The Cleghorn: A Tale Begins
Type: Single Family Residence
Scope: Complete [RE]Design
Schedule: 6 Months
Location: Fitchburg, MA
Ready!......Design!......Wait!!
100 year old properties just don't have what it takes to make it in today's world. (At least not without a little help.)
This home has been here since the 1920's. As with any home built in the early half of the last century, you can almost guarantee that there is something about it that doesn't meet the requirements of today's zoning laws. Here at The Cleghorn, those requirements were the front yard, side yard, and rear yard setbacks as well as the lot size and off street parking minimums. Have no fear though, most of the time these issues are expected for a home that's been around this long and are often "grandfathered in" to the current code. Basically this means that they've been around so long, we can't possibly expect all of these old homes to magically meet the more restrictive requirements of today's zoning laws so we give them a free pass. This poor guy had one more thing going against him though, vacancy. No one had lived in this home for more than 6 years which meant it was on it's way to the chopping block. Below is the plot plan we commissioned in order to legally determine the above information.
This is where we come in.
We prepared a set of documents showing what this home could be and explaining how it could still be beneficial to the community (I'll post more about these next week). We worked through the process with the city which took about 3 months and had our big meeting with the ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals) last Tuesday to get approval to move forward with the project. We got it!! We were given the thumbs up to bring this home back to life.
Visit our website to see images of the project at www.rearchitect-ma.com. Just cleaning up the yard and getting the inside brought back down to the studs. Everything that was on the interior of the home had seen too much moisture and weathering to be kept.
One last thing to share for this week: Unfortunately this project isn't great for everyone, there is one little guy who is now looking for a new home.....
Comments