Architectural Review Board

12 February 2024 To: Kate S. Schwartz ksschwartz@fredericksburgva.gov cc: Planning@fredericksburgva.gov The Historic Fredericksburg Foundation has reviewed the upcoming agenda and related COA documents for the February 12, 2024 meeting of the Architectural Review Board and submits the following comments on select projects. Consent Agenda: 9.A. COA 2401-0021—611 Caroline Street—Sign Installation HFFI requests that this application for placement of a new sign be removed from the consent agenda and be further discussed by ARB members. Staff’s recommendation defers the sign’s attachment from the historic fluted wood column to the historic wood fascia of the front porch. Adding mounting blocks still requires drilling into this historic decorative feature, but more importantly the mounting frame—depicted as being 15-inches tall and 44-inches long—still would not fit in that location. The proposed sign is better suited for a free-standing post in the shallow garden area between the building and public sidewalk, preferably a post of similar material and simplistic design as depicted in the application. Such positioning would increase the sign’s visibility and avoid any damage to the original woodwork at this historic Greek Revival-styled residence. Public Hearing: 10.A.i COA 2401-0020—126 Caroline Street HFFI thanks the property owner and applicant for sensitively crafting this addition to the early-20th century dwelling at 126 Caroline Street. We also appreciate the clarity of the drawings and inclusion of measurements in this COA—detailing the height, depth, width, and overall square footage of this addition. HFFI believes the total square footage of proposed additions and new construction should appear in a project’s primary description sentence under “ISSUE” in staff memos. This project appears to add a relatively small amount of new floor space - an estimated 416 additional square feet. While the proposed design is generally in keeping with the standards and guidelines for the historic district, we would like to make one point related to the original form and materials of this resource. Research on file at HFFI indicates that this was one of three identical houses constructed between 1908 and 1910 for William and Anna Fitzpatrick, who lived next door at what is now 128 Caroline Street with Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 their children (Sullivan 2001). All three houses originally had a small, one-story, one-bay addition at the southwest corner. This clarifies why the two corner boards and weatherboard siding between them at the lower level of the south wall (or left side elevation) were preserved during construction of the existing, circa-1980 rear addition. Google Streetview shows that the other two dwellings still retain those original cornerboards, weatherboard siding, and gabled one-story additions. Thus, these cornerboards are a preserved original feature that visually conveys change over time. Yet a building’s condition also changes over time and some foundation walls need reconstructing. Thus, it is our hope that the property owners might change their plans to remove these original features and choose to preserve, perhaps reinstate them during this work. HFFI believes this would further ensure the project meets all six of the design guidelines and recommendations, particularly 9.L.6. which reads “Additions should be constructed so as not to impair the essential form and integrity of the original building.” Again, we express our gratitude for the sensitive design of this addition. 10.A.ii COA 2401-0022—1316 Caroline Street HFFI supports staff’s recommendation to continue this application and voices our support for discouraging synthetic materials in the district, particularly in highly visible areas like the façade. Persistent problems with water retention along the roofline likely stem from the installation and maintenance of existing gutters. Identifying and correcting the gutter issue will better protect the fascia, sofit, and cornice of this dwelling. Regardless, if the existing fascia has decayed to the point where it needs replacing, HFFI might support the use of Boral for replacing the fascia—the least visible of the components at the roofline that would largely be covered by new or properly reinstalled gutters. The existing wood cornice shows little sign of deterioration and should be preserved in place. And lastly, we request that the information provided for the March meeting take care with terminology – there are many components like cornerboards, fascia, sofit, cornice, and end caps, etc.—so clarity matters. 10.A.ii COA 2401-0023—1314 Sophia Street HFFI appreciates this COA for its sensitively designed, two-story addition to the residence at 1314 Sophia Street though we are not certain of its size. Materials submitted with the application provide few measurements to detail the size of the proposed addition. The plan drawing contains figures for the older section of the building but not the new construction, and contains no scale bar to assist in determining such figures. Thus, HFFI was unable to provide an estimate for the total square footage of the proposed addition, though such dimensions were requested during the November 27, 2023, preliminary discussion of this project. Regardless, the addition’s footprint does not appear to overwhelm the existing resource. HFFI did notice that no data is presented to depict how the existing roofline at the two-story porch will intersect with that of the new addition—challenging one’s ability to assess ow the project follows guideline 9.L.4, stating that “the roofs of new additions should not interrupt or obscure significant characteristics of the existing roof.” Further, the various types of proposed fenestration—5 different sizes and configurations—are not in keeping with Addition guidelines that call for “appropriately detailed and scaled” doors and windows. We Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 would like to like to see alteration to the addition’s fenestration on the north and possibly the west elevation, where there are five different sizes and types of windows and doors in the proposed addition: - a “corner breaking” casement sash, - two sets of paired, two-over-one, double-hung sashes, - two different types of what appear to be hopper or awning sashes that are labeled as “metal clad wood doors” in submitted drawings, and - two types of fully-glazed paired doors, including one juliette-type balconette. At the north elevation, HFFI thinks matching the composition and type of the first-floor windows to those above it (two-over-one, double-hung) would help balance the stark contrast between the symmetry of older section and the current arrangement. The use of two-over-one sashes at the lower level would maintain some regulating lines between the two sections with a contemporary type of double-hung window, and perhaps reduce the owner’s investment in custom-produced new windows. If it’s at all possible, HFFI hopes that some visible portions of the historic 2-story porch can be retained at the exterior to reflect the building’s change over time and continued growth. 10.A.ii COA 2401-0024—823 Caroline Street HFFI supports new contemporary designs in the historic district that are in keeping with established guidelines—the general principles and shared physical limitations within which all property owners are to operate. Yet the proposed new infill at 823 Caroline stretches some of these guidelines past their limit. Drawings submitted with this application do not provide many figures to detail the proposed design in context with its neighboring resources. Furthermore, the North (George St) elevation drawing provides some vertical dimensions that are easily conflated or confused with the existing building at the corner. Some figures are further muddied when compared to those noted on the South (Hanover St) Elevation drawing. A clear pattern at the rear elevation of other historic buildings along the east side of Caroline Street show a gradual reduction of the height and physical massing of these resources. Thus, HFFI concurs with staff’s recommendations for the new building to step down at the rear. HFFI also agrees that the current design is not in keeping with guidelines related to fenestration, particularly at the Caroline Street façade. The use of large rectangular voids and recessed porches at the façade ignores clear fenestration patterns of the upper stories of neighboring buildings—patterns that persisted for more than 200 years before design guidelines and the ARB existed. HFFI applauds Mr. McGhee’s use of creativity to minimize the impacts of the infill’s height along Caroline Street, and hopes that the 2nd and 3rd story’s recessed porches with storefront window systems might be relocated to the east or south elevations. The contemporary elements at varying heights on the facade visually disrupt the existing streetscape and are not in keeping with the guidelines. As such, the façade does more to articulate its divergence from persistent patterns of our historic commercial corridor than respect them. HFFI believes that more subtle, but no less contemporary, design and construction techniques could greatly improve the compatibility of this infill design and is confident in Mr. McGhee’s ability to generate creative solutions for this project. Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. | 1200 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401