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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: June 11, 2003 Application Number: 2003-0611 Property Location: 1045 Riverside Drive, South Bend, IN Property Owner: Mary Ellen and Charles Wilber Landmark or District Designation: Riverside Drive Local Historic District Rating: C-9, contributing STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT Built in 1907, this was a grand old house before it fell upon its present hard times. It has a superb location, with views of Shetterly Park and the river. Developer Fred Keller built it in 1907 or 1090, and in 1910 sold it to Walter Weld, an employee of Singer Co., for $3,900. From 1910 to 1918, Mr. Weld rented this home to Susan and John F. Pool. John Fremont Pool was born in German Township in 1856, and was chief engineer at the North Pumping Station. The Pools and their son, Clifford, lived in this house from 1910 to 1923, when they sold it to attorney Roland Obenchain, the founder of the prominent law firm that bears his name. The Obenchain family lived here for 37 years. In 1961, they sold it to the First Church of the Nazarene as a parsonage for the Rev. Kenneth Bateman. At that point, it was still a grand and well cared for house. In 1975, the church sold it to. Mr. and Mrs. Wilber, who continue to own it, and have leased it to various families over the years. In 1991, the HPC granted a C of A for the installation of a 4 -foot high gothic picket fence. In December of 1994, South Bend City Code Enforcement legal action required extensive repairs to be performed by January 1995, and the HPC approved those repairs. Occasionally over recent years Code Enforcement has initiated action regarding other maintenance issues not requiring HPC approval. APPLICATION ITEMS: 1. New garage roof 2. New garage service door 3. Reside garage with aluminum or vinyl 4. Replace garage overhead door, in kind 5. Replace existing garage soffit and fascia, reducing existing two -foot overhang to one foot. RECOMMENDATION Originally, this garage was an unusually stylish and elegant Vernacular Greek Revival gem. It has a very low hipped roof, two -foot eave overhangs with a wide, plain cornice, bead board siding, and a large centered side window. While it is much smaller than a modern garage, it was much larger than most garages of its day, and evidently intended to be an ornamental building. There is a bump -out on the end of the garage to accommodate the longer cars fashionable in the 1960s. This is not a contributing feature, and could be expensive to retain. Eliminating it and restoring the original garage profile in that regard would be appropriate.