Property Type: Residential
Year Built: 1922
Architectural Style: Craftsman Bungalow
Tax Credits Used: State and Federal

About the Project
When this property was purchased, someone had enclosed half of the porch for a bedroom that was converted into a recording studio in the 1990s. The infill walls had been stuffed with foam padding and insulation for sound proofing.

At the time the National Register District was formed in 2000, the house’s porch was enclosed, which totally changed the original look of the house. So the property was deemed a non-contributing structure. (A property must be a contributing structure to obtain tax credits.)

Simo Community Design worked with the homeowner to not only restore the porch to its original appearance, but also to add the house as a contributing structure to the National Register Historic District of Adair Park so that the owner could gain the benefits of both state and federal tax credits.

This required working with state reviewers at the Historic Preservation Department (HPD) several months in advance of the construction start date. The reviewers had to see the uncovering of the porch before they could even deem the home as potentially eligible to the district. After the porch was opened up, HPD determined it was in fact potentially eligible to be a contributing structure, and the team could then proceed with the rest of the project and earn tax credits for the project.

Project features: The floor plan remained mostly the same, except that a bathroom shower was expanded into the central hallway, a second bathroom was added in what was probably a pantry space, and the opening between the kitchen and mudroom was widened.

When the porch was uncovered, the team found the original windows, clapboard, exterior trim, and openings still in place buried beneath the added walls.

Biggest challenge: Opening the porch and working with HPD to add the property as a contributing structure to the National Register Historic District of Adair Park.

What it’s being used for now: Income-producing single-family rental property