House and porch wrecking

Rowhouse on the 4400 block of 14th Street, NW. Photo credits: anonymous photo correspondent.

I have written a bit about the terrible piece by Marc Fisher about the debacle in Mt. Pleasant where a houseowner wants to rape the front of the house and porch, ostensibly to build an access ramp for his parents, who he's stuffed in the basement, while working to rent the two floors above. The Historic Preservation Review Board said no, and this got many people up in arms even though the access ramp proposed is not able to be used unassisted, defeating the purpose.

See the blog entry, "Preservation takes it on the chin," from December.

So there has been loose talk about the "need" for a "personal hardship" clause in the local laws, something which I disagree with, stridently. Hardship is in the eye of the beholder, and most people claiming hardship do so out of unwillingness, not out of true need. (Providing funds to assist people of limited means in maintaining the architectural integrity of their house is a different question, and one which all preservationists should favor.)

Anyway, a photo correspondent sends these photos of a rowhouse on the 4400 block of 14th Street NW, which has been butchered in a similar fashion to the request by the owner of the house on 3228 Walbridge Place, NW.

He writes:

"If residents are interested in knowing and seeing what happens when you don't have a Historic Preservation Office and an active community" (and community organizations, especially those committed to historic preservation and neighborhood character), "I would ask them to stop-by my neighborhood."

This looks more like a ramp for skateboarding if you ask me.