had three children. The 1930 census lists the Vernon family in the house by themselves; by 1940, they were renting space to three “roomers.” An avid sports fan, Ms. Vernon was presented the “Mrs. Sports Fan of Austin Award” in 1950.  STANDARDS FOR REVIEW C.2 - 2 The house is a contributing property in the West Line National Register Historic District. It does not appear to meet the standards for designation as a historic landmark. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building retains a moderate degree of integrity. 3) Properties must meet two historic designation criteria for landmark designation (City of Austin Land Development Code (Section 25-2-352). The property may be significant according to two criteria. a. Architecture. The building is an example of the Classical Revival style. b. Historical association. Rush and Minnie Baldwin lived in the house for nearly two decades, beginning in 1916. Rush was a prominent businessman and civic leader, and there may be significant historical associations; further research would be required to establish his role in Austin’s growth. Allie Vernon lived in the house for approximately 40 years, from around 1930 until 1969. There do not appear to be significant historical associations with her tenure. c. Archaeology. The property was not evaluated for its potential to yield significant data concerning the human history or prehistory of the region. d. Community value. The property does not appear to possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the community, Austin, or Texas as a whole. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are used to evaluate projects in National Register historic districts. The following standards apply to the proposed project: 2) The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided. The project retains the property’s historic character by preserving features, spaces, and spatial relationships, particularly from the street. The porte-cochere will be removed, but it has been previously altered and sits over the neighboring property line. 3) Each property will 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 elements from other historic properties, will not be undertaken. The roof deck, aluminum-sash windows, and design of the proposed rear addition will make it recognizable as new construction. 5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. The house’s distinctive features will be preserved. Due to deterioration, the composite cladding will be removed, structural elements replaced, and new cladding added. Vinyl replacement windows and doors will be replaced with wood-sash windows and wood doors more in keeping with the house’s historic character. 6) Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials.  C.2 - 3 Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence. Replacement materials such as composite siding, vinyl-sash windows, and vinyl doors will be replaced with materials more in keeping with the house’s historic character. 9) New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work will be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment. The proposed addition will be subordinate to the historic house due to its size and location. It will not destroy historic materials, features, or spatial relationships. It will be differentiated through design and is compatible in its scale, roof form, proportions, materials, and details. 10) New additions and adjacent or related new construction will 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. The addition could be removed without impairing the historic building’s essential form and integrity. The proposed project meets the standards. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION Committee members were supportive of the project. They recommended retaining the massing and design of the front elevation, in addition to original siding if extant and in good condition. The recommendations are reflected in the proposed design. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Comment on and release the plans, authorizing staff to administratively approve the cladding and window material and fenestration patterns of the rear addition.  LOCATION MAP C.2 - 4  PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos C.2 - 5 Primary (north) façade and east elevation of 1215 W. 9th Street. Detail of gable end and second-story windows.  Occupancy History C.2 - 6 City directory research, Austin History Center By Historic Preservation Office staff November 2019 and January 2020 Note: The property was addressed as 1205 W. 9th Street until approximately 1930, when it was addressed as 1207. The current address was used beginning around 1939. 1908-09 Address not listed 1909-10 Starks P. Porter 1910-11 Clifton W. Bones Carrie E. Porter, widow of W. S. Porter No occupation listed Deputy sheriff Carpenter, contractor, builder. The property was used as both Bones’s office and residence. 1912-13 Vacant 1916 Rush Baldwin, owner Treasurer, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. (Bookbinders, Book and Job Printers, 400-02 Congress Avenue) 1918 1920 1922 1924 1927 Rush and Minnie Baldwin, owners Treasurer, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. Rush and Minnie Baldwin, owners Treasurer-manager, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. Rush Baldwin, owner Treasurer-manager, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. Rush and Minnie Baldwin, owners Treasurer, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. Rush and Minnie Baldwin, owners Treasurer, AC Baldwin & Sons, Inc. No occupation listed 1930-31 Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) Note: Rush Baldwin died in 1934, and contemporary newspaper articles list the family as living at 1205 W. 9th Street at that time. 1935 1939 Charles E. and Aline Morris, renters President, Home Comfort Co. Inc. (GE appliances, 314 W. 6th Street) Mrs. Ollie [sic] Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed  C.2 - 7 Mrs. Allie Vernon No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Clarence C. and Velma Goen, renters Office manager, Covert Auto Clarence H. and Lucy Lentsch, renters Accountant, State General Land Office 1940 1941 1942 1944 1947 1949 1952 1955 1959 1962 1968 1973 1977 1981 1985-86 Josue V. and Marcelina A. Quintanilla, owners 1992 Josue V. and Marcelina A. Quintanilla, owners Pharmacist, Corpus Christi Josue V. and Marcelina A. Quintanilla, renters Pharmacist, Corpus Christi Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of T. M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of T. M.) No occupation listed Josue V. Quintanilla, owner Pharmacist, Walgreens Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Mrs. Allie Vernon, owner (widow of Thomas M.) No occupation listed Pharmacist, Walgreens Vacant Background Research C.2 - 8 “Baldwin rites to be Saturday,” The Austin Statesman 11/2/1934.  C.2 - 9 “Rush Baldwin, leader here, is buried,” The Austin Statesman 11/3/1934.  C.2 - 10 Minnie Baldwin obituary, The Austin Statesman 3/28/1941. Allie Vernon obituary, The Austin Statesman 2/5/1969.  Building Permits and Maps C.2 - 11 Building permit issued to J. V. Quintanilla for repairs and remodeling, 11/1/1971 and 1/17/1975. 1922, 1935, and 1961 Sanborn maps (left to right). As seen, the property address has changed.