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Steve Szaday Preservation Specialist —HPCSBSJC December 22, 2014 At the request of Elicia Feasel Assistant Director of HPC I visited the local St Joseph County landmark located at 50106 Bittersweet Trail on Tuesday December the 16th of 2014. Elicia had heard from a family member of the former owner that the current owner had taken down the original barn located at the property. I visited the property around 11 am to find that in fact the large barn located at the rear of the barn seen from the road was in fact down and the material was sorted in piles around the property. After taking several photographs I approached the house and rang the doorbell. Tim Sikos the owner came out and introduced himself. We walked around the property and he showed me that the barn in fact lacked a foundation which is why it collapsed. He also showed me around the piles of materials and indicated to me that it is his intent to rebuild the barn after a proper graded and secured foundation is built. To further stress his position that he wants to re -use the timbers, the crew that disassembled the barn by hand was a Mennonite crew that even sorted and stacked it. informed him that the out buildings including the barns were in fact part of the landmark designation and that any changes in those buildings required HPC review and approval. He informed me that he had been in contact with David Duval from the Indiana DHPA who informed him that the house and the summer kitchen were the only parts of the designation. Mr Sikos had purchased the property over a decade ago and had been in contact with the state DHPA to discuss tax credits. Mr Duval has been to the property and has talked to the owner and at that time informed him that only the house and the summer kitchen were part of the landmark designation as the barn that is visible from the street was built in the 1960s and was built onto the original barn making it not suitable for tax credit. The cement corn silo that is in the rear of the property and was adjacent to the barn was a later addition. The silo has a slight lean and the owner feels it unsafe and plans on falling that structure as well. To my knowledge Mr. Duval has never contacted HPCSBSJC in regards to his conversations with Mr. Sikos. After researching the file, the owners had the property re -designated to allow the acreage surrounding the farmhouse to be subdivided out and built upon. In the staff report dated February 9, 1987 the staff recommended the approval of the owners proposal due to the fact that, "The historic house and all outbuildings will be on Lot 20 and will still be included in Lot 20 as will the fence." The recommendation also states: "Because all of the buildings and major trees will continue to be protected by the landmark designation and because the new boundaries do not detract from the historic character of the property, I recommend approval." Signed Karen Kiemnec, Director HPC The file does not contain the result of the HPC meeting but does contain the agenda for the St Joseph County Council dated Tuesday, April 14, 1987. This agenda sheet states item # 19-87: An ordinance to amend Ordinace NO. 117-76, the same being an ordinance designating and establishing an historic landmark (50106 Bittersweet Trail) Approved 8-0. 1 am unable to identify the details of that re -designation as the file is lacking the approved COA as well as the language presented to and approved by the County Council. Further research will have to be completed in order to determine what was actually designated and protected. The surveys in the file mention the main house, the smokehouse/summer kitchen and a "good" barn. The owner showed me a photograph of what the original front porch looked like as informed me that it is his intention to rebuild it accordingly. He also showed me some hardware salvaged from the barn as well as some of the original shutters from the main house. He informed me that he is planning on reusing original materials where he is able to. He was also kind enough to show me the interior of the main house and all the restoration work he has done including the original, windows, floors, and trim work throughout the house. Steve Szaday Preservation Specialist HPCSBSJC