C.13.0 - 1413 Kirkwood — original pdf

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HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION APPLICATION FOR PERMITS IN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICTS MARCH 28, 2022 HR 2022-029003 DELWOOD DUPLEX 1413 KIRKWOOD C.13 – 1 PROPOSAL Addition and remodel to circa 1948 duplex. PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS 1) Replace all existing steel casement windows with fiberglass clad wood windows, no divided lite. Current window locations and sizes remain the same. The owner is open to a divided lite pattern if the Commission feels like that would be a more appropriate replacement. 2) Three exterior doors on North and West facades to be replaced with the new fiberglass casement windows. New windows will fit within existing door openings. This modification will move the entrance from the street-facing façade to the East façade. 3) Replace the existing window with a new full-lite, fiberglass door, and sidelights on the East façade. The opening will widen, but it will not be a wholly new penetration in the facade. The new door and sidelights will be 22'-3" back from the front of the house. 4) Replace existing metal porch railing with new railing on similar material and style (steel) on the North and West facades. Metal vertical supports at the primary facade porches will be repaired and restored as needed. ARCHITECTURE 1413 Kirkwood is constructed of concrete masonry units (CMUs) covered with stucco and painted. It was designed as a multiple‐family residence—a two‐bedroom, one‐bath dwelling on each floor. The two‐story building has a simple box form with L shaped plan. This building is only a few within the district with an asymmetrical configuration, with only one incised bay. The right third of the main façade is a full‐height, inset porch with a second‐floor balcony. There is a 3/4‐light casement window at the second-floor level and a replacement window on the first floor. A door is located on the sidewall of the inset porch on both floors. The partial width side porches are incised into the principal volume and situated at the outer corner of the front façade and have modest decorative scrolled metal porch supports and metal railing. Projecting from the left third of this elevation is a small, one‐story entrance porch with a front‐gabled roof. On the second floor, in the center of the façade, is a 4/5‐light casement window flanked by fixed shutters. Looking to the same location on the first floor, there is a replacement window. The duplex has an open, side-gabled, metal roof. The side and rear windows are a mixture of original steel casement windows and replacement vinyl windows. The original casement windows are of various sizes 2/5, 3/5, and 4/5. Each unit has a separate exterior door. Access to the second floor is by an interior staircase located on the front of the ground floor. This duplex is one of the few examples within the district with a unique entrance porch variation. There is a one‐story, enclosed entrance porch at one end of the primary façade. Totaling two ground-floor entrances on the primary façade with one entering directly from the front, leading to the second level unit, and one entering from the patio sidewall accessing the ground floor unit. The roof for the entrance to the second level is front-gabled. Other exterior features include a side staircase and rear deck, which appear to be later modifications or replacements. The Delwood Duplexes are not true representatives of a particular style of architecture; however, they are best-categorized as postwar‐era affordable housing with minimal references to the Classical Revival style, which was one of the most popular styles for residential architecture in the first half of the twentieth century. RESEARCH In 1924 developer Bascom Giles purchased 200 acres in the Austin area, including acreage in the Thomas Hawkins Survey. Giles actively encouraged the development of this area over the next thirty years, and he played an essential role in its transformation from farmland to residential developments served by an interregional highway and a shopping center. In 1928 Giles sold some of his 200 acres to the City of Austin to construct the municipal airport, and in 1938 he was appointed C.13 – 2 commissioner of the General Land Office. In 1941 the city annexed portions of Giles’s property in the Hawkins Survey. Over the next decade, Giles—doing business as Delwood Apartments, Inc.—subdivided and developed this land as residential lots. Giles was implicated in a scandal with the state’s Veterans Land Board, for which he was sent to prison in 1955. The scandal involved the board’s use of veterans’ signatures, without their knowledge or consent, to acquire land under the G.I. Bill (the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944). There is no evidence to suggest illegal transactions in the development of the Delwood Duplex neighborhood; however, the investigation which led to his conviction revealed that these illicit activities occurred during the early 1950s in cities other than Austin. Jeanette and Emmett P. Schieffer, who had platted the Willow Brook Addition in 1946, quickly sold that property to Perry Jones, who began selling lots there in 1948. Late in 1947, investor James D. Connolly, trading as the Delwood Development Company, platted Delwood Section Three. The property was then transferred to Bascom Giles’s Delwood Apart., which was responsible for constructing the duplexes. City directories reveal that only a small number of these duplex buildings were owner‐occupied during the district’s period of significance—just two in 1949 and four more in 1952—indicating that most units were rentals. These directories list many occupants as members of the Air Force, presumably based at Bergstrom Air Force Base. Other residents listed include students, assistants, and clerks, suggesting that the duplex apartments attracted young families on small budgets. As expected, the occupancy history of 1413 Kirkwood was similar to these findings: J.C.B. and Jeanne Oehler, students, H.E. and Ruth Kaiser, a service manager for Firestone Stores and L.S. and Betty McCord, a Superintendent, for example. All occupants found were short-term renters. Like many residential developments at the time, the Delwood III development contained a restrictive covenant that prohibited non‐whites from owning or residing in the neighborhood. In 1948, the same year the duplex buildings were constructed, the U.S. Supreme Court decision Shelley v. Kramer found that restrictions based on race were “unenforceable.” Despite the ruling, tools like deed restrictions continued to be used, ensuring racial segregation had far-reaching implications. The Delwood Duplex district is a rare example of multi‐family, rental housing in Austin when building was focused on single‐family, owner‐occupied residential development. DESIGN STANDARDS 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 in the Delwood Duplex National Register district. The following standards apply to the proposed project: Repair and alterations 1. General standards The project does not meet the general standards due to modifying significant historic features such as the steel casement windows and the entrance on the primary façade. 4. Exterior walls and trim The new glass door and sidelights will be installed where there is currently a window requiring the exterior wall to be cut. While the opening will widen, it will not be a wholly new penetration in the facade. The new door and sidelights will be 22'-3" back from the front of the house. 4.5 Minimize changes to sidewalls that are visible from streets (not including alleys). 5.6 If adding windows or doors is necessary, create new openings on a wall not visible from the front street. 5. Windows, doors, and screens The project replaces steel casement windows with fiberglass clad wood windows with no divided lights. The owner is amenable to a divided lite pattern if the Commission recommends it. Steel windows are very challenging to replicate accurately. A window with some exterior muntin pattern may relate better to the original window design than that which is proposed. While replacing original steel casement windows is not appropriate or desirable, staff understands that the restoration of these steel casement windows will be expensive and acknowledges that many of the windows in this structure have already been replaced. The owner agrees to keep the windows for restoration at a later date. The entrance door in the primary façade is not original. It is being replaced with full-length windows, which will more closely relate to the original void pattern created by the original French entry doors documented by owner research. 5.8 If a historic window or door is missing, replace it with a new unit based on documentation of the historic feature. If no documentation exists, use a new design compatible with the historic opening and the historic character of the building. 5.3.a.If a window has divided lites, replacement windows must have true divided lites or simulated divided lites with dimensional muntins placed on the outside of the glass and corresponding spacers of an appropriate color, C.13 – 3 material, and thickness on the inside of the glass, so that the window appears to have true divided lites 5.14 New door or window openings must be limited, appropriate for the building, and compatible with the architectural character. 6. Porches Replace existing metal porch railing with new railing on similar material and style (steel) on the North and West facades. The vertical metal supports at the primary facade porches will be repaired and restored as needed since these are listed as a significant feature to this contributing resource in the Delwood Duplex National Register District listing. Summary The project does not meet the applicable standards due to replacing the original steel casement windows and modifying the entrance from the primary facade. However, staff acknowledges restoration of steel casement windows is challenging for this scale of project, and many windows have already been replaced. Creating a new side door is not ideal, but it is set back past 15’ and does not appear to draw attention from the primary façade from the street and the replacement windows maintain the historic void pattern in the facade. PROPERTY EVALUATION The property contributes to the Delwood Duplex National Register district. Designation Criteria—Historic Landmark 1) The building is more than 50 years old. 2) The building appears to retain moderate integrity. 3) Properties must meet two criteria for landmark designation (LDC §25-2-352). Staff has evaluated the property and determined that it does not meet two criteria: a. Architecture. The building was an example of multi‐family rental housing in Austin when building trends were focused on single‐family, owner‐occupied residential development. It conveys architectural significance. b. Historical association. The property does not appear to have significant historical associations. 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 possess a unique location, physical characteristic, or significant feature that contributes to the character, image, or cultural identity of the city, the neighborhood, or a particular demographic group. e. Landscape feature. The property is not a significant natural or designed landscape with artistic, aesthetic, cultural, or historical value to the city. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Comment on and release the plans, encouraging divided-light replacement windows to approximate the historic appearance. LOCATION MAP C.13 – 4 PROPERTY INFORMATION C.13 – 5 Application, 2022 Occupancy History City Directory Research, March 2022 1959 1957 1955 1952 John G. and Mary Wood, renters Biologist Game & Fish Commission J. C. B. and Jeanne Oehler, renters Student H. E. and Ruth Kaiser, renters Service manager Firestone Stores No Return L. S. and Betty McCord, renters Superintendent 1949 Address not listed  Permits C.13 – 6 Sewer service permit, 1948 Water service permit, 1959 C.13 – 7 Building permit, 1948 Building permit, 1976