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The goal of the Historic Preservation Commission is to preserve the historic character of Old Town. It is this character that makes Old Town Louisville a unique and inviting place to live. To that end, the Commission encourages home owners in Old Town who are considering exterior renovations or additions to be mindful of the impact of those changes on the atmosphere of Old Town and in particular the impact to the character and feel of the street fayade. Commission encourages you to consider the items listed below as you plan your project and hopes that you will keep these ideas in mind when designing your addition. Although not every home or lot will allow for all of these recommendations, we hope the comments below will be helpful as you move forward with your project. REAR ADDITIONS pedestrian-friendly feel of the neighborhood from the street contributes to the overall character of the Old Town area. Maintaining the smaller street fayade of a building while adding to the rear helps to keep that smaller feel for those viewing the neighbor- hood from the sidewalk. Many Old Town lots allow for rear additions as a large number of the homes are built on the very front of the lot. lots sufficient space for garages or other ofF,street parking on the rear of the lot with access from the alley. Limiting your addition to the rear of the lot may lessen the impact of that addition on the neighboring houses. If your home can support such an addition and your lot is appropriate you may want to consider a rear addition rather than expanding directly upward. HEIGHT & MASSING CONSIDERATIONS difFerent and putting some con- sideration into where you put the height and mass of your addition can make a significant aflects the historic character of the home. size and topography of your lot can lend itself to the particular placement of an addition. Your lot may allow for a stepped back addition to the side of the home that would place the bulk of the addition away from the street fayade thereby helping to retain the character of the neghborhood. In addition, by placing height and mass thoughtfully on your lot you may be able to lessen the impact on neighboring homes as well. STEPPED-BACK SECOND STORYS If you are thinking of adding a second story to your home, we suggest you consider stepping back the addition from the first floor thereby retaining the street level focus of the original structure. We recommend that the second story be no more that 75% of the square footage of the first story. By stepping back your second story, the mass of an ad- dition has less impact on the lot as a whole and the original 111ere are a number of homes in Old Town with stepped-back second stories if you are looking for examples. RETENTION OR REESTABLISHMENT OF INiNDOW AND DOOR LOCATIONS historic features of a home include the original door and window openings. We recommend you consider retain- removal or changing of door and window openings will alter the historical integrity of the house. You may consider looking for old photos of your home Louisville Historical Museum may have historical photos of your home. Elements such as these have a signifcant value to the ar- chitectural integrity of your property and the removal of these features will alter the historical integrity of the house and may at some point render it no longer contributing to a potential Historic District. ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE Historic Preservation Commission's Design Review limited assistance and rec- ommendations on your Old Town home remodel project. Architects on the committee are available to give you advice on addition location, height and massing, and second story step-backs. For information, please contact Meredyth Muth at muthm@ci.louisville.co.us or 303.335.4536.