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STAFF REPORT • CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS Date: October 8, 2018 Application Number: 2018-1001C Property Location: 50106 Bittersweet Trail Architectural Style/Date/Architect or Builder: L-Plan/Italianate/1877/William C. Kownover Farm Property Owner: David A. Visser Landmark or District Designation: Local Landmark, Ordinance No. 117-76, amended 11-1987, Indiana State Register of Historic Places Rating: Outstanding DESCRIPTION OF STRUCTURE/ SITE: The Kownover farmhouse is a 2 % story brick house with asphalt shingle roof and stone foundation. 2/2 wood windows with segmental arches, with keystones, brick heads, and stone sills, and two bay windows on the front. A portico with flat roof supported by square wood columns covers the front entrance. The property has a summer kitchen of brick to match the house, a silo, as well as corn crib and one and a half story barn structure. ALTERATIONS: Original bay windows roofs have been replaced with higher pitch and wood shakes. Aluminum storm windows have been added. There is a small addition to the rear of the house. Between May 2012 and December 2014, the front portico was removed without a COA. The barn was taken down in 2014 without a COA. Green space at site of former barn has been developed with a stone wall built of original barn foundation stones. COA 2017-0403A approved installation of egress window on north side of house and landscaping to screen window and adjacent A/C unit, creation of dumpster pad along south side of drive adjacent to road, to be enclosed with fence, gates, and evergreens, and extension of gravel driveway. COA 2017-0501 approved installation of 6'H dog-ear wood stockade panels along north property line. Appropriate shade tolerant plants and/or junipers to be installed as necessary. COA 2017-1204A was tabled indefinitely by the Historic Preservation Commission — the absence of a decision on the application resulted in the issuance of an approved COA on January 18, 2018. COA 2018-0306A allowed for the installation of a 40' windmill. APPLICATION ITEMS: "(See Attached)." DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT: Applicant seeks approval for the following: 1. De -construction of existing corn crib building, a. Salvage material from structure, b. Shore-up/secure remaining structure. The corn crib structure is currently used as storage. The roof is compromised and is currently covered with a tarp. The internal frame of the corn crib is severely damaged by termite infestation and rot while the existing roof framing and joists are bolstered by temporary beams. The adjoining/conjoining barn structure was added sometime prior to 1998 and served to join the original two-story barn to the corn crib structure. The two-story barn was removed in 2014. The remaining structures, when conjoined, create an irregular `M' -shaped roof line, with a pronounced valley between the two. Being taller, the roof line of the later barn structure plunges into the corn crib roof. A gable between the two was an attempt at directing the flow of the water down the valleys, but time and sag have limited the effectiveness of this attempted improvement. This gable and the roof appear to be resting atop the roof of the corn crib, continuing to add additional weight and stress upon its already weakened frame. Applicant plans to return before the Commission in the spring with plans to rebuild the `corn crib' structure in a new location, separate from the pre -1998 barn structure. The to -be -built corn crib will replicate the current corn • crib on a new foundation. Material from the barn torn down in 2014 and the corn crib will be utilized in this reconstruction. PRESERVATION SPECIALIST REPORT: October 9, 2018