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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: 06/04/2003 Application Number: 2003-0604 Property Location: .509 Edgewater Drive, South Bend, IN Property Owner: Dave Kimble Landmark or District Designation: Rating: Contributing/10 Edgewater Place Local Historic District STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT Built in 1924 by the firm Whitcomb & Keller, for Roy W. Fries, a manager for the furniture store, Sailor Brothers, and his wife, Marie Fries; this residence is apart of the Edgewater neighborhood. The residence sits on a built up lot overlook the St. Joseph River. The home's and the neighborhood's connection to the river, one of South Bend's most important natural, cultural, and economic resources, reflects the 1920s trend in American housing construction and taste for more naturalistic settings for single-family homes outside of and yet still close to the downtown shopping and commercial districts. APPLICATION ITEMS: I Letter with proposed project summaries I Site plan of proposed driveway re -pavement, includes residence and garages I Site plan of proposed brick patio I Sheet with materials specifications and information on "Oxford Tumbled" brick paver patio I Landscape Plan RECOMMENDATION I. Landscaping. To start with, the landscaping, the owner, Dave Kimble, proposes to remove the existing timber flowerbox and replace this 1980s landscape element with a new garden layout. Many of the shrubbery and flowering bushes included in this garden plan have historic value contiguous with the date of the home. Hick's yews (dwarfs) were used in plantings in the 1920s and several varieties of lilacs and rhododendrons entered the landscape within decades prior to the construction of the residence (From "The Historic Plant Compendium," The Traditional Garden, 265, 268, 269). Currently, the flowerbox looks weedy and empty. The addition of flowering plantings, ground covers, and other living materials allowed to mature over time will add to the attractiveness of the home. The flowerbox is not original to the property, nor is it of historic importance to the period of this home's significance, the 1920s. A regrade that does not affect the slope of the yard will improve the drainage of water away from the house and will protect the house's foundations and wall structure. I Staff recommends approval of. 1. The removal of modern timber flower box. .2. The regrade of the flowerbed (as long as it does not adversely affect the raised nature of the front yard). 3. The garden plan (as long as the majority of the area occupied by it will contain living material and not just mulch, rocks, or a similar material).