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STAFF REPORT CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: 08/06/04 Application Number: 2004-0804 Property Location: 68286 Miami Road Property Owner: Robert and Wendy Roeder Landmark or District Designation: Local Landmark Rating: Outstanding/ 13 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT The George Seifer family built this neo -Jacobean vernacular farmhouse, probably in the 1880s. George Seifer emigrated from Alsace, France in 1822. In 1855, Siefer moved to Saint Joseph County. Seifer was a well- known and respected farmer and stock dealer in Union Township. He and his wife Mary Conrad Seifer raised eight children. The farm and the house remained with the Seifer family until 1941 when George Cronkite purchased the property. In 1980, Ottomay Long gave the Commission her consent to proceed with local landmark designation for the 1880s vernacular farmhouse, several outbuildings, and property. In 1991, Ottomay Long's estate was put up for auction; HPC notified the auctioneer regarding its legal status as a landmark. In 1997, then -Director David Duvall spoke to the Roeder's, the present owners, informing them of the preservation standards for local landmarks. This farmhouse has many architecturally significant elements including the cruciform plan; wrap-around front porch with turned posts, frieze spindles, and gables; elegant eaves; cornice boards with crown molding; comer boards with capitals; and the many extended window openings with classical entablatures. The older sections of the house have stone foundations; brick was used later to shore up the porch and enclosed porch addition. The shed roof addition has a ruble foundation and the same siding treatments as the original house. Staff concludes that this portion of the building was probably a summer kitchen later attached to the house. APPLICATION ITEMS: Demolish contributing enclosed porch and metal roofed summer kitchen additions Remove many original window openings Construct new addition to east side of the house (38 %2 ` by 39') RECOMMENDATION The main purpose of landmark status is to protect the character defining features of an historic building or site and the investments and time many owners have contributed to the stewardship of the historic property. The Siefer farmhouse has been well maintained for over one hundred years. The house and the property have changed during its history, but those changes have acquired their own significance and have added to the historic character and educational value of the structure. I refer specifically to the summer kitchen addition and the enclosed porch addition, which mark the evolution of this farmhouse. Often, summer kitchens were separate from the main house to keep the cooking smells and the unpleasant heat from the fire out of the house during hot weather. As living patterns changed, summer kitchens were added to the main house. The frugality of early America lent to the reuse of the buildings and the joining together of structures to add space with out the use of new materials.