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December 7, 2015 RE: 539 Riverside Drive Earlier today, Mr. Troy Havyzewski came to the HPC office looking for information on a property he had successfully bid on and will be closing on this week. The property in question is 539 Riverside Dr, and is located in the River Bend Local Historic District. He had expressed interest in replacing the original windows, adding some new siding, as well as adding a rear deck under the existing one. I agreed to join him on site immediately to discuss the current conditions of the windows and siding before he pursued replacement or re -surfacing. Upon inspection the windows are not deteriorated beyond repair as suggested by the standards and guidelines. Rather, there needs to be some new glazing applied and some new ropes installed. A number of the upper sashes are painted in place but are not fully closed. There are aluminum track storm windows on the house, but many of the sashes are missing. I suggested and the owner agreed that performing the in-kind repairs and installing new aluminum storms where missing would be a more cost effective way to relieve his concerns and keep in compliance with the goals of the HPC. The siding on the second floor and the dormer reveals are the areas that the owner would like to add insulating house wrap and vinyl siding. He proposes cedar shake style siding over the existing on the third floor and clap -board style siding over the existing on the second floor. The second floor clap -board has a varying 3 % to 4" reveal. When the mastic siding was removed from this house in 2013, the contractor failed to do the necessary repairs to the clap -board as well as the transitional flashing and trim work. They merely painted the poor areas to match including the flashing and failed trimwork As a result, almost all four corners have sustained damage and rot where the mitered boards meet. There are also areas where flashing ran underneath the old mastic siding now remains and actually collects water and allows it to run under the clap -board or even roofing material instead. I entered the third floor attic and noticed daylight through many of the loose and damaged cedar shake. Although the shake itself was in a repairable condition, the transitions are loose, rotted, and would need to be replaced. The owner expressed a desire to replace both levels as the new siding would be able to transition in a way that the elements would flow more fluidly over it. The shakes would have to be removed and reinstalled with new wood transitional trim work that would consist of several "stepping" levels of trim. The rear of the house has a cement steps/landing from a since removed lean-to storage area and a set of cement steps at rear door. The owner proposes to butt up to the existing steps/landing and continue with a wood deck that will sit flush in height and sit in between the support posts of the second level deck and the house. He also suggests matching the upper deck by using the same lumber and railings on the lower deck. The current stairs/landings lack handrails and railings which the owner plans to rectify as part of the new deck. Steve Szaday-Preservation Specialist HPCSBSJC