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HEMA No. 2024-03 – The St. Thomas-Hamilton House (1002 N. French Street) <br />July 15, 2024 <br />Page 5 <br />4 <br />3 <br />8 <br />8 <br />Rehabilitating, Restoring, & Reconstructing Historic Buildings (Kay D. Weeks and Anne <br />E. Grimmer, revised 2017). The proposed exterior modifications, as conditioned, would <br />be considered a rehabilitation project and as such be evaluated against ten criteria. Staff <br />has reviewed the proposed modifications in comparison to the SOIS. The following is a <br />review of the findings as they pertain to the applicable criteria: <br />1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires <br />minimal changes to its distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial <br />relationships. <br />As conditioned, the project complies with Standard No. 1. The property currently <br />maintains its historic use as a multi-family residence. The use is not proposed to <br />change. Although the applicant proposed exterior modifications to remove an <br />existing porch enclosure, the porch enclosure is known to be a later modification <br />and was not completed using the same level of craftsmanship as the home. The <br />enclosure does not represent a particular style and does not appear to have taken <br />on any significance in its own right over time. The SOIS support the contemporary <br />use of the property while preserving the functional and decorative features of the <br />historic porch. Repairs will be made to features, which remain serviceable, while <br />those too deteriorated will be replaced with in-kind replacements based upon <br />sound evidence discovered onsite. <br />2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal <br />of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a <br />property shall be avoided. <br />As conditioned, the project complies with Standard No. 2. The historic character of <br />the subject property will be retained and preserved. The proposed exterior <br />alterations, as conditioned, shall remove as little historic material at the primary <br />facades. The majority of the alterations are located on south and east elevation, <br />and involve the removal on a non-original porch enclosure. The porch enclosure <br />is known to be a later modification and was not completed using the same level of <br />craftsmanship as the original home. The enclosure does not represent a particular <br />style and does not appear to have taken on any significance in its own right over <br />time. Moreover, character-defining features (e.g., existing porch posts, brackets, <br />balustrade, frieze, spandrels, and skirting) will all be retained and restored to <br />period-correct style, as part of the overall porch rehabilitation. <br />The overall work also includes the replacement of existing (non-historic) wooden <br />railings. While the existing porch stoop railings were replaced using turned wood <br />balusters, they are not of the same design as the extant historic examples. The <br />large amount of non-historic wooden railings and their prominence within the <br />overall character of the property creates a false sense of history which diminishes <br />the historic character of the property. The repetitious use of wooden balusters at <br />    <br />Historic Resources Commission 142 7/15/2024 <br />