The context is a neighborhood of predominantly late 18th century and early 19th century folk Victorian dwellings. An historic brick Victorian cottage built in the early 1880’s and totaling 910 square feet is situated at the front of the lot facing Grant Street. The lot is just 50’ in width but 180’ in depth and slopes about 6’ from front to rear. The depth and slope provided enough clear distance from the main house to suitably build this infill addition at the rear of the lot without crowding the main house. A green zone landscaped with California native plants, trees and shrubs forms the common space between the two buildings. An existing alley at the rear provides separate access. The new infill development is a two story Carriage House designed to complement the existing residence and mesh well with the historic neighborhood. A Certificate of Appropriateness was required by the City Historic and Scenic Preservation Commission.

Parcel maps show that an auxiliary structure had existed at this location in the early 1900’s, a factor that helped support the argument for a new development of a carriage house in the same lot, which will be shown as a separate project in this webpage.

The existing property is a designated resource within the Smiley Park Historic District of Redlands.  Known as the Jay D. Clark house, the original masonry structure was built in 1888.  This modest Folk Victorian dwelling features a front facing gable roof with equivalent cross gable and shows fine masonry detailing.  The completed addition nearly tripled the size of the house, by adding1,300 s.f.  Added space included a new bedroom, 2 new baths, a new kitchen, office loft, and full height basement with shop and storage.  When the 1920’s addition was removed to allow for the new addition to be built, an original masonry cistern was discovered buried in the earth.  The cistern was incorporated into the design and converted to a unique wine cellar.  Because the addition was substantial in size relative to the original building, appropriate detailing was critical to achieve a complementary balance with this project.  The architectural details, materials, size and scale of the addition were all carefully considered to differentiate the new work from the old in a manner compatible with the original to protect the historic integrity of the property.