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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: 07-09-03 Application Number: 2003-0709 Property Location: 557 Edgewater Drive Property Owner: Fontine Assimos Landmark or District Designation: Local Landmark/ Edgewater Place Local Historic District Rating: Significant/ 11 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT This house was built in 1919 by Whitcomb & Keller for Leslie Whitcomb, a partner of this prominent South Bend development firm beginning in 1892. Whitcomb also served as the Justice of the Peace for South Bend; he was elected to this position in 1894. He also was the General Secretary of the YMCA for five years. The Whitcomb's owned the house until 1943 when Aletha Whitcomb sold it to Rose Szczdrowski Zarembka (b. 1884 in La Porte). Rose married Casimir Zarembka in 1906. He immigrated to the US from Poland and worked for the New York Central Railroad Pumping Station in Lydick, Indiana. Mrs. Zarembka lived in the house until 1950 when the Peters' bought the house. Roger, a professor at Notre Dame, and his wife Mary lived in the residence for several years until 1972. The house has seen several other owners during its lifespan. Tina Assimos purchased the property in 1996 and originated the landmark status of this home in 2000. Architecturally, the home is a mix between the comfortable roominess of an American Four Square and the horizontality and naturalness of the Prairie Style. The home features a complex hipped roof system with deep overhangs, a broad front porch with hipped roof and large stucco piers (screened in), and hipped roof "porte chaire" that extends from the home and protects anyone entering it from the side porch. Stucco covers a wood frame construction, and large 1/1 double hung windows with divided upper lights have been place symmetrically across the facade. APPLICATION ITEMS: I Certificate of Appropriateness application RECOMMENDATION Tina Assimos requests permission to plant a flowering dogwood on the property's front lawn toward the east side of the home. The planting of this tree will not affect any tree lawn plantings nor will it block her neighbors' views of the river. The tree will be a lovely enhancement to the owner's front yard. Staff recommends approval for the planting of a flowering dogwood at 557 Edgewater Drive.