Historic Zoning Commission
Fourth and Gill H: Level III
8-B-24-HZ
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of Certificate 8-B-24-HZ, subject to the following conditions: 1) brick foundation cladding to be aligned with the exterior wall as much as possible; 2) window trim to incorporate projecting sills, with detail submitted to staff for review; 3) final window specifications and final material specs (including siding and porch materials) to be submitted to staff for review; and allowing for discussion among the Commission, neighborhood, and applicant on the proposed front setback with respect to the tree.
Location Knoxville
730 Deery St. 37917
OwnerChad Taylor
Applicant Request
Other: New primary structureNew primary structure fronting Deery Street. The 2-story house measures 32'-8" wide by 43; deep, and is proposed to be set 14' from the front property line. Parking is located to the rear of the house and accessed from the alley, via a 20' wide concrete driveway. The house features a 6/12 pitch, side-gable roof clad in asphalt shingles. A centered, front-gable massing extends to the front, with a one-story front-gable roof massing on the right half of the façade. A 7' deep front porch is recessed under a shed roofline, supported by three 10" square wood posts.
The house will feature an asphalt shingle roof, an exterior of fiber cement lap siding, and a foundation clad in brick veneer with a brick rowlock. Windows are 3/1, double-hung, "wood clad." The façade features a three-light transom window and a full-light entry door topped by a transom underneath the porch, with two 3/1 double-hung windows on the projecting front-gable massing. Three adjoining 3/1 windows are located on a front-gable, second-story massing, with two three-light windows on the primary massing. Front gable fields are clad in fiber cement shake siding.
The left (northwest) elevation features an exterior brick-clad chimney, two bays of 3/1 double-hung windows on the ground floor, and three bays of windows on the upper story. The right side elevation features one three-light fixed window and two 3/1 windows on the upper story. The rear elevation (northeast) features smaller windows and a paired full-light door.
CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL PER HZC 9/19/24: 1) brick foundation cladding to be aligned with the exterior wall as much as possible; 2) window trim to incorporate projecting sills, with detail submitted to staff for review; 3) final window specifications and final material specs (including siding and porch materials) to be submitted to staff for review.
Staff Comments
N/A
Infill Buildings
There are vacant lots on many of the streets in the Fourth and Gill Historic District. They cause a gap in the streetscape, and should be redeveloped with new buildings that are sympathetic to the historic design of buildings in the neighborhood.
New buildings should be contemporary in spirit. They should not be imitations of buildings of the past; rather they should respond to the present time, the environment, and the use for which they are intended. New buildings constructed in historic areas should, however, be compatible with older structures and sensitive to the patterns already in their environment.
The materials that cover its exterior surface largely determine the appearance of a building. Similar materials develop a certain continuity and character. A building should not be visually incompatible or destroy historic relationships within the neighborhood. At the same time, new construction should not imitate historic style or period of architecture. This is also true for freestanding garages, sheds, and other outbuildings.
Width of Houses and Lots
Fourth and Gill developed along streetcar tracks, which followed a straight line. This formed the pattern of streets in the neighborhood, and set the pattern for lot sizes. As a result, the lots of Fourth and Gill are usually rectangular, with their narrowest side parallel to the street. The houses are also rectangular, or irregular, with narrow sides facing their street. This development pattern should be respected if new structures are built in the neighborhood. The consistent setbacks of the neighborhood create a visual order, help define public and private space, provide a margin of privacy for residents, and permit landscaping in front of a building.
1. Maintain the historic façade lines of streetscapes by locating the front walls of new buildings in the same plane as the facades of adjacent buildings. A new building should continue and reinforce the alignment established by neighbors. Never violate the existing setback pattern by placing new buildings in front of behind the historic façade line.
2. Avoid placing buildings at odd angles to the street.
Scale and Massing
The houses in the Fourth and Gill Historic District have a shape, or bulk, consistent with their time of construction. They appear larger than new buildings, with set back or projecting bays not found on many new buildings. The appearance this lends to the neighborhood is an important design attribute.
1. Relate the size and proportions of new structures to the scale of adjacent buildings.
2. Break up uninteresting boxlike forms into smaller, varied masses like those of most buildings from the historic period. Variety of form and massing are essential to the character of the streetscape.
3. New buildings should be designed with a mix of wall areas with door and window elements in the façade like those found on the neighborhood's historic houses. Also consider the width-to-height ratio of bays in the façade. The placement of openings with respect to the façade's overall composition, symmetry, or balanced asymmetry should be carefully imitated.
4. Relate the vertical, horizontal, or nondirectional façade character of new buildings to the predominant directional alignment of nearby buildings. A new building should continue and reinforce the alignment established by its neighbors. Alignment is basically the arrangement of objects in a straight line. The horizontal alignment of building elements such as porches, roofs, windows, etc., is one of the most effective ways of creating and maintaining a sense of relationship, a sense of connection, and unity among the elements of a street.
5. Relate the roof forms of the new buildings to those found in the area. Duplication of the existing or traditional roof shapes, pitches, and materials on new construction is one way of making new structures more visually compatible.
Height of Foundations and Stories
Historic houses in the Fourth and Gill Historic District are not built on slab foundations. They are built on raised foundations, usually of masonry. The color and texture of these brick, stone or stuccoed foundations adds richness to the neighborhood. The height of each story is enough to allow for interior ceilings that are more than eight feet tall. If infill housing is constructed, it should suggest the overall height, as well as the foundation and story height, of adjacent historical houses.
1. As a general rule, construct new buildings to equal the average height of existing buildings on the street.
2. Raised foundations, or the appearance of raised foundations, must be designed for any new housing constructed in Fourth and Gill. The height of the foundation should replicate those of adjoining buildings.
3. If building new structures, the eave lines should conform to those of adjacent properties. Divisions between stories should either be omitted, or should mimic neighborhood buildings
Materials
1. The materials used for new buildings should be consistent with existing historic building materials along the street.
Features
1. Always design front facades with a strong sense of entry. Strongly emphasized side entries, or entries not defined by a porch or similar transitional element, result in an incompatible flat first-floor façade.
2. Avoid replicating or imitating the styles, motifs, or details of older periods. Such attempts can present a confusing picture of the true character of the historical area.
Roofs
1. The shape and pitch of roofs on new construction should imitate the shape and pitch of roofs on neighboring existing houses or other houses of the same architectural style.
2. The eaves on additions or new buildings should have an overhang that mimics [...] the existing buildings near the property. A minimum eave overhang of at least eight inches should be used on new construction. Fascia boards should be included on the gables.
3. Repair or replace roof details (chimneys, roof cresting, finials, attic vent windows, molding, and other unique roof features). Use some of these details in designing new buildings.
4. Materials used in new construction should duplicate the original roofing materials if possible. Asphalt shingles can be appropriate [...] and the color should be a dark green, charcoal gray, black or dark reddish brown to simulate the original roof colors.
Porches
3. New front porches in Fourth and Gill must be large enough to provide seating, ie. six to eight feet in depth.
4. In new construction, the proportion of the porches to the front facades should be consistent with the historic porches in the neighborhood. Details such as columns, posts, piers, balustrades, and porch flooring must use materials that present a visually and physically appropriate appearance historically.
Entrances
Historic characteristics: The doors originally used on Fourth and Gill houses were wooden, often with beveled glass or stained glass inserts. Screen doors were commonly used.
1. Entry features that should be preserved include sidelights and transoms of plain, patterned, beveled or stained glass, fan light windows, entablatures and the original doors.
3. Service (rear or side) entrances should not be altered to make them appear to be formal entrances by adding paneled doors, fanlights, or sidelights.
4. Secondary entrances should be compatible with the originals in size, scale, or materials but should not give the appearance of a primary entrance.
Wall Coverings
3. New construction should use wood materials rather than aluminum or vinyl siding. New buildings should also use corner and trim boards and appropriate window and door trim. Concrete composition planks may be appropriate for new construction.
Additional Elements that Define Neighborhood Character
1. Large foundation shrubbery should not be planted or maintained near the older houses of Fourth and Gill. Even in the new houses, if there is shrubbery at the foundation it should be small when it is mature and should not obscure the foundation or block the windows of the structure.
2. Shade trees were also common in Fourth and Gill. They may have been planted in an informal design, but they may also have been street trees, planted at regular intervals along the curbs. Over time, many of the trees in the neighborhood have died or been cut down because of age and disease, and have not been replaced.
3. The residents of Fourth and Gill are urged to replant the trees, using native varieties such as oak or maple species and taking care that their mature height will not interfere with the houses or utility lines in the area.