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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 5390RESOLUTION NO. 5390 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL DESIGNATING 241 WEST END AVENUE SITE AS AN HISTORICAL LANDMARK WHEREAS, the Cultural Affairs Commission and the City Council have found, after conducting public hearings, that the 241 West End Avenue site has significant value as part of the cultural characteristics of the City, exemplifies the cultural, social, and historic heritage of the community, portrays the environment in the era of history characterized by a distinctive architectural style, and embodies those distinguishing characteristics of an architec- tural type; and WHEREAS, a description of the characteristics of the 241 West End Avenue site which justifies this designation and a description of those particular features that should be preserved are attached hereto as Exhibit A and are incorporated herein by reference; and WHEREAS, the location and boundaries of the 241 West End Avenue site are those contained in Exhibit B attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of San Rafael, California, that the 241 West End Avenue site hereinabove mentioned and described be and the same hereby is designated as an historical landmark, and shall be preserved and maintained pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2.18 of the San Rafael Municipal Code; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Clerk of the City of San Rafael is hereby directed to cause a copy of this Resolution, or notice thereof, to be recorded in the Office of the County Recorder. I. JEANNE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of San Rafael held on Monday , the 19th day of December , 1977 by the following vote, to -wit: AYES: COUNCILMEN: Jensen, Mulryan, Nixon and Mayor Bettini NOES: COUNCILMEN: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEN: Absent OAC) J E M. LEONCINI, City Clerk 140A/26-7 EXHIBIT "A" 241 WEST END AVENUE - THE ISSAC JESSUP HOUSE Description: The house at 241 West End Avenue, like its neighbor to the east, 14 Sentinel Court, has had a series of additions and alterations to its original appearance over the entire span of its existence. The original building was of the Italianate style, built in the 1870's for Isaac Jessup. The main entrance to the house is from the north, and originally the house had considerable land in front of it extending down to what is now the "The Miracle Mile." The entrance is flanked on each side by identical one-story slanted bay windows. These are capped by a bracketed cornice. The house originally was only one story high. The cornice was capped with a hip roof, typical of Italianates. In plan, the entryway led into a hallway running through the house from north to south with the major rooms off each side. The northeast front room would have been the formal parlor with the dining room behind it to the south. In the 1890's, a second floor addition was made to the house. This addition was done in the then popular Second Empire style characterized by the mansard roof and project- ing dormer windows, each with its own small gabled roof. A stair was added from the central hall up to the second floor. As with its neighboring house to the east, one could not say that the house in its entirety had been remodeled in the Second Empire style, but that it had a nominally Second Empire second story with an Italianate first floor. This blending of two or more styles was commonly done during this time. The final stylistic changes occurred in the 1920's and the 1950's. (These dates are very approximate.) The house was divided into many apartments and several additions were made to the main body of the house. A one-story addition to the east of the house was built of the same horizontal siding and utilized wood frame windows and trim detail that is sympathetic to the original building. Another addition to the rear, or south, was also made using the same materials as the addition to the east. This addition is two stories in height. The final addition was made to the west of the original house and is primarily one story in height, although a small section of the second floor was altered at this time. These latest changes were done in stucco with aluminum windows. Analysis This building is of considerable architectural interest despite the many additions and alterations that have occurred over the years. All but the latest stucco additions have been done using the same materials as the original building and are part of the natural changes of a building. They show that the building has had an active and rich past and that it was able to adapt to the changes required of it. The stucco addition to the west detracts from the character of the house and is inappropriate. This house and the one next door form a handsome pair and they are both highly visible from the road to San Anselmo. Although it is not truly in the Second Empire style, its mansard roof with all of its associations of wealth and elegance is the most prominent public feature. The Second Empire style and the mansard roof are unusual in San Rafael, and a pair of such houses is especially prominent for that reason. Secondly, although the stylistic changes are not always perfectly integrated, they do represent the actual historic development of the house and the changing tastes of its inhabitants in a graphic way. The Italianate and Second Empire styles of the first two phases of construction were both the height of fashion in their day. Both represented an American tendency to look back to Europe for ideas of taste and quality. The Italianate was one of the most common styles in America in the 1860's and 1870's for both the middle and upper classes. It was a style that was at once simple and elegant, easily applicable to the standard house forms of the day, yet susceptible to sensitive manipu- lations of detail and proportion. The understatement of the Italianate gave way to the frequently ostentatious forms of the Second Empire style. This was a style which belonged almost exclusively to the rich and was consequently built in much fewer numbers than the Italianate. For all of these changes to have resulted in a satisfying composition, the designers at each stage had to be conscious of the whole. This is a distinctive house with an interesting design history which forms part of a highly visible and impressive pair of houses with mansard roofs. EXHIBIT "B" 241 West End Avenue DI SC RI PTI O N : THAT certain real property situate in the City of San Rafael, County of Marin, State of California, described as follows: PARCEL ONE: COMMENCING at a point on the Westerly line of a 30 foot roadway, which point bears South 22° West 50.03 feet, North 700 West 230 feet, South 20° West 70 feet and thence on a curve to the left, the center of which bears South 70" East, having a radius of 120 feet, a distance of 14.475 feet from the Northeast corner of the parcel of land described in Book 46 of Deeds, at page 96; and running thence along said roadway on a curve to the left, the center of which bears South 76° 54' 40" East having a radius of 120 feet, a distance of 16 feet more or less to the true point of beginning of the parcel of land to be herein described, said true point of beginning being the Southeasterly corner of that certain parcel of land conveyed to Arthur R. N icolaisen and wife by Deed recorded December 8, 1959 in Book 1330 of Official Records, at page 113, Marin County Records; thence continuing along said roadway in a Southerly and Easterly direction to the Northwesterly corner of that certain parcel of land conveyed to Edward L. Dunand, et al, by Deed recorded March 12, 1942 in Book 426 of Official Records, at page 182, Marin County Records; thence along the Westerly line of said Dunand parcel South 21° West 119 feet more or less to the Southwesterly corner thereof, said point being on the Southerly line of that certain parcel of land conveyed to Lester H. Hicks by Deed recorded October 16, 1941 in Book 420 of Official Records, at page 123, Marin County Records; thence along the Southerly line of said Hicks parcel North 69° West 100 feet to the Southwesterly corner thereof; thence along the Westerly line of said Hicks parcel North 210 East 176.358 feet more or less to the Southwesterly corner of that certain parcel of land conveyed to Arthur R. Nicolaisen and wife as referred to above; thence along the Southerly line of said Nicolaisen parcel Northeasterly in a direct line, 30 feet more or less to the true point of beginning. PARCEL TWO: AN EASEMENT over the 30 foot roadway, known as "Sentinel Court St." leading to West End Avenue.