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Vinyl Windows & Cornice Trim Do Not “Improve” Our Architecture

I was furious Monday evening. The City’s Preservation Board nearly voted to allow a home owner to keep the ugly & inappropriate vinyl windows he installed in a home located in a local historic district without the required building permit. I say nearly because it took some strong arguing from members Richard Callow and Anthony Robinson to convince Melanie Fathman to vote to require the replacement. Not surprising was that Mary ‘One’ Johnson and Luis Porrello voted to allow the owner to keep the windows in place.

This case involved an owner that moved to the city from University City. He indicated the old cornice was rotted and the windows were old and original. The cornice had a wonderful large dentil block and a nice wide soffit. The board behind the dentils was apparently rotten so the owner decides to rip it all down and put up a vinyl wrapped cornice instead. For dentils he was going to apply some vinyl ones that were in no way reminiscent of the originals.

The vinyl windows, like all vinyl windows, do not look like a wood window. I want to repeat that: No vinyl window looks like a wood window does. Period.

You may get the same pattern of six “lites” over one “lite” but that is about as close as you can get. The remaining details are way off due to the materials and how they are put together. A vinyl window has much thinner rails on the sash. The window is also considerably thinner than a wood window which means the plane of the glass is virtually that of the frame. The muntin dividers (aka grills) in vinyl windows are either the interior snap-in type or the ones that go between the glass. Again, this gives a very flat look. The vinyl wrap applied over the original brick wood mold in the openings also looses considerable detail in the process. And, vinyl windows even if custom fitted still end up reducing the overall opening. Only on rare occasions have I seen vinyl windows installed in one of our old buildings that looks halfway decent.

Part of the debate at the Preservation Board centered around the window installation contractors that install windows. In this case I think the owner did this to himself but often it is the fault of the contractors. The owner assumes the professional window installer is going to get a permit, if necessary, and follow all codes including any historic codes. Sorry folks, most often that is not the case. It is the owner’s responsibility to verify that all codes are being followed.

If you are not sure if you need a permit or, if you are in a historic district that requires exterior changes to be reviewed by the neighborhood and/or Preservation board, then you need to make phone call or two before you start your work. Don’t blame your contractor, especially if they are from the county.

In many cases if the home owner had contacted either the neighborhood association or the city’s building division they could have easily determined the requirements and avoided a situation of having installed windows that must now be removed. Appropriate wood windows are far more costly than vinyl windows. No doubt about it. That is why I still have original wood windows with metal storms on my place.

The Preservation Board all agreed to tell the homeowner he must rebuild the cornice in wood —- no vinyl wrapped ill-proportioned knock off. But when it came to the windows some members were content with requiring the removal of the vinyl wrap but leaving the windows. First, this shows a lack of understanding of window installation. Had they permitted the windows to be left but removing the trim wrap we would have seen gaps where the windows were slightly different sizes from the openings. It is possible to install vinyl windows into an original wood opening but it has to be planned from the start. If they had voted to require just the wrap removal it would have ended up looking worse, which would be hard to do.

Another issue I have with vinyl windows is the color — bright white. Boy do these stick out like a sore thumb. White trim is a very post WWII or early colonial thing, mostly inappropriate for St. Louis’ architecture. Our wood windows often had dark green window sashes with the window trim in another color. White lead paint became popular in the 1930s but before that white paint was a rarity in St. Louis. New wood windows come in some great colors including some nice tans & greens as well as black. When you have dark masonry building a bright white window simply creates way too much contrast. With a cheap vinyl window in white you are drawing attention to something better off not noticed. So please folks, save the white windows (wood or vinyl) for the colonial boxes in the suburbs.

What really got me going during the meeting was Mary ‘One’ Johnson’s comments how this would have been avoided if the neighborhood had informed the owner what could and couldn’t be done prior to any work starting. Ms. Johnson, a fellow REALTOR®, expects neighborhood associations to monitor property tax records to see if any home in their area has sold so that they can make sure owner doesn’t screw up the house. WTF? As REALTORS® we have pretty good access to tax records, much better than the general public. However, it would still be a time consuming process to look up each and every property in a neighborhood to see if it has changed hands. And how often is enough? Every month? Every week? Every day? Even just tracking those properties that are for sale could be a daunting task for any volunteer neighborhood association to take on.

Others on the PB asked if it was not the responsibility of the real estate agents. Some thought the title work should indicate such things. Well, sorry, it does not. And when we see the title work it is during the closing of the sale, not prior. But, I do think agents representing a buyer should help direct their clients to information on historic districts and building permits if they have reason to believe the buyer will be making some changes.

But the responsibility is really with the owner, not the contractors, neighbors or real estate agents. The owner is responsible for their own home.

If you want a really low maintenance home buy something newer. If you want a wonderful historic home with relatively low maintenance make sure you don’t paint the brick, do a great job restoring & painting the wood trim and get really good clad wood windows. If that is too much to deal with I suggest renting or buying a condo. Just don’t come into my city thinking bright white vinyl windows is an improvement.

– Steve

 

Lafayette Walk On Preservation Board Agenda, Again!

In February the Preservation Board meeting was a long one, lasting until 10:30pm after starting at 4pm. This month the agenda is much shorter but a the most controversial issue from last month is back once again: Lafayette Walk. More discussion of utilities and transoms over doors.

Also of interest is a new cultural center to be built at 6166 Delmar in the ever expanding East Loop. This is on the site where a building collapsed a few years back during renovations as well as the renovation of the adjacent church as part of the project.

Like last month the Preservation Board will review a case where an owner replaced windows (prohibited vinyl) in a house without a permit. People, if you do work please check to see if you need a building permit. If you live in a historic district please follow the rules or move somewhere else. The Cultural Resources staff has better things to do than chase down people installing cheap windows in historic districts without a permit!

The Preservation Board will also look at a couple of cases of inappropriate fencing in a historic district. Once again, should be a fun one. This time I’m bringing water and munchies.

– Steve

 

Rumor: Cleveland High School to Be Demolished

Word on the street, from a reliable source, is there is talk of razing Cleveland High School (photo source,map) to build an “alternative” school. I’m not sure I know what an alternative school is but I do know that Cleveland HS is an important part of my neighborhood. The building stands proud facing Grand just south of Meramec.

Cleveland HS, built in 1915, has served as the Junior Naval Academy since 1981.

I hope this turns out to be a false rumor but if someone out there is thinking this is a good idea think again. This school is a classic building and a symbol of the greatness of this city at the early part of the 20th Century. We’ve got parking lots and other waste land all over this city where a new school can be built.

– Steve

 

An Analysis of Lafayette Walk’s Doors & Transoms

lafayette walk door issue - 02.jpgTwo weeks ago the City’s Preservation Board, in a tediously long meeting, voted to require the developer of the new Lafayette Walk townhouses, Orchard Development, to replace the front door and ‘transoms’ on the units already complete and to make changes going forward.

I must admit that at first glance I agreed with their decision. In spending some more time looking at this project, other new construction projects, and period buildings I’ve some to a slightly different conclusion.

Correctly discussed at the meeting was the lack of a proper transom sash. At Lafayette Walk the developer somehow thought they could just insert glass in the frame and do without the sash. Of course, real opening transoms (like the six in my building) all require a sash frame to work. It is part of the look and should have been a no brainer. The staff & board also focused on the lack of thickness of the header frame between the door and where a proper transom should have been.

Cultural Resources director Kathleen Shea focused on the height of the doors as the other problem. All evening long she asked those speaking the height of their doors. As a result, the Preservation Board voted to require the front doors to be 7ft tall rather than the 6ft 8 in doors that are already in place.

Looking at the entry to the right it is certainly true the door could be taller without any issues. However, if they also thicken the header and do a proper transom sash the amount of area will be significantly reduced.

I have an issue with the light area over the window in the eyebrow. Historically this area would be the same color as the window frame. Why this hasn’t been addressed is beyond me. It is possible this area just hasn’t been painted yet…



lafayette walk door issue - 01.jpgThe building from above includes six units, three with half circle opening like this one. In this case, a taller door would be a horrible mistake as you’d lose the entire view of the transom. So, the first mistake from the Preservation Board was to apply the 7ft door to all openings, including ones like this.

While we are here at this picture I want you to note a few things that I’ll reference later. The front steps leading to the small front porch rise to the point where you are nearly flush with the interior floor — no step up from the porch to get inside the house. As a result the steps are way above the dividing line between the foundation and brick line.

One last thing, I’m surprised they are not required to have a “graspable” handrail given the height of the steps above grade. I know I’d want something to hold on if the steps are covered in snow & ice.


… Continue Reading

 

The South Grand Building With Many Names

0Grand View ArcadeSome call it the Melba Theatre building, others refer to it as the Pizza A Go-Go building for a long-time tenant, and still others call it Grand View Arcade. Whatever the name, it is stunning. With few exceptions, this has to be one of best proportioned and detailed buildings in all of St. Louis.

Anyone looking to construct a new mixed-use building in the city of St. Louis should study this one closely. I’m not advocating copying the detailing, although it is fine. Rather, the massing and relationship of windows to solid is very pleasing.

A modern interpretation of this building would be quite nice a block south on the old Sears site. Oh that is right, Ald. Jennifer Florida wants a McDonald’s on that site. Well, I guess she knows best…

The Lawrence Group is tackling this building along with the former Southside National Bank across Grand. This building will have sidewalk level retail with apartments above. Parking for residents will be in the basement, accessed from the former bank drive-thru area to the south. Unfortunately, the existing curb-cut on Grand will remain. I’d like to see access to this side parcel from the alley, not Grand.


Grand View ArcadeThe name Grand View Arcade, according to TLG, is the official historical name of the building. Like the larger Arcade building downtown at 8th & Olive, this one sports an indoor hall with shops facing it on two levels. Basically, it was an early indoor mall. This, in fact, pre-dates the early suburban outdoor mall concept. Where this differs is scale: it works as a small space in a great building in a pedestrian neighborhood.

Apartments will occupy the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building so it remains to be seen if this arcade will once again be a public space or it will become a grand entrance lobby for the apartments. I’d like to see it open to the public.

So the name thing. The Pizza A Go-Go name is simple, it was a tenant for many years and people fondly remember it. But how did the Melba Theatre fit into all of this? Well, not inside this building that is for sure. The Melba was behind the building to the east. Basically you’d enter the Arcade off Grand and walk past this staircase to the actual theatre.


Grand View ArcadeThe east facade of the Grand View Arcade is seen at right here. Note how the lovely facade wraps around the corner from Grand onto Miami Street. On the left of the image is an unfortunate apartment building that was built where the Melba Theatre once existed. It is not clear to me how you got from the Arcade into the Melba: by going back outside? By going through a hallway? Did the Melba have an entrance off Miami Street as well? Perhaps some historians will know or someone will look up some old records. Razing this ugly apartment complex and building something new up to Miami Street would be a great next step.

Apparently TLG already has interest from retail tenants for this building so they are moving ahead their renovations. These tenants haven’t yet been announced by it is good to see the strong interest in street-level retail in this area.

Additional photos can be seen on Flickr.

– Steve

 

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