Detail shot of an area on the historic Lovejoy mansion where decorative 'fish scale' woodwork has been removed. The owner of the structure is under fire for destroying the beauty of the architecturally significant building.
This photo from 01-31-07 shows wooden detailing on the Lovejoy mansion on the corner of St. Lawrence Ave and Division St.. The owner has recently destroyed much of the elaborate wood work on the structure during an ongoing remodel. At the time of the photo, the owner had recently replaced most of the original sash windows with solid panes of glass.
The owner of the Lovejoy mansion on the corner of St Lawrence Ave and Divison St. is once again in hot water for deliberately destroying important architectural details of the historic structure. (Current, AFTER photo. See BEFORE photo)
JANESVILLE — “Pretty yukky” and “egregious.”
That’s how two people describe the work on the historic Lovejoy Manor in Janesville.
Brad Goodrich, owner of the Lovejoy Manor, 220 St. Lawrence Ave., last year began encasing the wood in EIFS, a concrete/stucco-like material that doesn’t resemble the original wood. He stripped off the fish scales and apparently plastered over the decorative detailing and vertical batten.
The plaque that proclaims the home as being on the National Register of Historic Places now looks out of place.
Goodrich runs the Ekklasia Foundation in the building. Goodrich could not be reached for comment. His business phone is out of service, and he did not return a phone call after a reporter went to the Lovejoy Manor and left a message for him to call.
The city ordered Goodrich to stop work in November because he did not get the building permit needed to work on the exterior of a home in the historic overlay district.
City staff told Goodrich to make an appointment with the historic commission before he continued work. He has not done so.
“When you take a wood feature on a building and it suddenly looks like it’s concrete, well, that’s not consistent with the intent of the historic preservation ordinances,” said Gale Price of the city’s community development department.
Brad Cantrell, director of the department, said if details are “removed and replaced with just a plain surface, that obviously takes away a lot of the character of the home. That’s what makes that area so special.”
Jackie Wood, a historic enthusiast, said ornamentation that rots can and should be replaced with replications.
“That’s the story that the historic homes tell—the type of architecture and construction that will never be built again,” she said. “It tells a story of that time and place.
“What he (Goodrich) did to the Lovejoy house is egregious,” Wood said. “He literally cleaned them all off and put a flat surface over it.”
Price said the original Lovejoy Manor is one of the top three to five historic structures in Janesville. Wood noted its national designation.
The home is in Janesville’s one historic overlay district, created with the aim to protect historic homes. The city’s historic commission is working on another overlay district in the downtown area.
Owners of properties in those districts can eventually do what they want with their properties, even tear them down. But they must first get needed building permits for any exterior work and appear before the historic commission.
If members do not approve the plans, they are put on hold for six months. Members hope to use that time to help the homeowner accomplish his or her project in more historically friendly ways.
The owner can appeal to the plan commission. Or he or she can simply wait six months and do the work as originally planned as long as it complies with basic building codes.
Last year, the city added windows to exterior work that requires permits. That was in response to what historic commission members believed was inappropriate work done by Goodrich on the Lovejoy Manor.
The penalty for not complying with the process can be up to $500 a day.
In the case of Lovejoy Manor, the owner did the work without first clearing it with the historic commission. Still, even if he had, he could have done what he wanted after six months.
Some historic advocates say the city’s ordinance doesn’t go far enough to protect historic homes.
Cantrell said strengthening the requirements in the overlay district has been discussed on and off over the last 15 years.
The city in the 1980s chose the route of education and advice over regulation, he said.
“For most practical purposes, people who buy a home in the area want to do the right thing,” Cantrell said. “This was perceived as a learning process for individuals who really want to do the right thing and need guidance on how to proceed.”
For the most part, that approach has been effective, Cantrell said.
He can recall only one appeal under the ordinance during that time.
“I think that the historic commission tries to be reasonable and always understands economic conditions and tradeoffs in remodeling a home,” he said.
“That’s the sad thing about historical preservation,” Wood said. “You have to hope that the people who get their hands on the historical homes protect them enough and buy them because they want to maintain them in their original (states.)”
She hopes the historic commission comes forward with ways to strengthen the ordinance.
“They should be able to say, ‘It behooves you to have an overlay district’ and educate why that’s a good thing.”
Rich Fletcher, chairman of the historic commission, agreed it would be nice if the ordinance was strengthened. The initiative should come from residents who live within the overlay district, he said.
“They usually have to make a request to us to get the ball rolling,” he said.
“You don’t want to be too overbearing, and, quite frankly, Janesville isn’t South Carolina or Georgia where they do have really strict (ordinances),” Fletcher said.
Meanwhile, the commission has a manual explaining the overlay district, the permit process and work the commission would most likely approve. The commission also hosts historic walking tours and seminars to educate residents on the importance of historical preservation, he said.
Said Wood: “It takes people who care enough to make the public outcry when something like this happens. If a community has enough people that feel that strongly about their properties and feel strongly about the history, then it gets done.”