I ♥ ♥ ♥ Eric Smith and Associates

In 1988, Boulder’s Landmark Board surveyed the buildings in the Whittier neighborhood and identified properties of historical significance. 1937 Spruce Street was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. We knew the city’s interest in preserving the house would restrict what could be done with the property and we needed to find an architectural firm with experience remodeling historic properties and dealing with the various committees, boards, departments and councils that would have to approve our plans.

We felt fortunate to have found Eric Smith of Eric Smith and Associates. With offices located in an historic church that he remodeled to meet the needs of his practice, Eric had firsthand knowledge of the challenges we would face in remodeling and expanding an historic structure. We hired Eric and his team in early ’09 and began to design our home.

Historic Church Converted into Offices
by Eric Smith and Associates

The first challenge we faced was the size of our lot. Most of the lots in the Whittier neighborhood are 140’ deep x 50’ wide. Our lot had been divided in 1919 and its 95’ x 50’ dimension is considered “substandard” by the city. A corner lot, the city required a 25’ front yard setback, a 25’ rear yard setback, a 25’ east side yard setback, and a 5’ west side yard. Do the math – that left a building envelope of just 45’ x 20'! The existing building was bigger than that!

It was clear that we would need to be granted a variance from the Planning and Zoning Department to do anything to the property. ESA knew what needed to be done. They worked with us to develop a plan that would be acceptable to the Landmark Board’s Design Review Committee. Without the Landmarks Board approval, there would be no variance and we would not be able to move forward.

The Committee required us to preserve the entire existing roof as well as three sides of the original building and keep the scale of an addition appropriate to the size of the lot. With a limited building footprint, how could we possibly get three bedrooms, three baths and a single car garage into an area that did not compromise the original structure?

ESA worked tirelessly with the Landmark Design Review Committee and we were able to come up with a house plan that met our needs while adhering to the committee’s guidelines. The neighbors were introduced to the planned improvements and, with their overwhelming support, the issue was brought before the City Council in August, 2009. We got our variance and spent the rest of the year finalizing our building plans.

I must say that there were times during this stage of the project when we seriously questioned whether we wanted to continue. Going into this project, we had no clue what was involved in restoring an historic home. At times we thought, “Wouldn’t it just be better to sell the property and purchase something that was already finished?” ESA kept us on track and their positive energy throughout the design process and negotiations eased our doubts. We knew we had made the right choice to restore this house.