Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2023 04 17

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SUMMARY: The applicant requests a finding of probable cause for landmark designation to allow for funding of a historic structure assessment for 1045 Front Street. Under Resolution No. 17, Series 2019, a property may be eligible for reimbursement for a historic structure assessment (HSA) from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) if the Historic Preservation Commission finds "probable cause to believe the building may be eligible for landmarking under the criteria in section 15.36.050 of the Louisville Municipal Code." Further, "a finding of probable cause under this Section is solely for the purposes of action on the pre-landmarking building assessment grant request, and such finding shall not be binding upon the HPC, City Council or other party to a landmarking hearing." HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Information from Bridget Bacon, Louisville Historical Museum This home has been consecutively owned by members of the same Scarano / LaSalle / DeSantis / Winslow family from 1909 until 2023, for a total of 114 years. The owners for almost the entirety of that time were women of the family who were the sole owners: Rosa Scarano LaSalle, her daughter Adeline LaSalle DeSantis, and her daughter Doris DeSantis Winslow. Residents' occupations included coal mining, driving/delivering for a grocery store, janitorial services for a local fraternal organization, food factory work, and administrative work at Boulder Valley School District (BVSD), and for most of the history of the house, have had strong connections to the Italian immigrant history of the town. Of particular note in the social history of the house and its relationship to Louisville's broader history is that the husband of Adeline LaSalle DeSantis, one of the owners of 1045 Front, was killed in the Monarch Mine Explosion of 1936. Adeline's husband, "Tony" DeSantis, was an Italian immigrant, and when Adeline married him Adeline was likely one of the women who was deemed an "alien by marriage", losing her citizenship when she married a foreign -born man. This federal law was in place from 1907 to 1921. It was not until 1963 that Adeline filed the paperwork that allowed her US citizenship to be reinstated. In addition to Adeline's ownership of the house, 1045 Front appears to have a higher -than -average number of women owners throughout its history. Please see the attached Social History Report for a more detailed history.