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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHomeowner Letter- 150 Sea StreetBarnstable Historical Commission - Hardship Appeal - 9/10/2025 Submitted by Jeffrey Turrill 150 Sea St, Hyannis, MA 02601 Subject: ADA Accessible Improvements – Wheelchair access to all floors and grade of 150 Sea St At the time of this submission, 150 Sea St has not been determined as to whether the property is or is not historically significant. Need statement: My wife Angela has four comorbidities, one of which interferes with climbing stairs, particularly those of our home. If we travel long distances we use a wheelchair or rollator. For the past 5 years, she has been sleeping in a recliner chair in the first floor living room. Because there is only a half bath on the first floor, she takes sponge baths in the kitchen, and I wash her hair in the kitchen sink. The proposed addition will include a medium capacity elevator and is the primary reason for the addition. This will allow my wife to sleep in a bed and use the shower on the second floor. The addition proposal in different forms has been advanced to zoning four times over the past 20 years, always for mobility needs. However, the property is non-conforming, and the most recent proposal after 10 months was finally approved. Previous alternative solutions: We attempted to find another house in Barnstable with a single story and a second dwelling unit on the same property for a support person. My wife no longer drives, and I may soon not be able to drive either. We have had a support person in the back cottage for over 10 years who provides many services. There were several reasons, financial and otherwise, that prevented us from moving. We also had lift experts, and the house is not conducive to installing an elevator in the existing footprint and an external hoist way would be needed. If the hoist way is attached directly to the existing house, it would have to be in the front which ruins the public way view and appearance. We concluded that only an addition in the back which moves the elevator far enough away from the existing house would allow multiple points of entry for each floor which are not vertically aligned. Current proposal: In this appeal, it can be demonstrated that the addition will not be viewable from a public way, will be congruent with the 1936 period of architecture, congruent with the style of the existing home, congruent with coastal properties and provide handicap features, desperately needed. During the past 20 years, siding, roofs and all windows were replaced with vinyl Thermopane yet material selection and appearance was a duplication of the original construction. A review of the site plan shows that the addition will be behind and dwarfed by the existing house. On the north side, it is also set in by 10 inches to break the sight line (existing house casts a shadow) such that a passerby on the public way would not see the back of the addition. The existing house is a 1-3/4 story structure, and the elevator requires the second story to be 96 inches to include cab accessories on the roof of the cab. If a gable roof were applied to the addition, the ridge of the addition would be at a higher elevation than the existing house causing a framing challenge. It is proposed to be a flat roof not only to be shorter than the existing house but a flat roof allows for a hoist way hatch access cover, provides maximum insolation (direct sunlight) to our neighbor’s tomato garden, makes the structure less obtrusive keeping the rear dormer roof line consistent with the roof of the addition. The flat roof also provides a deck for a widow’s walk which have been common in coastal communities for centuries. The addition will have an overhang on the south side that will be a continuation through the use of a roof valley with the existing house overhang under the dormer makes it look continuous in nature. The interior of the addition will have a scullery which became prevalent in the Victorian and Edwardian era as it was recognized that the scullery helped prevent spread of infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid, largely due to the sanitary work of the scullery girl or scullery maid. The scullery is a working food preparation area with its central table, good for storing dishes, appliances and in our case important as we have no pantry. Our home was built at the end of scullery era except for large homes. The bedroom will replace a small existing bedroom which then becomes a hallway to the new bedroom in the addition so the house is still a 3 bedroom home. The second floor will have an accessible bedroom large enough for a hospital bed, a second bed, a reclining chair and to store a Hoyer lift. The floors will be vinyl for easy moving of the lift. Lighting and call for aid will be voice controlled. The bedroom will have a double French door (a descendent of the French Renaissance), (15 lites each) with an astragal and the balcony will have a removable rail to allow a hospital bed and Hoyer lift to be hoisted in. The door to the bathroom will be wide with a power operator with a hand wave control. The garage will be a single car which is also consistent with the one car family with a stay-at-home Mom, common not only in the 1930’s but prolific until well into the 1950’s. The garage with its elevator lobby will also provide access to the car without walking on the slippery stone driveway in the winter. Stone driveways are also difficult to push a wheelchair on. The breezeway is added to make the cottage look taller to break the contrast of the addition height to the low cottage roof. It will add natural light and air flow to the cottage. The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright started adding breezeways to his designs about 1900. The breezeway is more congruent with Zoning’s desire to make the house more apparently conforming to the single home zoning instead of two detached structures. Exterior features consistent with the existing house are corner boards and six over six grilled colonial pattern double hung windows. This project is not a tear down and mansionization – it is purely for my wife and I to remain in our beautiful home in a superb location as long as we can. I am begging the commission for the sake of my wife that consideration be given to this hardship appeal. Most respectfully, Jeffrey Turrill Attachments: Demolition rear existing house p Site plan interconnect grade trees p Addition floor plan 2nd floor rev 2 p Addition floor plan garage rev 2 p Addition Elevator Hoistway and Stops rev 2 p Addition south view p Addition east view p Addition north view p 150 Sea St Hyannis View From East Remove single window for hallway from existing house handicap bathroom to new bedroom in addition. 4 feet wide for hoyer lift Existing house demolition Remove double window for hallway from existing house to new bedroom in addition Remove siding and gutter 200 Feet 200 Feet79.2 Feet63.8 Feet13.0 Feet23.7 Feet15.0 Feet44.3 Feet 13.9 Feet38.2 Feet 18 Feet34 Feet10 Feet10 Feet20.0 Feet 22.0 Feet22.0 Feet20.0 Feet 23.0 Feet 23.0 Feet 4.0 Feet Offset 26 Feet 41.7 Feet 0.7 Feet Offset 10 Ft Deck Proposed Addition 33 Ft X 22 FT 8 Foot covered Breezeway 27' ASL 27' ASL 26' ASL 25' ASL 25' ASL 24' ASL 26' ASL 25 ASL 24' ASL 24' ASL 23' ASL 24' ASL 23' ASL North Stone Driveway extends to south property line Elevations from ustopographic/massachusetts ASL = Above Mean Sea Level 150 Sea St Hyannis Site Plan Existing roof 150 Sea St Existing 2 story home Existing 1 story cottage TREE 10 Inch Offset Obstructs view of addition from street 4 Foot Overhang Overhang roof is a continuation of dormer roof on existing house 4 Foot overhang Balcony Existing Bathroom Entrance to existing 2nd floor 2nd Floor Bedroom Connect overhang to existing roof creating a valley 33' 22' Stairs to widows walk 150 Sea St Hyannis 2nd Floor Plan Bench and cabinet under window F/CO Interconnected Fire / CO Detector Elevator F/CO Located in existing hallway outside new bedroom Interconnected Fire DetectorFIRE FIRE Existing roof Handicap Bedroom Wide to accommodate hospital bed, 2nd bed, reclining chair, park hoyer lift Vinyl floor to roll hoyer lift 4 foot opening to bathroom to roll hoyer lift into bathroom Double French door with astragals to hoist in hospital bed and hoyer lift Voice controlled lighting, call for aid and doors 4 Foot overhang Fire Door 1st Floor Elevation Scullery Garage Elevation 4 feet below 1st floor Interconnected Fire / CO Detector Down Elevator Interconnected Heat Detector UP This floor same elevation as garage slab 15.5' 17.5' 21.5' F/CO HD HD F/CO 150 Sea St Hyannis 1st Floor / Garage Plan Elevator Hoistway and Stops Sump 150 Sea St Hyannis Elevator Detail Basement Floor First Floor Roof Hoistway Cover and Access Second Floor Door Door Door Door Fire Door Garage Floor Bridge at same elevation as garage floor Elevator Details - Inclinator 38 x 60 cab Wheelchair access to all floors and garage Cab 38 x 60 x 80 4 stops Roped Hydraulic Pass through design (exit both sides) 4,5 1000 pound capacity Emergency telephone -- battery backup lights Motorized gates 2nd Floor requires 96 inch clearance Overhang with shingles, connected to existing roof with valley 10 foot wide deck extends to end of house Open Breezeway Sky light non venting Widows walk railing Flat roof, pitched 1/4 " per foot towards back Existing house Existing cottage 150 Sea St Hyannis View From South 10 foot wide garage door Double 15 lite French door, with astragals, balcony, railing Shingles - landmark architectural - cobblestone grey PVC trim Siding - Mastic Discover triple 5 Harbor Grey View from South Breezeway roof reduces sharp conflict between elevations of new addition and existing cottage Balcony railing removable to hoist in hospital bed and hoyer lift Overhang roof aligns and continues roof of existing house Windows - Colonial 6 over 6 divided grills Widows walk in keeping with coastal community Shingles - landmark architectural - cobblestone grey PVC trim Siding - Mastic Discover triple 5 Harbor Grey 150 Sea St Hyannis View From East Existing House Addition Breezeway roof connects to cottage Sky light New 10' wide deck View from East Flat roof maximizes insolation (direct sunlight) to neighbor's garden Deck on same level as 1st floor to allow wheel chair access Shingles - landmark architectural - cobblestone grey PVC trim Siding - Mastic Discover triple 5 Harbor Grey 150 Sea St Hyannis View From North Widows walk railing Remove dormer rake run new frame to ridge Remove rake and raise up existing side wall to meet new roof from addition and same height as dormer Sky light non venting Open Breezeway Detail - plan view of return to fill 10" offset and raise existing side wall roof overhangs addition but aligns with side of existing house Existing cottage Flat roof, pitched 1/4 " per foot towards back View from North Flat roof is lower than existing house, increases insolation (right to direct sunlight in neighbor's garden) Breezeway roof makes differences in height less visible Windows - Colonial 6 over 6 divided grills Widows walk in keeping with coastal community Provides easy access to elevator hoistway cover