Historic preservation is an established part of city planning in many communities. This often includes the designation of individual buildings as well as entire neighborhoods (historic districts) as historically significant and thus worthy of preservation. Improvements to designated properties are typically subject to review by historic preservation design review boards who rely on both The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and locally established Design Guidelines for Historic Districts to ensure that the historic character of the neighborhood is maintained.
Design Guidelines convey general policies about the design of alterations to existing structures, additions, new construction and site work by helping to establish a common understanding of preservation design principles and standards acceptable within a particular area. They serve as a useful starting point when planning any renovation or restoration project, but allow for a variety of design responses. Many Design Guidelines provide standards for the preservation and new construction of sheds, garages and other accessory type buildings. Typical recommendations for outbuildings often includes language that looks like this:
OUTBUILDINGS
Many building in the historic districts have existing historic outbuilding at the rear of the property that were designed to match the primary building in their styles, colors, and materials. These building are considered historic in their own right, and should be retained and repaired whenever possible. The construction of new garages and outbuildings is acceptable, but they should be sited at the rear of the property where they will have the least impact on the primary structure.
- New outbuilding should be sited at the rear of the property, away from the primary facades, or near a rear alley.
- The design of new outbuilding should be compatible with the primary structure in its proportions, roof form, and exterior materials. Traditional materials and details should be used if possible.
- They should be smaller in scale than the primary structure.
- Garage doors should compatible in style and materials if possible. Hinged wood panel carriage doors and wood paneled overhead doors with glazed lights are more appropriate than solid metal or metal paneled units.
- The colors of the new outbuilding should be compatible with the colors of the primary structure.
While these guidelines are fairly simple and straightforward, few off-the-shelf sheds and garages meet the Guideline requirements. In some cases, homeowners try to modify the pre-fabricated sheds by replacing siding, windows or doors with more historically appropriate materials; however, these modifications rarely hide the incompatible roof eave and trim details. A better solution is to custom design and build an outbuilding that incorporates scaled-down details from the main historic home. This includes mimicking the roof slope and overhang, overall proportions, window and door style, and trim details from the primary building. When done properly, the outbuilding can then enhance the historic property, adding charm and utility to the yard.
- Ms. Peck is a Historic Preservation Consultant with over 15 years experience working with historic Florida homes. She is President of Preservation Resource, Inc., which offers a line of historically detailed garden sheds and outbuildings for historic homes at http://www.HistoricShed.com.
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