Noe Valley facade restoration complete!

The Noe Valley facade restoration is complete. Check out the before and after photos. Nice job, Mulhall Construction!

Wooden Window

Yesterday I visited the workshop and offices of Wooden Window Inc., located in Oakland. As I was led through the spaces, there was the calming smell of saw dust, mixed with the jarring noise of machinery. It was marvelous! Everywhere I looked there was a window or door in some state of construction; from a door rail being planed, to a dutchman being prepared, to a final assembly being painted. And each window or door being built or repaired, had a story. I was intrigued to see a piece being created for the restoration of the Sunnyside Conservatory. Talking to the president of the company, Bill Essert, was such a pleasure as windows are one of my favorite topics of conversation. In the same way that Bill and his crew could make beautiful windows all day long, I could happily survey and document windows for hours on end. Hopefully one day we will be able to work together on a project. For anyone who has a project that involves wood windows or doors, call Wooden Window!

Title 24: What's new

Yesterday I went to an informative seminar at the San Francisco American Institute of Architects office about the upcoming changes to "Title 24" (somewhat of a misnomer). Martyn Dodd of EnergySoft covered some exciting energy efficiency regulations to look forward to on January 1st 2010 including new forms and more complicated calculations. Cool roofs will be required on more structures. Exterior building elements will have to achieve lower U-factors (heat transferred through a building assembly per unit of time per unit of area). And because we are making our buildings tighter and tighter we will now need to provide continuous mechanical ventilation. I continue to be skeptical that this is the best way to achieve energy efficiency in San Francisco.

HPC Meeting - 15 July

San Francisco's Historic Preservation Commission finally has all of it's members and it was great to hear the new voices at last weeks hearing. During Public Comment two people came forward; one interested in landmarking the Alemany Farmers Market stalls and Peter Warfield returned to express his continuing dismay with the Branch Library Improvement Projects. In his Presidents Report, Charles Chase welcomed the new Commissioners. Matters of the Board followed and Alan Martinez requested that the Commission write a letter concerning the Exploratorium project. The next item received a continuance. Andrew Wolfram removed two items from the Consent Calendar leaving a Certificate of Appropriateness for new signage and lighting on a property in the South End Historic District which received unanimous approval. The two projects removed from the Consent Calendar were both ADA upgrades for buildings in Golden Gate Park. There was a really good discussion about compatible ramp design including thoughts about symmetry, scale/proportion, railing design and when it is appropriate to put accessible ramps in the front of the structure versus the rear. The project sponsor will return with a new, less substantial design for the Millwright's Cottage (Landmark 210) but the project for the Park Aid Station (Landmark 201) was approved as designed. Next the Irving Tunnel EIR was heard. This "tunnel" is located in Fremont and is part of the San Francisco Water System which is getting a major overhaul. While the Commissioners had lots to say about the design related projects, they had almost nothing to say about the EIR and did not write a letter. This was followed by a Certificate of Appropriateness for a new building in the South End Historic District. The project had been reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee of the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board last year when I was a member of both. The project sponsors had certainly taken our advice about trying to using materials that are compatible with the district. The result was a nicely designed building that speaks to its neighbors. Unfortunately the project had to be continued because of a minor error but the project will almost certainly be approved at the next meeting. I left the meeting before the rest of the items were heard.

Metro Theater

On July 7th the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the Metro Theater as Landmark #261. This nomination has been passionately debated from all sides. The main point of contention was whether or not to include interior features in the designation report. My own opinion is that breaking up an historic structure into features that are "public" and not, is a terrible way to think about a building and leads to poor design.

SF sewer vent covers

Not sure who built your San Francisco home? The answer might be found on the sewer vent cover in your sidewalk. For more fun sidewalk sightings check out this blog.

Old Mint tour tomorrow

Tomorrow Heritage YP is conducting a tour of the Old Mint Building at 5th and Mission. Establishing a federal mint in San Francisco in the 1850's "put San Francisco on the map" so to speak. Recognized as the most important building in San Francisco at the time, numerous brave souls fought back an inferno after the 1906 Earthquake to protect it from destruction. Today the enthusiasm is gone and it must wait patiently for some long overdue maintenance.

HPC - Final nominations

Phew! Well, it took almost exactly six months, but it looks like the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission will finally have all of its members with the last two seats approved by the Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors this morning (James Buckley and Andrew Wolfram).

Roslyn, New York

Over the weekend my husband's grandfather celebrated his ninetieth birthday and we flew out to New York for the party. The family is from the Hempstead Harbor area of Long Island. Colonized by the Dutch in the 1600's, it is now a bustling network of towns, with old mills next to car dealerships and huge estates converted into housing developments; layers upon layers of history, both apparent and hidden. I hope to return again some time and explore more of the area!