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May 21

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Historic Curb Appeal: Capturing the Essence of Your Colonial Revival

 

ColemanScott_1927_Exterior_Front_A_1_PThis Colonial Revival showcases many of the style’s iconic features: lapboard siding, side gabled roof, doric columns supporting a small awning/portico over the centered front entrance and traditional louvered wooden shutters flanking the home’s symmetrically-placed double hung windows.

 

Part two of our Historic Curb Appeal series looks at a true classic American home style… the Colonial Revival. This simple, classic style  has many built in advantages for the homeowner interested in adding some space. It also has a few key challenges to keep in mind.

Here are Anne’s 5 Key Considerations for Updating a Colonial Revival:

1. Install Sensible Shutters. Of course the ideal is to have operable louvered wood shutters flanking your windows that are ready to serve their original purpose- creating summer shade and protecting from winter storms.

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In Oregon this ideal can often be impractical, since the persistently damp weather will take a heavy toll on all-wood elements, leading to premature rot and water damage. If operable shutters are not realistic, be sure you have made your shutters an appropriate scale so that they at least look like they could be operable- nothing looks sillier than a giant window with undersized ornamental shutters that are clearly tacked on to the house after the fact.

Material can make a difference as well- if the shutters are not going to operate (and you are not in a historic district), consider resin/wood composite shutters that will withstand Oregon’s wet weather.

 

2. Consider a Conservatory. Although it is certainly possible to add a side or back porch to a Colonial Revival, a classic alternative would be to add an enclosed conservatory or sun room to one side of the house. These glassed-in all weather spaces are supremely practical in Oregon and have the added benefit of being very traditional features of this style of home.

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3. Keep it Simple and Symmetrical. If you need to add windows, dormers or doors to the space, keep a careful eye on the home’s natural symmetry from the street. A Colonial Revival should always looked balanced around the central entry door. Pay careful attention to the way different elements line up along the facade- the simple finishes of a Colonial Revival will really highlight minor differences between sill heights, divided lite styles and trim elements.

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4. Additions should be Easy. Here’s the good news: A Colonial Revival lends itself easily to side and back additions, thanks to its simple rectangular mass and uncomplicated exterior finishes. Think about additions as simple cubes added to the exterior. As long as you are paying attention to the symmetry of the building you should end up with an addition that feels right.

 

5. Pop out a Portico. Some Colonial Revivals have full length porches sporting Grecian columns. But it is equally common to see an entryway whose only covering is a small awning or portico. Adding an awning to your front entry can have both practical and aesthetic benefits, providing shelter from the rain while creating an opportunity to add a touch of Grecian grandeur through columns, a juliette balcony, transoms or a formal looking fanlight. These entry systems may not be expansive, but they should feel special.

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This Arciform client added a small awning to the entry of their Dutch Colonial Revival home to give their guests a drier welcome.

Want to know more about the history of the Colonial Revival?  There’s a great overview of the style here.

Next up in our series: The Classic Bungalow style…

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May 21

Postcards from the Field: Knotts Owen Barn

This week Richard and our preservation associate Catherine Cuthbert took a trip out to Corvallis to survey a historic 1870 barn that we are working with the owners to stabilize and preserve. This barn, called the Knotts Owens Barn, was listed as one of Restore Oregon’s 2013-14 Most Endangered Places.

Here are some pictures from our first look at the place:

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About the Knotts Owen Barn (from the Restore Oregon website)

The Knotts-Owens Barn is one of a handful of hand-hewn barns standing in Benton County today. This rare farmstead complex is regionally significant because it shows the evolution of a family farm from the settlement era through the 20th century.

The storyline of the Knotts-Owens farmstead begins in 1849 when Iowa natives William and Sylvia Knotts received a 640-acre donation land claim three miles north of present-day downtown Corvallis. The farmstead has stayed in the same family and the existing collection of buildings date to the 1870s, providing an excellent example of subsistence farming around the Mid-Willamette Valley. The complex consists of a farmhouse, machine shed, pump house, brooder house, and the barn.

Read more about this endangered place here.

 

We’ll keep you posted about the progress of this important preservation project.

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May 19

Historic Curb Appeal: 5 Steps to Refreshing a Vivid Victorian

In part one of our Historic Curb Appeal series, we’ll be taking a closer look at the exterior details that define the Victorian style and offer a few recommendations from our design team when deciding what to add or change on your Victorian.

 

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This classic “painted lady” Victorian in the  Mississippi neighborhood was restored by Arciform following a house fire. Bold color, intriguing ornamentation on the porch columns and diverse and intricate siding patterns all typify the Victorian “painted lady” style.

1. Think in Verticals. Victorian homes are usually built with a strong vertical orientation, with tall narrow windows, doors and room proportions. When adding elements to a Victorian home, be sure new elements will also have strongly vertical proportions.

 

This might mean adding a transom window over a door to make it appear taller, or clerestory windows over double hung windows to give them the illusion of more height.

 

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Tall narrow french doors with a transom overhead honor the vertical proportions of this Queen Anne Victorian home in Forest Park.

 

2. Ornament with Abandon. When it comes to the ornamentation features of a Victorian exterior (like gingerbread details and fretwork) the temptation may be to use delicately intricate elements that are pre-manufactured and designed for smaller spaces.

 

A Victorian exterior will need gingerbread that is scaled up to fit the proportions of the house. Bold use of color is encouraged, but should be carefully planned to ensure that the repeating patterns and rhythms of the home’s ornamentation are reinforced rather than confused.

 

Robertson_1883_Exterior_A_2_WThis porch addition on a Victorian in the Abernethy neighborhood incorporated bold colors and intricate turned details on the balusters and columns. Even the crawl space covering was ornamented to coordinate with the homes boldly detailed exterior.

Here are a few classicly Victorian ornamentations to consider:

Victorian Shingles

Scalloped shingles

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Gingerbread gable details

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Corbels

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Even the hinges on a Victorian front door can be quite intricate…

3. Adding Out is Easier than Adding Down (or Up). Most Victorian homes have challenging, uneven shallow foundations and require significant excavation and foundation repair to support a dormer addition or add living space in the basement. The shallow roof eaves of many Victorians are often also not suitable for dormer additions.

If you need to add space, your best bet will be to add an addition to the back or side of the house, depending on where you have the most room.

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This small mudroom addition to a 1902 Sellwood Victorian incorporates gingerbread detailing, turned balusters, unusual siding shapes and strongly vertical proportions to stay in keeping with the Victorian architecture on the rest of the home.

4. Be Selective about Salvage. Salvage windows, doors and gingerbread details can be a great way to add authenticity to your Victorian home. Just be sure to measure carefully before you purchase anything- a gorgeous door that doesn’t fit the existing entry opening will be a waste and a frustration. Also pay careful attention to the condition of salvage materials. Areas that have rot will need to be planed or trimmed, and that may impact the final dimensions of the salvage piece you intend to use.

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This beautiful salvage leaded glass window adds Victorian charm to the mudroom entrance of this home. A new frame and casing with intricate Victorian details were built to tie the window to the other architectural elements of the addition.

5. Use Artful Illusion to Incorporate Current Code and Contemporary Convenience. Building codes have changed dramatically since the Victorian era and many of the safety improvements have a noticeable impact on the proportions and look of new elements.

For example, replacing a porch railing may necessitate putting in a taller railing than would have been there originally, marring the proportions of the space. A new railing may need to be designed with a more substantial lower section that draws the eye away from the new taller segments.

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This Victorian suffered a house fire and needed replacement windows in the kitchen. Narrow double hung windows and ornate casings preserved the Victorian look while insulated glass, solar panels and hydronic radiant floor heat added contemporary energy performance and convenience.

Adding insulated glass to a traditional Victorian double hung window can add considerably to its weight- and trigger the need for additional weights in the window pockets. Your designer can help you identify when it will be better to keep an existing window and add historically appropriate storm windows vs. when you will be best served by replacing a rotting window with a new insulated glass window that matches the wood casing details and profiles of the original.

With care, research and thoughtful updates, your Victorian home can be the prettiest painted lady on the block.

Explore more Victorian design details on our Pinterest board here.

Next Up: Capturing the Essence of Your Colonial Revival.

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May 13

Postcard from the Field: Pioneer Mothers Cabin Update

We’re making great progress on our Pioneer Mothers Cabin restoration and reconstruction.

Here’s a peek at how it looks so far…

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We had some additional help from the Pioneer Mothers themselves the other day. Boy what a well dressed construction team that was…

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Would you like to pitch in with the Pioneer Mothers? Find out how to support the restoration project here.

 

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May 12

Case Study: A Historic Review Kitchen

We often get asked what kind of projects will trigger Portland’s Historic Review process and what can be done to help a project navigate smoothly through that process.

Here is Arciform Junior Designer Jeffrey Kelley’s experience working on a current Arciform project that passed Historic Review with flying colors and is now under construction:

  1. Tell me about your recent historic review project. What historic designations does the client’s home have?

The project was a kitchen renovation done on the Frank C. Stettler house, which was designed by Ellis Lawrence in 1914.  This home is designated as a Historic Landmark on the national registry.

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  1. What were the client’s goals for her renovation project?

She wanted to renovate the kitchen to make it more period appropriate while at the same time gaining space for a powder bath since there wasn’t a first floor bathroom.

Here are some BEFORE pictures of the existing kitchen:
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And here are some perspective renderings of the project design:

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YOO 1These perspective renderings show the concept for the new kitchen. Designed by Kristyn Bester.

  1. What aspect of the project required historic review?

Historic review deals with changes to the exterior of a home.  In this case we were removing an exterior access to the basement as well as reconfiguring some windows.

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  1. What design choices were made or modified with historic review in mind?

We had to make sure that the door and window choices we were making fit the style of the home and reflected the existing architecture.  So things like matching the divided light pattern [on the windows], rail and style dimensions [on the doors], millwork details, hardware, header height, etc.

  1. What kind of questions need to be answered for Historic Review?

Here’s an example:

“Historic changes. Most properties change over time. Those changes that have acquired historic significance will be preserved.

There will be no changes to areas that have acquired historic significance after the original construction of the house. The proposed remodel area, which was previously remodeled, has yet to be documented in the historic description of the house and was constructed sometime within the last twenty years. The materials and finishes in the current kitchen do not reflect the period in which the house was built and will, as much as possible, be replaced with more period appropriate choices.

The exterior basement entry at the side and West facing façade of the house is not mentioned in the National Register description of the house and serves as a secondary and rarely used point of access to the basement. The proposed remodel will replace this entrance and absorb the stairwell in favor of a kitchen and nook layout that will improve functionality, increase usable space and feature architectural details that will better reflect the home’s original intent. For example, new double hung windows will be installed at the West façade to replace the exterior basement door and closely match details of the adjacent double hung windows.   This will provide a more consistent architectural rhythm along this wall. The South façade will feature new French doors with a divided light configuration and sticking profiles to match the original West facing door which leads to the original porte-cochère.”

  1. What kind of documentation of those choices did the city require?

We submitted exterior elevations, window and door specs, floor plans, and a thorough explanation as to how and why we were going to match the existing architecture with materials that mimicked but did not match what was there. Historic review wants there to be designation between what was existing and what is new.

Yoo Review Documentation

  1. What concerns did you have about the review process- were there aspects of the project you were worried would face a review challenge?

Our biggest concern was whether or not the review was going to grant us permission to remove the exterior access to the basement.  Even though there is interior access to the basement this seemed like an area in which they could argue that it was part of the original function of the house.

  1. How long did the review process take?

We submitted the review on March 18th and we got the approval on May 1st pending a 14 day appeal period.

  1. What feedback (if any) did you get from the review team about the process? 

The only feedback we got was a question about the door configuration and why we chose to match the door at the porte cochere.  We explained that the home owner wanted to match the existing details of the original door rather than match the French door on the same façade which had been added much later.

  1. Any advice you would offer for a homeowner in a historic district looking to do a similar renovation?

I would say to do as much research on your home before you start designing as possible.  It is important to know as much about the home’s history as possible before considering how to alter it.  It is also important to understand what triggers a historic review and make sure that if you do trigger it the changes are all critical to the project.  If you can avoid changing the exterior of your home then you avoid the review all together.

  1.  10. Where would you recommend homeowners go to start their research?

There are great resources available through Portland’s Development Services website. I’d start there. Portland Maps can also be a great place to find out basic information about your home’s history and what renovations it has already received in its lifetime.

 

And of course the Arciform Design Team is always happy to help!

We look forward to posting completed images from this project later this summer.

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