Dear Harvard Historical Commission,
This is the second application as part of the renovation of the north side (circa 1745) of our home at 20 Fairbank. The first application which is to be voted on November 4 was submitted in order to obtain approval prior to the ground freezing to complete the foundation work necessary before renovations can begin on the interior of the home. This application is specific to the following renovations we would like to perform on 20 Fairbank. These will be discussed in more detail below, but are highlighted here as a reference:
1. Addition of a window centered above the front entryway 2. New front entryway which includes a new 4 panel door, entablature, pediment, and natural gas lanterns 3. Two new wood casement windows on the north side of the saltbox structure 4. Modified roof and soffit to enable exposing roof timbers and joinery on the 2nd floor
Melissa, our architect Wendy Cote-Magan, and myself have done extensive research to ensure the changes we are requesting are consistent with homes built in this area between the mid 18th and 19th centuries. The focus of these renovations is to utilize the existing structure to provide modern living amenities while preserving and exposing as much of the beauty and quality of the original framing, flooring, windows, and hardware.
The following are detailed descriptions of the requested changes as well as research on existing homes in the area to support our requests.
1. Addition of a second-floor window above the front entryway door.
The goal of this additional window is to provide a second window in one of the bedrooms planned for the second floor. This would achieve 2 windows in each of the bedrooms on the north side of the property. Please note that we are intending to repurpose one of the existing antique windows that currently faces the rear of the property which is an exact match (6 over 9) in design and size to the windows currently on the front of the home. Please see the photo below which shows the north side of 20 Fairbank as it is currently without a window centered above the front door.
The figure below shows the architectural rendering of the home with the addition of the 2nd floor window.
We uncovered in our research (see References) that Georgian style homes similar to our home at 20 Fairbank, often incorporate a row of 5, equally spaced windows on the second floor, one of which centered above the front entryway door. Please see below.
After researching many homes built in the similar time period of our home, we were surprised as it was quite difficult to find period homes that did NOT have a 5th window on the second floor centered above the front entryway door. Below are photos from other new England homes showing the 5th second floor window. These photos were taken from real estate listings as this seemed to be the best way to obtain accurate building dates.
2. Modified front entryway with new 4 panel door with 2 lites, updated entablature, pediment, and gas lanterns
The current front entryway has been exposed to the elements for a very long time. The current door has rotted from excessive moisture. The threshold has collapsed and has allowed water to enter the front dining room and has rotted the wood floors. We would like to install a new 4-panel door with 2 lites, painted black in the same design and color as the existing door.
We would also like to add a new entablature and pediment above the door to assist in re-directing water away from the entryway. Please see the architectural rendering of the new front entryway.
This type of entryway is very common on mid 18th to 19th century homes and is also shown in the photo below of a home at 108 West Bare Hill Road in Harvard built in 1777. The triangular pediment was considered common for homes of this period in New England.
In addition, we would like to add 2 gas lanterns, one on either side of the door. The architectural graphic below shows the gas lanterns mounted on either side of the front door.
The supplier of this lantern will be Fourteenth Colony Lighting.
(https://fourteenthcolonylighting.com/gasgallery/lmg-gas/). A photo of the lantern is shown below.
The finish we would like to use is “blackened copper” shown in the picture below.
3. Addition of 2 new casement windows on the saltbox side of the home.
The photo below shows the current north side of 20 Fairbank. Highlighted in red shows the position of the 2 windows we would like to add. The location of these windows is where the kitchen is planned to be. These 2 new windows will add more light to the kitchen.
Below is the architectural drawing of the north side of the house with the addition of the 2 casement windows.
We are working with a designer at Marvin windows to build (if approved by HHC) 2 custom wood casement windows with 9 lites and exterior wood mullions. The windows will be painted black consistent with the other windows. Although not a double hung window like the other windows of the home, casement windows look much like picture windows when closed. Picture windows were common in homes of this period.
4. Modified roof and fascia to enable exposing roof timbers and joinery on the 2nd floor
As mentioned previously, the goal of our renovations is to preserve the architecture, design, and beauty of the craftsmanship of the home. As is the case with all homes built in the mid 18th and 19th centuries, the beautiful hand-hewn beams and timber frame construction is really the hallmark of these antique homes. As such, we would like to expose as much of these beams as possible. When we began looking into the interior design, we uncovered beautiful roof rafters with hand cut dowels as the joinery. We would love to loft the second floor and keep exposed these beautiful timbers and joinery. Please see the photo below of the roof rafters and dowel joinery.
This project has 2 unique challenges with respect to roof framing. First, the spacing of the roof rafters does not meet current building codes. In order to bring the roof to code, additional modern dimensional lumber would need to be “sistered” to each of the current rafters to provide the needed strength to meet current building codes. This was determined by our structural engineer Helene Woodvine of Spiegel and Associates Engineering.
The second challenge is with insulation, as the current building code requires roofs/attics to have a minimum of R38 level insulation. To achieve this without modification to the existing roof we could either close the attic with new 2nd floor ceilings and add cellulose blown-in insulation or add spray foam insulation to the existing space between the roof rafters. The latter would of course cover the existing framing permanently and such action would be irreversible. Both options would keep the rafters hidden from normal view from within the home. Either of these methods for insulation would also require additional sistering of rafters to bring the roof to structural building codes.
Melissa and I challenged both our architect Wendy Cote-Magan and our structural engineer Helene Woodvine to determine if there was any way possible to achieve our building code requirements without altering the visible roof framing from within the house. Wendy and Helene worked together and developed a great solution. They suggested a solution of building a new roof structure (rafters, sheathing, insulation, vapor barrier, and architectural asphalt shingles) on top of the existing roof. To do this, the current asphalt shingles would be removed and new rafters would be installed on top of the existing sheathing. Insulation would then be installed between the rafters and then new sheathing and asphalt shingles would be installed. These changes would result in very minor visual changes to the home, both from the front view as well as the side view. Below is an architectural drawing of the new roof structure with reference to the existing roof structure (shown in the dotted line).
As you can see from the drawings, the roof is raised 9 ¼ inches from the existing roof and a new soffit will be installed consistent with Georgian style homes of the period. The asphalt shingles used would be an identical match in material and color to the shingles currently on the roof.
Below is the front view of the home with the new roof structure.
References
A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia Savage McAlester
How to Read Houses, A Crash Course in Domestic Architecture by William Jones
American House Styles by John Milnes Baker, A.I.A.
Thank you so much for reviewing and considering this application.
Sincerely,
Matthew and Melissa McRae