HomeMy WebLinkAboutOASIS ON OLIVE - PDP - PDP180003 - CORRESPONDENCE - LANDSCAPE PLANKaren McWilliams
From: Mollie Simpson <msimpson@bhadesign.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2018 5:00 PM
To: Karen McWilliams
Subject: 231 S. Howes Street
Karen,
I have been working with Steve Slezak to document Mrs. Davis's heritage gardens at 231 S. Howes Street. As a landscape
architect with a masters degree in Historic Preservation, and a current member of the LPC board, I have essential
knowledge in landscape design and historic preservation to appropriately document this cultural resource prior to site
development.
As part of this task, we are looking at a number of characteristics that define the gardens. These include qualities such as
planting bed size and shape; plant rhythm and spacing; species type and overall counts. Because the roses were of
particular interest to Mrs. Davis, we are also looking at the location and placement of each type of heritage rose in the
planting beds.
As the back half of the site develops, it is crucial that 231 S. Howes retain the details that make it a prime example of a
historic residence in Fort Collins. Mrs. Davis, for whom this house was landmarked, was an avid gardener, and enjoyed
the yard as much as the house. The layout of the flower beds around the yard, are vernacular in design, and takes cues
from site related features including the site lines from the house to the yard, the shadows formed by the street trees
and keeping bed widths at a minimum, for what I can only assume, is related to Mrs. Davis's reach. The garden's
association with the opposed open turf lawn create positive and negative spaces, that emphasis the garden's splendor
and frame a comfortable environment to enjoy lawn related activities. It is the garden's association with the landmarked
house and the abutting turf lawn that make it prime for interpretation.
The current landscape design does not maintain this historic association. The heritage roses are scattered around the
site and the turf lawn is replaced with a walled raingarden. It is my opinion that the use of the raingarden in Mrs. Davis's
open lawn is entirely not appropriate for historical interpretation. It diminish the hierarchy of the yard, creates
confusion around historic features of a yard from this time period, and leaves little planting room to put the roses back
in place.
If the raingarden is required, it should be designed in a way that allow the historic part of this site to be what it always
has been - the rose garden and adjacent turf, central in the backyard of one of our local landmarks. As a member of the
LPC board, I would encourage you to re-evaluate how to best reach the stormwater goals for this site that preserve the
historical footprint Mrs. Davis's yard.
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Mollie C. Simpson
BHA Design Incorporated
1603 Oakridge Drive
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525
phone: 970.223,7577
www.bhadesign.com