Contemplating Rossman Avenue

On Friday, April 24, the Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposal to construct a new house on Rossman Avenue, in the National Register and locally designated Rossman Avenue-Prospect Avenue Historic District.

In presenting the project to the public gathered for the hearing, the applicant and his architect frequently spoke of budget constraints. "I can't build a big copy of a Victorian house," explained Kamal El Masri. "There is not the budget for that." The building proposed was described as "backdrop for a pocket park." Architect Wolfgang Stockmeier asserted, "A person standing on the street would look right over it to the Catskills."

The characterization of the proposed plan for the site as a "pocket park" prompted Ellen Thurston, supervisor for the Third Ward, where Rossman Avenue is located, to ask if the HPC took landscaping into consideration. The answer, which came from HPC chair Rick Rector, was no. The HPC considered only the building being proposed.

Compatibility is the test for new construction in a historic district, and Rossman Avenue resident Ben Wilson asked the applicant to provide "a reason or explanation of how you can see this as compatible." Affirming a common fallacy, the applicant replied that only a replica period house would be compatible. He spoke of "disguising the building and making it disappear . . . quiet, modest, and in the background."

During the discussion of the project in the HPC's regular meeting, much attention was paid to the proposed carport. HPC member Gini Casasco observed that the carport "doesn't make for a friendly pedestrian presence" and noted that it "deadened the urban flow." Rector agreed that the carport detracts from the city streetscape. HPC architect member Chris Perry said that the carport "makes the car part of the experience," commenting that a carport is not typical of the Northeast but is more California. HPC member David Voorhees also professed to have a problem with the carport.

The house at 14 Rossman Avenue was also a focus of attention. During the public hearing, Ferol Barton Blake asked about the house, which he suggested was a prefab, and the applicant made reference to this house and the house next to it to justify the height and setback of the proposed house.

Bing Map

There was some question of whether or not 14 Rossman Avenue was part of the historic district. Voorhees said he thought it wasn't; Rector confirmed that it was. Closer scrutiny of the designation document finds that 14 Rossman Avenue, which was the last house to be constructed on Rossman Avenue in 1965, and six other houses on Rossman Avenue are not part of the National Register historic district which was created in 1985, but these seven houses were added to the locally designated Rossman Avenue-Prospect Avenue Historic District when it was created in 2005. Although it's not made clear in the document, 14 Rossman would have been a noncontributing structure in the locally designated district, since at that time, it was not yet fifty years old.

Because some members of the HPC seemed to be relying on photographs of individual houses on the street, provided by the applicant, to understand the context of the proposed house, it was suggested that the HPC do a site visit. It was unanimously agreed that such a visit would take place at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 8, prior to the HPC's regularly scheduled meeting at 10 a.m.

Toward the end of the meeting, HPC member Phil Forman spoke of the Appendix to Sense of Place: Design Guidelines for New Construction in Historic Districts, published by the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. The Appendix looks at fifteen case studies, evaluating each by six guidelines: Height; Relationship to the street; Continuity of wall surface; Facade Composition; Materials and Details; Rhythm/Pedestrian experience. He acknowledged that new buildings considered to be compatible did not always satisfy all six guidelines, but they did follow most of them. Forman told the applicant and his architect, "My bias is to support you guys, but there needs to be more reference to the best of the houses on the street." He went on to say, "I'm not finding enough stuff in your proposal to establish sympathy [with the surrounding neighborhood]."
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