Oh Dear, we have lost another original historic carriage house in Blagden Alley. This building was to be part of the
Gang of Three Project by Douglas Development.
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| Gone, the line of historic building facing the alley broken |
ANC Commissioner Greg Melcher reached out to Douglas Development for an explanation and received the following in reply:
"The existing condition of the carriage house and our proposal for
construction are listed in the HPO staff report dated 25April13......The west wall was not only
bowing out towards the alley but the north wall was pushing into Bell
Architect’s (1228) garage. Our architect has been working diligently
with our General Contractor, Sigal Construction, in preserving and
rebuilding the garage as part of the final approval for the project. The project’s approved scope included fixing the structural damage on
the west wall and cutting large openings on the south and west walls.
While this work was carefully being done, the remaining walls were in
such unstable condition (significant deterioration of the mortar) the
garage became an unsafe structure and demoing by hand was an immediate
response. Sigal has also documented the garage, salvaged the bricks and
terra cotta coping for replication purposes. We are working with HPO
staff and will have a follow-up discussion with the ANC in the coming
weeks.
Both Sigal and Douglas Development have years of expertise in historic
rehabilitation and restoration throughout the District and there have
been many instances in which we had to re-build significant portions of
carriage homes and rowhouses. On each historic renovation our goal is to
preserve as much of the original buildings as possible, and we pursue
each project on a case by case basis. However, some structures are in
such disrepair re-building may be the best option in order to withstand
time and weather elements, protect immediate neighbor’s property and
endure the structural impact of new construction. We did not
anticipate the extent of deterioration and fragility and had to react
quickly in the field in order to prevent the walls from collapsing into
the alley or onto the neighbor’s building. Please understand our
construction team has thoroughly documented and preserved the original
building materials and have been working hard to preserve as much of the
Gang of Three as possible. "
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| Like a lost tooth - a gap is all that's left |
Quoting Greg Melcher; "There intent is to recreate the facade using the original materials. My
primary complaint here is this had to be discovered by walking through
the alley, not by some notification from either the Developer or HPRB.
I will raise this latter issue at the ANC level to ensure we once again
communicate to HPRB that we expect to be consulted on this type of
matter (we weren't consulted either on the major alterations to the
facade of the carriage house where La Columbine is going)." and further, "Douglas assures me that the end product will not be any different from
what we saw before. They have otherwise been the most responsive of any
of the local developers in consulting with us (ANC and BANCA) and keeping us informed."
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| This is the structure before demo, nothing remarkable, but historic and part of the alley ambiance |
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| The promise from Douglas Development included the Carriage House(left) in the final rendering |
This is one that the Badwolfdc will keep an eye on.........
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