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Though staff and the Commission have found additions to be appropriate to certain historic landmarks, <br />staff finds this proposal inappropriate to the historic character of this farmhouse. <br />It should be remembered that the Landmark Guidelines state "the Commission [HPC] has the authority to <br />determine the architectural merits ... of any proposed treatment, renovation, or addition to a historic <br />landmark (Page 3)." Upon consulting the local landmark preservation standards, staff has found the <br />addition is inappropriate for the following reasons: <br />A.) According to the local landmark standards, "a modification which involves the removal of a <br />part of the landmark should be considered under demolition (page 3 section C.);" and <br />"Historic landmarks shall not be demolished (page 4 section D)." The proposed addition plan <br />calls for the demolition of the summer kitchen addition and the enclosed porch addition. <br />These additions are contributing elements to the house and singular examples of a particular <br />period in the home's evolution. [Refer to staff comments above.] <br />B.) Also, the proposed addition design does not employ i.) the proportions of the existing building, <br />ii.) the ratio of wall space to window opening, and iii.) the dimensions of the window opening <br />used for the original building or either of the contributing additions. Instead, the proposal <br />seeks dual double hung windows, square single light windows where elongated double hung <br />windows currently allow much light to enter the house, and casement windows. The addition <br />would have much more wall space without windows compared to the existing and original <br />design of the house (See page 3 section Q. <br />C.) The addition design does not reference the existing structure's proportions, wall to window <br />opening ratio, and historic character defining features (page 3 section C; page 4 section 2) <br />D.) If a future owner were to remove the addition, restoration of the existing configuration, and <br />exterior walls and window openings would be impossible. <br />On a more practical note, though the present configuration of the rear portion of the house does present <br />awkward rooflines and massings, it does provide as much ventilation and sunlight as possible to the <br />rooms of the house. <br />For the reasons above, staff recommends denial of this application: the demolition of the summer <br />kitchen and enclosed porch addition, the removal of contributing window openings, and the <br />construction of the proposed addition. <br />D.QSm`T �� G�,I �R vim° •�-v liS �.1� "Y C���Ii�G�� <br />orkvSN% /V.wto,40.-Q 4 0-' <br />� o'� e��.�: cam, G,,.�c�C� � o� ,v�,�>✓�.st., ��- <br />