Comments After the Event

It has been over a month, but I am finally getting around to writing about how the movie and discussion went at Mockingbird back in September (see the previous post). I think it is safe to say the the movie was disappointing. The project was a show house for a major homebuilder, and will be mainly used to burnish their "green" credentials. The savvy Staunton crowd at Mockingbird was not taken in by it, however. The reaction was very critical. The project did not have sustainability at its heart. Instead, it continued a well-worn pattern of excess and pandering under a thin veneer of green.

The discussion after the movie made this opinion clear. Those of us on the panel concurred, and if anything were not as harsh in our evaluations as some in the audience were. The discussion itself went very well. I think we were able to address real issues of sustainability, resources, methods, etc. We tackled questions about being green and dealing with historic structures. We talked about new technologies and new products. Lastly, after the formal talk, a number of people came up to look at the drawings I posted in the previous entry. I think the reaction to all of this was positive.

The thing I took away from this was that there are a lot of smart people in Staunton and the surrounding areas who really "get it" when it comes to sustainable design. This is a hopeful sign for the future. Things are going to get better!

Sustainable Design at Mockingbird

I'll be participating in a discussion following the showing of this movie at Mockingbird on Thursday, September 17, in Staunton:

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20100915/OPINION02/9150316/1014/OPINION

"Green House: Design it, Build it, Live it" is about the design and construction of a residence in Northern Virginia. My contribution will be to discuss the concept in general, and one of my own designs, which will be built in western Augusta County. My theme will be that you don't have to live in Northern Virginia to build one of these houses. We're going to do it here. Joining me will be contractor William Drumeller, and Energy Consultant John Semmelhack, of Think-Little, in Charlottesville.















Here is a rendering of the east side approach.

We will be trying to achieve Passive House standards if possible, with super-insulated walls and roofs, south facing glazing, and an energy recovery ventilation system.

I like to call it a 21st century Usonian design.
















The Upper Floor Plan.
















The other views. You can see how the house is built into the hillside, with the hill and the workshop/stable sheltering the residence from the north.

The design is basically complete. The owners need to sell some other property, and then we will complete construction documents, and get it under construction. It's an exciting project. Stay tuned for updates.

Historic Districts, Property Rights, and Creativity

I'm finally getting around to following up on my post from November, in which I was touching on the issue of property rights and the potential of a Sears Hill Historic District. In this post, I will talk about the very idea of a historic district, and its effect on property rights, and on design creativity.

Most municipalities have zoning regulations, and some, like Staunton, have designated historic districts. These regulations have been ruled as legal by the Supreme Court, in cases going back to the early 20th century. It is often easy to forget that these things weren't just dreamed up out of thin are in order to control what someone can do with their property. There were strong reasons for implementing them at the time. In Staunton those reasons had do with the rapid destruction of the historic fabric of the city, and the corresponding effect this was having on other properties, and on the tourist industry. In other words, hard headed business people, and property owners were seeing the value of their property go down due to the actions of other property owners who were not as conscientious.

In the past their was a strong peer pressure to maintain one's property, and a sense of civic pride that encouraged people to build beautiful buildings. These days these mechanisms have broken down. The owner of the property may not even live in the state, much less live in Staunton. Because of this, a legal mechanism was created to replace the old peer pressure. The Historic Districts were established. Removal of historic buildings was stopped, and renovation began. After that, there was an interesting phenomenon: property values in the historic districts went up. This encouraged more renovation work, and so on. Investing in one's property, and doing it right create more wealth and more profit from rising rents, etc.

So what is the down side from this kind of regulation of property? Well, the owner must go through the effort to think through a renovation, or better still, hire a design professional to help. The owner has to submit the design to the Preservation Commission for review (Full disclosure: I am on the Commission). The owner can't just put substandard or non-historic materials willy- nilly on his or her building. I happen to think these aren't "downsides". They are simply doing the job right. Then there is another potential problem: taking the idea too far.

OK, what I mean here is that some people always want to turn these kind of regulations into a straight-jacket. To literally dictate exactly what must be built as well as how. To prescribe exactly what look or style a building must be, even a new building. The problem with this idea is that it wants to freeze a district in whatever period it is determined it fits into. However, in Staunton, and in most places, there are many kinds of historic (see my earlier post on the art-moderne house in Newtown). Cities and towns do need to grow and evolve. History didn't stop in 1900. There needs to be room for new work even in historic districts, in order to create new history. As long as the new design fits with the district in objective criteria, like massing, height, materials, etc., it should be allowed. Quality counts for something.

Historic districts, then, should have a firm, but light touch, and allow for creative design. As for those who can't, or won't abide by the rules, well, at least here in Staunton, the vast majority of the area of the city is not in any historic district. Direct your attention there.

The Sears Hill Neighborhood in Staunton, VA

Back in June, I was privileged to join a tour of the Sears Hill neighborhood here in Staunton, VA. The tour was organized by the Historic Staunton Foundation, and led by its director, Frank Strassler.

Sears Hill is one of a number of historic neighborhoods here in Staunton. There are five neighborhoods that have been designated as historic by the city, and they are subject to rules that guide how they evolve in order to preserve the historic fabric and heritage of each neighborhood. Full Disclosure: I currently serve on the Historic Preservation Commission for the city.

The name comes from a historic house which tops Sears Hill, one of many hills around the city. It overlooks downtown from the south side of the railroad tracks, and there is a historic pedestrian bridge across the tracks and down to the Wharf district. At one time the neighborhood had its own neighborhood stores and businesses in addition to the residences, and there has always been a pocket park at the overlook area. There are stone ruins of former outdoor firepit chimneys and other structures there.

One could see during the tour both the historic legacy that remains, and sense what has already been lost-for Sears Hill is not one of the designated historic districts. There is nothing to prevent cheap windows, roofing materials, siding and other materials from replacing historic materials. There is nothing to prevent whole structures from being torn down. Some have been torn down.

Recently there has been the beginning of a renaissance in the neighborhood, with group clean-ups of the park, visits by the city council, and of course, the tour that I took. Some folks in the neighborhood would like the city council to do more to help.

I am not opposed to helping Sears Hill, but the best way to ensure future prosperity is to petition the city to become a historic district. Some in the neighborhood oppose this on the grounds of their right to do as they will with their property. Obviously this is their right, but the real trade-off between their property rights and historic designation is all in their favor. Every one of the historic districts has prospered mightily since those districts were designated. Property values have risen. Tax incentives have become available for repairs, maintenance and renovation. It would be foolish to oppose this so that one would have the future option of installing vinyl windows. The preservation commission and the Historic District Laws do not prevent renovation, additions or other work to buildings in the district. They only require that such work be done in a sympathetic way to the existing historic fabric.

Some historic districts in other cities have somewhat onerous rules, but I don't believe this is the case for Staunton. I will discuss the idea of historic districts and other controls on property in the next post. In the meantime-go Sears Hill! Do it right before you lose more of the heritage you have left.

Organic in Florida

I grew up in Florida, in the 1960's and 1970's. I lived in Satellite Beach, which is on the east coast, and, not surprisingly, is near the Kennedy Space Center. South of Satellite beach is another beach town, Indialantic. When I was a kid, we would often drive south on the lagoon side of the barrier island on Riverside Drive. As we would approach Indialantic, I would look to see a very unusual looking house (and I thought, really cool looking). This house was a composition in colored concrete blocks. Now concrete block is not an unusual material in Florida, but this one used it in an artistic way, not just for structural strength during hurricanes.

Years later, after I graduated from college, I remembered this house, and I went to see it again. By now I knew a lot more about architecture, and I recognized that this house was related to the great textile block houses by Frank Lloyd Wright, built in Los Angeles in the 1920's. Obviously this house was much more modest, but someone clearly had been an admirer of Wright. I walked up to the house, rang the bell, and the owner answered the door. I introduced myself, and the owner gave me a quick tour. I couldn't take any photos of the interior, but I took quite a few of the exterior.

I learned that the house had been built in 1960, and that the architect was from Houston, Texas. Since that time I have lost the name of the architect. I am going to try to find that out and will post an update if I do.

As I said, the house is a composition in concrete block, and it also has pre-cast concrete beams supporting the roof. There is a nice, private pool patio with a block wall screen, and the landscaping is lush.

I recently visited the house again, but no one was home. It has suffered some neglect in the last 22 years, which is unfortunate, because this is one of the most interesting houses in Brevard County. Check out the photos. More can be seen at
the Friends of Kebyar Blog.

The Passive House

I attended a workshop on Wednesday, July 29 which featured a concept called "the passive house". While this concept contains much of what those of us educated during the original energy crisis would call passive design, it goes much further in some respects. The first is that the building is super-insulated, with double or triple the typical R values required by building codes. This allows the mechanical unit and ductwork to be much smaller than in a typical house. Also the mechanical system is typically what is called an ERV, or energy recovery ventilator. An ERV supplies fresh outside air but keeps most of the heat inside the house. I will have more to say about ERV's later.

The person leading the workshop was John Semmelhack of Charlottesville, VA. The interesting thing about John is that he has built his own house according to this concept, and has had to deal with the real economics of it. His house was built for approximately $200.00/SF, which seems quite reasonable for a custom house.

For more information see: www.passivehouse.us

Art Deco in Newtown

Today's post concerns a local building. Anyone from this area will be familiar with the Newtown Historic District in Staunton, Virginia. Most of the time when Newtown is mentioned in the local press or by the public in general, it is its "victorian architecture" that is mentioned. Well, Newtown actually has a lot more than victorian homes.

This is a house on West Frederick Street. This first picture came from the archives of the Historic Staunton Foundation. The house could be called Art-Deco or Art Moderne. It isn't known exactly when it was built, but I would guess around 1937. Art Moderne architecture is not directly organic, but it does contain a lot of interesting features, many of which have influenced organic architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright. Some of these features can be seen here in this old black and white photo. Note the streamlined look, the round corner with the large view windows, the eyebrows over the windows, and the porthole window above the exterior stairs on the right. Also interesting are the triple tile pipe vents.

Here is a new picture showing some of the same area:




Unfortunately the house has not been maintained well and it looks like it is split into two apartments at this time.




The side patio has been turned into a screened porch. The installation is totally incompatible with the existing house.



The rear patio.

There is a lot more to Newtown than meets the eye, and that goes for Staunton, too. I plan to document more examples of this in the future.

I was on vacation last week and had hoped to get by Frank Lloyd Wright's Cook Residence in Virginia Beach, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't get it done.