Graczyk's residence august 25, 2009
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Side of the house.
Photograph by Jim Graczyk. |
Every city has various design guidelines to follow for different areas of the city. As Jim Graczyk discovered with his private property, they are not always followed, which can have a negative impact on the ambiance of the street.
Jim started working on his house in the Historic District of Denver over a year ago. With a few simple changes, he effectively changed the appearance of his house from plain and ordinary to lively and vibrant. He painted his front door fire red and installed planter boxes under the windows on the second floor. These upgrades brought liveliness to the residential street. On the other side of the property line, Jim’s new neighbor started to build a stone and iron fence that did not match Denver’s Design Guidelines. The City of Denver mandated a reduction in the height of the fence per Design Guidelines. Nonetheless, the fence stayed the same.
How can we preserve a cohesive design and appearance for the public streets in historic parts of the city? Are the Design Guidelines enough? As we can see from this example, new homeowners clearly must be made aware of these regulations when purchasing a property in order to preserve the cohesive appearance of the public realm.
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Entry door.
Photograph by Jim Graczyk. |
Stone walkway with steps.
Photograph by Jim Graczyk. |
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Wall of neighbors. Photograph by Jim Graczyk. |
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