According to a news release
by Forrester Construction Company, (Feb 26, 2013) “The new addition to the inn requires
preservation of a 1700s carriage house, one of the oldest buildings in
Washington, DC, keeping the exterior intact while completely renovating the
interior.” http://www.forresterconstruction.com/newsAndEvents/142
“The design incorporates adjacent
historic buildings, including an 1880s townhouse, a rectory and a carriage
house from the 1700s, said to be one of the oldest buildings in the District.
The carriage house's exterior will be maintained and its interior will be
completely renovated.”
(Rebecca Cooper Washington Business Journal) http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2013/02/construction-begins-on-morrison-clark.html
Stable stable - last week Unstable stable - this week
It is clear that there are
no interdigitating bricks in this essentially “freestanding” West wall. The
original wall was apparently removed some time in the 1980’s.
Note the lack of major beam
structural support and the absence of the original wall. (Photo courtesy of
Kathy McEnany)
From the overhead photo it's evident that at some point in its history, the stable relinquished its Western
wall and thus did not share a common wall with the building next door. There
also does not appear to be any evidence of a center keel beam or robust joists
to distribute the roof stresses. The "shared wall" was more of an abutment than a
load-bearing "party wall." In a way, it’s surprising that this collapse did not occur
earlier.
The Morrison Clark stable
preservation is “part of the deal” for their large expansion process. So what to do now? Yesterday, a
representative of the construction company said that after discussions with
HPRB/HPO and DCRA, the decision was made to remove the roof and to remove the
bricks on the second floor down to the top of the first floor. The bricks will
be saved and the stable rebuilt as it was, preserving the characteristic
architectural details of the classic carriage and horse entrance, windows and
stable hand door. Simply “shoring up the building” turned out not to be an
intelligent or practical option at this point. It was also dangerous, given
that the building essentially only has three walls of its own.
Meanwhile, the alley is
closed for safety reasons.
The upcoming precise major
architectural stable surgery will be an interesting process to follow.
Thankfully, the city is increasingly recognizing the value of these little
structures as meaningful reminders of the contribution of the DC alley system
and its culture to the history of the city. Some Washington alleys have become
a wasteland through past, outdated urban planning blind servitude to alleys for trash and services. These
wasteland alleys cannot be reclaimed. However there are many, many alleys with
their small charming alley buildings still intact in Washington that can and will be preserved to thrive in new lives of adaptive reuse.
Application for recognition
on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
(This application is a fascinating read)
The ongoing Washington Alley
Survey project through the Historic Preservation Office is going to help the city's alley
revitalization process enormously.
References:
Why Buildings Fall Down (how
structures fail) by Matthy Levy and Mario Salvadori
3 comments:
Good Piece. I hope that Forrester are good to their word, and contract.As you stated worth watching what happens. Thanks for the update
I live on the 3rd floor next to the carriage house and it is truly a tragedy. Is there somewhere I can send you a picture I took this morning of the demolition?
E-mail images or comments to dcalleys@gmail.com
Post a Comment