8-G-21-HZ

Level III: Fourth And Gill H

Approved With Conditions

Recommendation

The staff recommendation remains consistent with the original review: the Commission should discuss the overall massing, size, and scale of the house as it relates to the surrounding context of the historic district. The applicant should provide a height comparison with the existing two-story houses on this side of Morgan Street. Further initial topics of discussion should focus on the overall amount of transparency on the left side elevation; and any differentiation necessary between 701 Deery Street and 700 Morgan Street.

Pending the approval of overall massing, size, and scale, staff also recommends the additional conditions of approval: 1) confirmation of the proposed front setback's compatibility with the adjacent houses, and revision to the front setback as necessary; 2) final door selection to be wood and submitted to staff for approval; 3) the use of wood lap siding over HardiePlank siding; 4) using dark-colored asphalt roofing shingles and unpainted brick masonry elements to better connect with the historic context.

Applicant Request

Other: New primary structure

- New single-family residence fronting Morgan Street, with a side elevation fronting E. 4th Ave. Overall footprint measures approximately 33' wide by 63' long, including an 8'-2" deep front porch. The house features a two-story hipped roof with a 3/12 pitch, with two-story hipped-roof massings projecting on both side elevations. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles, the exterior is clad in wood lap siding with brick porch supports, and the house will rest on a brick-clad foundation. The house is mostly centered on the lot. A concrete walkway will extend from the front porch to the sidewalk. Parking is accessed off the alley, with a 20' by 20' permeable paver parking pad.
- The façade (southwest) features a hipped roof with a 3/12 pitch, with a two-story hipped-roof porch centered on the façade, supported by brick columns. Exterior elements include wood lap siding and 2'-6" by 5' tall metal casement windows on the first story. The second story features paired 7' tall by 5' wide French doors with transoms, centered over the first story windows. A half-light door is centered on the façade elevation. The front porch roof has been stepped down to be below, and intersect, the main hipped massing.
- The right side (southeast, fronting E. 4th Ave), features a two-story, hipped-roof porch which is centered on the elevation. The porch is three bays wide, with a 3/12 pitch roof, and supported by square brick columns. The first story features three adjoining 2'-6" by 5' tall metal casement windows on the first bay, followed by a 5' by 5' single-light picture window, followed by three pairs of 5' by 8' tall French doors topped by transoms. Paired 2'-6" wide by 5' tall metal casement windows are located on the final bay. A similar pattern repeats on the second story, with all fenestrations centered above those on the first story.
- The left side (northwest) features a two-story, hipped roof massing projecting from the center of the elevation. There are four bays of windows on the second story (2'-6" wide by 5' tall metal, single-light casement windows), and four bays of windows on the first story.
- The rear (northeast) elevation features a two-story, centrally-located flat-roof massing projecting outward, with six adjoining 2'-6" by 5' metal casement windows on first story and six adjoining 2'-6" by 4' metal casement windows on the second story.
- CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL PER 9/16/2021 HZC APPROVAL: 1) final exterior door selection to be wood and submitted to staff for approval; 2) fiber cement lap siding is appropriate in place of initially-proposed wood lap siding; 3) use a dark color for roof shingles, leave brick elements unpainted; 4) ensure front setback is aligned with adjacent houses, shift house to the rear as necessary to accommodate consistent front yard space.

Fourth and Gill H

- Style: N/A
  - Vacant lot.

Applicable Guidelines

Fourth and Gill Design Guidelines, adopted by the Knoxville City Council on April 20, 1999 and June 29, 1999.

- 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