B.3 - C14H-2006-0028 / LHD-2020-0018 - 3803 Avenue H — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION JUNE 22, 2020 APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS B.3 - 1 C14H-2006-0028 / LHD-2020-0018 OTTO AND ROSELIA BENGSTON HOUSE 3803 AVENUE H HYDE PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT PROPOSAL Reconstruct front dormer; construct one-story rear addition and second-floor screened porch. ARCHITECTURE One-story, irregular-plan house with a side-gabled jerkinhead roof, teardrop wood cladding, 1-over-1 wood-sash windows with decorative shutters, and a corner porch with brick piers. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS The project includes six parts: 1) Reconstruct front dormer. The dormer will have a hipped roof covered with standing-seam metal, 9-over-6 and 6-over-6 casement wood-sash windows set into an arched opening (using and modifying original wood sashes), and wood cladding on the sides. It will be largely as documented in a historic photograph and original drawings but slightly taller, with the original multi-lite wood-sash dormer windows modified to fit (1’2” for interior headspace). 2) Replace decorative screens on tripartite front windows with 12-part divided screens, as documented in a historic photograph; replicate existing 9-over-1 decorative screens for other windows. 3) Add fixed wood-sash windows in the north and south (side) gable ends. 4) Add a gable roof on the rear (east) roof slope to add usable second-floor space; add a second-floor screened porch. The roof will be covered with shingles to match existing, and the balcony will feature an arched opening and solid wood railings. 5) Remove a rear wood deck and construct a one-story rear addition in its place. The addition will extend the existing hipped roof and features teardrop wood cladding, divided from existing by a vertical trim board, and 1-over-1 wood-sash windows with simplified screens similar, but not identical to, existing. 6) Add three skylights on the side (south) roof slope, behind the side-gabled roof. STANDARDS FOR REVIEW The property is a historic landmark and also contributing to the Hyde Park Historic District. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are used to evaluate projects to historic landmarks. 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 will retain and preserve distinctive materials and characteristic features, spaces, and spatial relationships. It meets this standard. 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.  B.3 - 2 The project will reconstruct a dormer largely as documented in a historic photograph and original drawings. The height of the dormer will be increased by approximately 1’2” to provide interior headspace and the original wood sashes will be expanded. The project will also replicate historic window screens as documented and construct two rear additions. The additions will be differentiated from the historic building and not create a false sense of historical development. The project largely meets this standard. 4) Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right shall be retained and preserved. Staff does not feel that the removal of the original dormer has acquired historic significance; reconstructing it is acceptable. The project meets this standard. 5) Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved. The property’s distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques will be preserved. The project meets this standard. 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. The reconstructed dormer is substantiated by pictorial evidence. The project meets this standard. 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. Four new elements are proposed to be added: windows in the north and south gable ends, a rear second-floor addition, a rear one-story addition, and new skylights.  The windows will be differentiated from the historic construction through a different size, shape, and lite pattern; and are compatible in terms of their scale and materials.  The rear second-floor addition will entail the removal of part of a rear-facing roof slope. It will be differentiated from the historic construction through its cladding, gable end, and width of the central balcony opening; and compatible in terms of its scale and arched opening. The addition will not be visible from the street.  The rear one-story addition will entail the removal of a non-historic rear deck and a small portion of a rear wall, neither of which are significant character- defining features. The addition will be differentiated through simplified window screens and a vertical trim board and compatible in terms of its scale, materials, and proportions.  The skylights will be located on a side-facing roof slope, behind a side-gabled roof, and minimally visible from the street. The project meets this standard. 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.  B.3 - 3 The rear additions could be removed without impairing the essential form and integrity of the historic property. The project meets this standard. The following requirements from the historic district design standards apply to the proposed project: Residential Standards: Preservation and Restoration 3.3.1 Repair or rehabilitate the original windows and screens. The project will retain original windows and replicate historic screens. It meets this standard. 3.5 Recommendation: Consider replacing any original dormers that can be documented when roof work is done. The project will largely reconstruct a historic dormer with photographic and drawing documentation. It meets this standard. Residential Standards: Additions 4.1 Construct additions so as to require the removal or modification of a minimum of historic fabric. Do not construct additions which will require the removal of any portion of the front façade. Design additions to existing residential buildings to reflect the form and style of the existing house. The additions will require the removal of a small portion of a rear wall and a portion of a rear-facing roof slope. They will reflect the form and style of the historic house. The project meets this standard. 4.2 Locate new additions and alterations to the rear or rear side of the building so that they will be less visible from the street. The additions are located at the rear of the building and will be minimally visible from the street (one-story addition) or not visible (second-story addition). The project meets this standard. 4.3.1 Make the pitch and height of the roof of the addition compatible to that of the existing house. Both additions extend existing rooflines, matching pitch and height. The project meets this standard. 4.3.2 Make windows visible from the street on any addition compatible with those on the existing house in terms of sash configuration, proportion, spacing and placement. The windows in the one-story addition will be minimally visible from the street. However, they will be compatible in terms of size and material. They will be differentiated through simplified screens. The project meets this standard. 4.3.3 Use exterior siding materials on the addition which match or are compatible with that of the existing house. The siding on the one-story addition will match existing and be divided from original siding by a vertical trim board. The siding on the second-story addition will match existing. The project meets this standard. 4.4.1 Design additions to have the same floor-to-ceiling height as the existing house. The additions will have the same floor-to-ceiling height as the existing house. The project meets this standard.  4.4.2 Locate second story additions at least 15’ back from the front house wall. The front house wall is the exterior wall closest to the street. Houses on corner lots have only one front wall. B.3 - 4 The second-story addition is set back behind the ridgeline and continues an existing rear roofline. The project meets this standard. 4.4.3 Design additions so that they do not overwhelm the original building. The additions are located at the rear and have compatible scale, massing, and form with the historic building. The project meets this standard. Residential Additions: Recommendations 1) Extend the existing roof line in the rear of the house to accommodate an addition wherever possible. 2) Consider adding one-story additions to one-story houses. 3. Wherever possible, build additions in existing attic space without raising the roof height. Consider the construction of attic dormers opening to the side or rear of the house to open underused attic space. Design side wall heights on second floor additions to be in scale and proportion to the original house. 4. Where attic heights are adequate to support second floor living space, dormers or rear additions that do not exceed the original roof ridge height are preferable, as are side walls that maintain the same proportions. The project follows these recommendations. The project largely meets the applicable standards, as well as advisory recommendations from the Hyde Park Historic District design standards. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS Not reviewed. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the plans.  LOCATION MAP B.3 - 5  PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos B.3 - 6 Primary (west) wall of 3803 Avenue H. Source: Google Street View, February 2019.