B.7.0 - 1718 Summit View — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS JUNE 28, 2021 C14H-2009-0020; HR-2021-084049 DR. RALPH AND ANNA CLOUD HOUSE 1718 SUMMIT VIEW B.7 – 1 PROPOSAL PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS Demolish and replace existing rear building; construct detached carport; and limited addition or replacement of windows and doors. 1) Demolish existing guest house addition and construct a new addition. The addition consists of a two-story, side-gabled guest house across the rear of the property, linked to the main house through a flat-roofed hyphen and an entryway that fills in an inset corner at the rear of the house. The guest house and entryway additions are clad in vertical wood siding in a dark finish. A wood deck will extend between the historic house and guest house along its length, terminating on the Hartford Rd. (west) end in raised planters and steps to the yard. 2) Construct a detached carport east of and 2’ behind the front corner of the house, at the end of the existing driveway. The carport will have steel supports and a flat roof that aligns with the beam at the top of the adjacent enclosed porch. 3) Selectively replace and reconfigure window and door openings. On the east elevation, at a previously enclosed porch, paired doors and two windows will be replaced with a single door and window. Also on the east elevation, paired doors will be replaced with a single window, and paired windows replaced with paired doors. Two new windows and a door will be added on the rear wall. On the west elevation, two windows will be added to an existing pair of mulled windows. 4) Install landscape improvements, including in-place replacement of the driveway, walkways, and swimming pool, and installation of a gate in the side fence. The driveway will be brick and will be within the same general footprint as the existing. The front walkway will consist of concrete pavers within a gravel band, leading to a brick walkway with steps, and a walkway from Hartford Rd. to the side entrance will be concrete pavers. A walkway from the back of the carport to the addition will be gravel. Work also entails removal of other site pathways, landscape edging, and fencing that divides the side yard. ARCHITECTURE One-and-a half story rectangular-plan side-gabled stucco-covered frame house in an eclectic Tudor Revival style with a front-gabled entry with an arched doorway and a “catslide” roof. A stuccoed chimney dominates the front façade of the house. There is a gabled dormer at the left and a shed dormer piercing the right side of the front elevation. The house originally had casement windows and single and paired 1:1 and 6:6 Colonial Revival-styled windows. Between 1998 and 2005, the house underwent a major renovation and construction project, including the construction of a new finished basement in the place of the original basement garage, extensive landscaping in the front of the house, construction of a new rear porch and main entry to the house, and enclosure of the porch on the southeast corner of the house. A swimming pool was added in the side yard prior to landmark designation in 2009. Windows were replaced by a prior owner without review. The guest house, designed by Dick Clark Architecture, was constructed in 1983. Located to the rear of the house along Hartford Rd., the building is comprised of multiple flat-roofed volumes of varying heights, clad in stucco with a contrasting band near the top of each wall and chimney. Windows are fixed or casement in rectangular or L-shaped configurations. The guest house is connected to the historic home through a stuccoed hyphen with metal awnings. STANDARDS FOR REVIEW Repair and alterations The City of Austin’s Historic Design Standards (March 2021) are based on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and are used to evaluate projects at historic landmarks. The following standards apply to the proposed project: 5.3 If historic windows must be replaced, match the size and details of the existing window, including configuration, profile, and finish. Take into account elements such as frames, sashes, muntins, sills, heads, moldings, surrounds, hardware, and shutters. B.7 – 2 The project entails reconfiguration of existing window and door openings and addition of new windows on side and rear elevations. These windows and doors are not original to the house, and prior replacements did not adequately match the varied operation, design, and profiles of the historic windows. Because comprehensive window replacement is not proposed and new windows and doors will be placed in non-original locations, staff agrees it is more appropriate in this case to match existing rather than seeking to replicate the original window designs. Additional standards for historic landmarks: 5.13 Do not enlarge, move, or enclose any historic window or door openings unless required by an addition. If an opening is being used to connect to an addition, retain the size and configuration of the opening to the greatest extent possible. Changes to window and door openings are proposed on the east elevation for functional considerations outside of the construction of the addition. The most visible will be at a porch that was enclosed outside of the historic period. Behind that, the next three windows—a pair of windows facing east and a single front-facing window—will remain unaltered. At the end wall of a gable-roofed projection, a single window will replace paired doors. Finally, in a section of wall tucked behind the gabled projection, paired doors with a similar light pattern will replace paired windows. The proposed changes replace non-original windows and doors. The house has been subject to multiple prior remodeling projects, and as such, the historic configuration of windows and doors on this elevation is unclear. Changes at the enclosed porch are not problematic, as this wall is non-historic infill, and the new window and door are in keeping with character of the house. Changes to windows and doors elsewhere on the east elevation maintain the overall rhythm of fenestration and will be less visible from the street. Given multiple extenuating factors, staff finds these changes compatible. 5.14 New door or window openings must be limited, appropriate for the building, and compatible with the architectural character. The most visible new windows will be on the west (Hartford Rd.) elevation, where an existing pair of windows will be expanded to a grouping of four. This addition is compatible with fenestration patterns on the elevation, where first-floor windows are mulled in groups of three or four. The new windows are furthest to the rear of the house. On the back elevation, two new windows and a door will be added. These are of similar size and design as existing windows and doors. Cumulatively, there are multiple window and door changes, but these are concentrated on wall faces that are not prominent or not visible from the street. The design of this house is complex, with stairstepping walls and roofs and a variety of window sizes and groupings. The proposed changes do not affect the primary character-defining features of the house. 10.1 Whenever possible, retain and repair existing historic accessory buildings. The project entails demolition of a 1983 guest house designed by Dick Clark Architecture. Clark was a prominent modernist architect who practiced in Austin beginning in 1979. Over the course of his career, his firm designed over 1,000 projects, including approximately 500 homes. Clark passed away in 2017. The firm he founded, now Dick Clark + Associates, remains active, and his legacy also continues through many architects who worked with him and went on to found prominent firms. While the guest house may be of interest as an early example of Clark’s residential work, it is not of historic age. Residential additions 1.1 Locate additions to the rear and sides of historic buildings to minimize visual impact. The proposed addition replaces a guest house addition in existence at the time the property became a historic landmark. The new addition connects to the main house in a similar location and occupies a similar footprint as the existing addition at the rear of the property. 1.4 For corner properties, set back the addition to align with or behind the front setback of the adjacent building fronting on that street. 2.2 (a) If the addition connects to the historic building’s rear wall, step in the addition’s side walls at least one foot (1’) from the side walls of the historic building. The end wall of the guest house is set back 4” behind the westernmost wall of the historic house. The neighboring property to the north is not historic and sits closer to the street. The hyphen and entryway portion of the addition are further recessed, stepped in from the rear corner of the house. The entryway is 6’-9” and the hyphen is 12’-8” beyond the westernmost wall of the house. 1.5 Minimize the loss of historic fabric by connecting additions to the existing building through the least possible invasive location and means. While the hyphen creates greater visual separation between the historic house and guest house than the existing addition, construction of the entryway portion will result in removal of exterior walls along an inside corner at the back of the house. The areas of wall to be removed are original, though they have not been visible from the street since construction of the B.7 – 3 existing addition, prior to the house becoming a landmark. Additional standard for historic landmarks: 1.6 Additions are not appropriate for all historic landmarks and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The existing addition, which was in place at the time of landmark designation, provides a precedent for construction of a new, sensitively designed addition within the same general footprint. 2.1 Design an addition to complement the scale and massing of the historic building, including height. The addition must appear subordinate to the historic building. The ridgeline of the addition’s roof is 2’-8” lower than the highest ridgeline of the historic house. The addition is 15’-6” behind the back of the house, with a glass hyphen providing visual separation. The flat-roofed entryway aligns with the fascia of the rear roofline of the house. The addition as a whole does not overwhelm the historic house. Recommendations: • Construct a large addition as a separate building and connect it to the historic building with a linking element such as a breezeway or a hyphen. The breezeway, a connecting hallway with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, provides visual separation between the house and addition. 3.1 Design additions to be compatible with and differentiated from the historic building, if they are visible from the street. 3.1 (a) Design proportions and patterns such as window-to-wall area ratios, floor-to-floor heights, fenestration patterns, and bay divisions to increase compatibility. 3.2 No particular architectural style is required for addition design. Designs in both traditional and contemporary styles can successfully achieve compatibility and differentiation with historic buildings. The addition is executed in a contemporary style. Its simplicity is in contrast with the historic house’s eclectic exuberance. The first floor elevation is continuous across the house and addition, and though separated, the second floor elevations and plate heights are roughly level. The window-to-wall ratio and size and rhythm of the windows complement the house. 4.1 If an addition will be visible from a street on the front or side, design its roof form and slope to complement the roof on the historic building. The roof of the addition has an 8:12 slope, as compared with 16:12 and 11:12 on the historic house. The shallower pitch makes two full floors of the addition and its roof lower than the 1 ½-story house with its steeply pitched roof. The flat roof of the hyphen serves to minimize this element. 4.2 Use roof materials that match or have similar color, texture, and other visual qualities as the roof on the historic building. The roof of the addition is composition shingles to match the roofing of the house. The hyphen’s flat roof will not be visible. 5.1 If an addition will be visible from a street on the front or side, use exterior wall materials that are compatible with those on the historic building, as well as with the character of the district, in scale, type, material, size, finish, and texture. 5.2 Differentiate the exterior wall materials of the addition from those of the historic building. This could be accomplished by using different materials, using the same materials with different dimensions, or changing trim type or dimensions. The addition is clad in vertical wood, in contrast with the stucco of the house. Unifying characteristics include the smooth texture of the wood siding and stucco, as well as the dark siding color similar to the current trim color on the house. 6.1 If an addition will be visible from a street on the front or side, use windows that are compatible with those on the existing building in terms of material, fenestration pattern, size, proportion, configuration, and profile. The windows on the addition match the size and proportions of those on the house. On the west end, windows are arranged in a grouping of four, similar to groupings on the house. Windows on the other elevations are arranged singly or in pairs. The windows are fixed or casement, without divided lights, serving to differentiate them from those of the house. 7.1 If new back porches and decks will be visible from the street, design them to be compatible with the historic building in terms of size, style, materials, and proportions. A wood deck at the level of the hyphen spans between the house and addition. Floating steps lead to the yard, and metal planters define the edge of the deck. The deck is simple in its design and compatible with the house and addition. 9.1 Construct a new attached garage or carport at the front only if it matches the predominant garage placement and orientation found on the block’s contributing properties and is appropriate to the building’s form and style. The carport is detached from but adjacent to the house. Carports are minimally present on Summit View, and modifications to landmarks must be evaluated on their own merits. Prior modifications to the house replaced the original basement garage B.7 – 4 with a finished basement. The carport would provide cover in the location residents currently park. 9.2 Set attached garages and carports back from the front wall of the building to minimize their visual prominence. The carport is set back 2’ from the front of the house. A projecting gabled volume on the east elevation constrains the available area. A visually light design serves to diminish the prominence of the carport. 9.3 Design a new attached garage or carport to be compatible with the historic building in terms of size, massing, proportions, style, and materials. The new garage or carport should not be designed to appear as though it was constructed simultaneously with the historic building. The carport uses a similar architectural vocabulary to the rear addition and is compatible with the house. Sites and streetscapes Additional standard for historic landmarks: 1.3 If the property had a grassy, open front lawn when constructed, maintain that context. Do not replace the lawn with paving or gravel. 5.2 Construct new sidewalks and driveways that are compatible with the character of the district in location, size, width, pattern, and material. The project includes replacement of the existing, non-original driveway and sidewalks in the same locations. Though more modern in character, these elements remain compatible with the historic house. The existing pool will be replaced with a new pool of a similar size in the same location, to the side of the house. The project does not convert the front lawn and planting beds to hardscape. The proposed project largely meets the applicable standards, particularly in light of prior modifications to the property made both before and after landmark designation. Intact character-defining features of the landmark will remain, and new construction is compatible in character. COMMITTEE FEEDBACK At the June 14, 2021 Architectural Review Committee meeting, Committee members generally found the project to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. The proposed addition was characterized as more sympathetic to the architecture of the historic house than the existing addition. Discussion of fenestration focused on changes to the front corner at the carport, though the applicant clarified that this area is an enclosed porch. Additional windows on the west side near the rear, though street-facing, were not seen as modifying a character-defining feature of the house. Committee members expressed concern that the solid rear wall of the carport would block the view of the side elevation from the street. The applicant has responded by removing a storage area at the back of the carport. The resulting light structure does not obstruct the view of the house. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the application upon completion of a City of Austin Documentation Package for the guest house, which may be of interest as an early example of Dick Clark’s residential work. LOCATION MAP B.7 – 5 PROPERTY INFORMATION Photos B.7 – 6 Original windows on the south façade included multi-light casement and 1:1 windows on the first floor and 6:6 double-hung sash in the dormers. Google Street View, March 2011. B.7 – 7 South (main) and east elevations, photographs provided by applicant, 2021. Guest house, west elevation, photograph provided by applicant, 2021. B.7 – 8 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1718 Summit View, 1935, sheet 53. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1718 Summit View, 1935-1961, vol. 1, sheet 54. 6/21/2021 Legacy of Dick Clark III, FAIA Austin Architect | Dick Clark + Associates | Austin, TX (https://dcarch.com/) MENU DICK CLARK III, FAIA Dick was born in Dallas, TX, in 1944, the second of two children of Diane Saville Clark and Dick Clark, Jr. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1962. He attended the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture where he received his Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Business Administration in 1969 and went on to receive a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1972. He received the prestigious peer-sponsor and peer-elected title of Fellow from the AIA in 2013. Dick began his career at Oglesby Group Architects in Dallas before working for the University of Tennessee on the Nicaraguan Architecture Students Program in Managua. He ran Sundesigns Architects in Aspen, CO, from 1977-1979 before returning to Austin in 1979 to open his namesake firm Dick Clark Architecture (which was renamed Dick Clark + Associates in 2013), now in its 38th year. As the principal of the firm, Dick conveyed his unique brand of modernist regionalism to the firm’s sta of 25, including three Associates and three Senior Associates, some of whom have worked with him for more than twenty years. Together, they have raised the level of design in the city by creating places that bring people together, support communities and families, and prove good design is good for everyone, and the firm remains a leader in innovative commercial and residential projects informed by what came before. Often referred to in Austin as the Godfather of contemporary architecture, Dick was a driving force in creating the vibrant architecture community in Austin and was regarded not only for his award-winning designs, but also for his dedication to the next generation of architects. Engaging with the future was at the core of Dick’s work and he shared his experience generously with his sta and peers. As a member of the Board of Directors for the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, he remained actively involved with his alma mater and encouraged his sta to do so as well. In 2008 he established the Dick Clark Student Travel Fund, providing gifted Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture candidates funds for international travel. He became a member of the Goldsmith Society, a group of major donors of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, in 2013 providing flexible, annual funding for student and faculty excellence. https://dcarch.com/legacy/ 1/4 6/21/2021 Legacy of Dick Clark III, FAIA Austin Architect | Dick Clark + Associates | Austin, TX https://dcarch.com/legacy/ 2/4 6/21/2021 Legacy of Dick Clark III, FAIA Austin Architect | Dick Clark + Associates | Austin, TX Dick’s passion for urban environments and thoughtful development greatly influenced the firm’s commercial work, most notably its involvement in transforming the city’s Warehouse District. Dick received the 1999 Inaugural Downtown Impact Award from the Downtown Austin Alliance for his contributions to the revitalization of downtown Austin, including the Brazos Lofts, the district’s first residential development; Mezzaluna, the district’s first fine dining restaurant; as well as the firm’s oce, located in the heart of the district at 207 West 4th Street since 1993. “ THE MOST FUN IS WHEN I’VE JUST GOTTEN A BRAND NEW JOB, I PULL OUT THAT TRACING PAPER AND PENCIL…AND I JUST START DRAWING. MOST FUN OF MY LIFE. I AM SO LUCKY EVERY DAY. ARCHITECTURE’S NOT WORK TO ME, IT’S A BLAST. ” — DICK CLARK III, FAIA https://dcarch.com/legacy/ 3/4 6/21/2021 Legacy of Dick Clark III, FAIA Austin Architect | Dick Clark + Associates | Austin, TX Beginning with the 1992 project 612 West Restaurant, Dick became a leader in restaurant design with designs throughout the state including Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio ranging from Kenichi (Austin and Dallas locations) to The Grove, as well as recent projects including current projects such as architect and interior designer for Truluck’s nationwide. Dick’s work similarly helped transform Austin’s South Congress area with projects including 1400 South Congress, a unique live/work destination within the 78704 zip code. A conversion from an existing used car dealership to an eclectic retail center, expanded to include a sophisticated condominium building, local retail, oces, structured parking and restaurants with outdoor dining, adding vitality along South Congress Avenue while preserving a large open public space around the existing Live Oaks. Across the avenue, Dick Clark + Associates designed the South Congress Hotel, the newest addition to the bustling Austin icon of SoCo. Dick’s vast portfolio of custom residential designs, coveted for their seamless integration of indoor and outdoor space, use of materials authentic to the region, and respect for both the magnificent landscape and the harsh natural elements, established a new vernacular for Austin’s Hill Country neighborhoods. His grand-but-intimate homes are the epitome of luxurious Austin living, breaking real estate price barriers time and again. In 2009, the Austin Chapter of the AIA awarded Dick with its highest honor, the AIA Austin Firm Achievement Award. Dick dedicated much of his energy toward design for humanitarian causes, including extensive contributions to The Nobelity Project, an Austin, TX-based non-profit organization working towards basic children’s rights everywhere, for which Dick received the 2015 Ann Richards Founder’s Award. In addition, he gave generously to The Miracle Foundation, an Austin, TX-based non-profit organization dedicated to empowering orphans to reach their full potential. A fixture of Austin’s social scene since the 1970’s, he was often spotted driving his Vespa to the oce or on Hill Country drives in his vintage Bathtub Porsche 356. In addition to architecture, his passions included music (he attended ACL Festival every year with friends), golf, and food. For him, the goal was always the same: create places that bring people together, that support our communities and our families, that prove that good design is good for everyone. 2120 EAST 7TH STREET, SUITE 200 AUSTIN, TX 78702  MAP (HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/MAPS/PLACE/DICK+CLARK+%2B+ASSOCIATES/@30.2620468,-97.7206492,17Z/DATA=!3M1!4B1!4M5 DICK CLARK + ASSOCIATES 97.7184605?HL=EN-US) T:512-472-4980 https://dcarch.com/legacy/ 4/4