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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFIATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Application Number: 2002-1002 Property Location: 219 West North Shore Drive Property Owner: Ms. Winifred Wyatt Landmark or District Designation: Local Historic District — West North Shore Rating: Significant -11 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT The noted architect Ernest W. Young designed and built this house in 1925, for Walter E. Bryan. It is a period revival house, with elements of both the Spanish Renaissance and Italian Renaissance styles, and is essentially unaltered. The fagade is stucco, in three bays, with casement windows capped by semicircular lights on the first storey. There are decorative iron rails and brackets on the second storey. The roof is flat, built up asphalt, and there is a tile pent roof with a wide eave and broad decorative brackets. A low stucco parapet wall with a tile cap tops the pent roof. The owners of this house are to be congratulated on the fact that all important character defining elements of this exceptionally graceful house remain intact after 77 years. PROPOSAL The owners are seeking (1) to remove loose deteriorated plaster, and replace it in kind, with plaster of the same type and appearance, and (2) to add a pre -finished galvanized steel coping cap over the existing tile parapet cap. RECOMMENDATION Plaster repair, or replacement of missing plaster with the same article, is basic minimum maintenance, requiring no special permission. Staff has recommended to the contractor that they proceed with that repair at their own and the owners' convenience. The installation of the steel cap is a more difficult matter. The proposed steel cap would have essentially the same dimensions as the existing tile cap, but would be continuous, and would not retain the appearance of individual blocks on top of the parapet. The unique roof line is one of the most characteristic and notable elements of this house's design, and the the edging on the parapet adds both to its visual interest and its character. On the other hand, the tile has evidently been repaired a number of times, and any failure of the parapet cap is not good for the underlying plaster stucco. Note that on a neighboring house, built by a different architect in the Mission Revival style, HPC apparently approved the use of a steel parapet cap in a situation where the entire exterior was so badly deteriorated that it was entirely replaced with a new exterior insulation & finish system. As of the writing of this Report, the HPC Architectural Historian, Joann Sporleder, is unavailable for consultation as to the availability of options for retaining the tiled appearance of the parapet cap, while maintaining or improving its performance. Staff therefore recommends that this question be referred to her, and that the tile be retained uncovered only if our architect can offer suggestions as to how that might be made practical for the homeowner. Otherwise, I would recommend approving the Application to cover the parapet cap as requested.