Chapter 7 Index

• Back to Table of Contents
  
• Setback, Rhythm, and Scale
  
• Fences, Decks, and Skylights
  
• Historic Landscape Features

Living in harmony with your neighborhood

Do you rush to mow your lawn before it becomes a neighborhood eyesore? Bring your garbage containers in the evening after pick-up? Clean up debris from the sidewalk and curb? Chances are, you do all of these things to keep your neighborhood and home attractive. Maintaining a well kept home and lawn is just one way to support the quality of your neighborhood. Maintaining the cohesive features of the street is another.The way houses relate to each other and to the street can be as important as the architecture of the individual unit. Setback, rhythm, and scale are three important features that help form the streetscape.

Setback, rhythm, and scale

Setback is the distance from the face of a house or building to the property line. Compared to the suburbs, most Rochester properties are relatively close to the street, particularly in neighborhoods of the pre-automobile era. Some streets are noteworthy because of the consistent housing setback. This is evident in many areas that developed quickly from about 1900 to 1940. Glance down these streets and you'll notice a visual corridor-every house exactly in line with all the others. Changes to this order-porch removals, front additions, green houses, etc.-can ruin the visual harmony of the street. If you are thinking about an addition, look to the back of your property.

Rhythm refers to the repetition and spacing between units. It is an important part of the streetscape, and it can be important to the individual unit. Repetition of elements such as bay windows, dormers, or front porches also create an interesting rhythm. In dense urban neighborhoods, houses were often tall, narrow, and closely spaced. This looks great when every house is in place, but if a house is removed, the rhythm of the streetscape is disturbed; the adjacent houses may appear out of proportion-too thin for the lot without the support of the neighboring structure. Any additions or new construction in a neighborhood should conform to present examples to maintain the rhythm of the streetscape.

Scale refers to the size of a property and its relationship to other properties in the neighborhood. Most homes along a street are approximately the same height and size. A four-story office building on a street of single-story houses is out of scale and diminishes the harmony of the streetscape.

Fences, decks, and skylights

Fences, decks, and skylights Fences make good neighbors, right? Maybe, if you give them a little thought. If your street is a series of uninterrupted lawns, don't ruin this harmony by installing a fence in the front yard. Locate your fence from the back of your house around the rear property line. Don't use chainlink fences in historic neighborhoods. Instead, use an appropriate iron, masonry, or wood fence. If your wooden fence has a good and bad side (the bad side shows the framing), install the bad side toward your house and the good side toward your neighbor; or better still, choose a design that is attractive on both sides. If you need a fence for your pets, consider an underground electronic fence.

Decks are a modern version of the porch. They're easy to construct and inexpensive. Unfortunately, they're inappropriate for older homes. To design a deck compatible with your home, begin by locating it in an area that is inconspicuous or at the rear of your property.

Construct your deck so that it joins the house appropriately; look at porches to see how they connect. Copy spindles, bannisters, newels, framed lattice, and step details from your porch. Stain bare wood to match your house color (pressure-treated lumber can be stained after one summer season). If you add a new door or window opening onto your deck, copy existing trim details.

Skylights are a popular way to bring natural light into a dark space or attic, but they can compromise the visual integrity of your house. Before installing skylights, determine if a dormer would be more appropriate. Locate skylights on rear and side roofs, not on the front of the house.

   
FENCES

SKYLIGHT & DECK

Historic landscape features

The 1991 ice storm reminded all of us how important trees were to our neighborhoods, but there are many more features of the historic landscape besides trees. Maintain or reinstate any trees, gardens, walkways, walls, and landscape features that are typical of the neighborhood. Avoid lava rock gardens, pre-cast paving stones, marble chips, and other materials that are more appropriately used in suburban settings. Below is a partial list of trees and shrubs for late 19th-and early 20th-century residences compiled by Deirdre Cunningham, Landscape Curator of the George Eastman House.