Norfolk applies pattern books to neighborhood renovation

Homeowners in Norfolk, Virginia, are responding enthusiastically to a 70-page pattern book that presents a wealth of ideas on how to enlarge, remodel, or restyle houses in that 234,000-population city. Last year Urban Design Associates (UDA) of Pittsburgh completed “A Pattern Book for Norfolk Neighborhoods,” which the city is using as a tool for upgrading Norfolk’s large stock of post-World War II houses and for renovating or adding onto houses built earlier in the city’s history. “The results have been much better than we could have imagined,” says Acquanetta Ellis, assistant director of the Department of Planning and Community Development. The soft-cover guide, with pages approximately 11 by 14 inches, contains hundreds of line drawings, color photos, and sketches depicting the most common kinds of houses found in Norwalk and showing how they can be renovated or expanded gracefully. Many postwar houses, in particular, are smaller and have fewer amenities (such as bathrooms, master bedrooms, and modern kitchens) than today’s homebuyers prefer. Those deficiencies, along with the tendency of postwar houses to be stylistically unfashionable, have caused many of them to stagnate in value. “Fifty-five percent of Norfolk houses are valued at $100,000 or below, according to the 2000 Census,” Ellis notes. The Norfolk guide is organized in the four-part format that UDA typically uses in its pattern books: first an overview and then sections on neighborhood patterns, architectural patterns, and landscape patterns. Thus, readers — whether they are homeowners, contractors, or others — can identify the traits of the neighborhood and the architectural style of the house and learn how to redo an existing house in a way that will add value both to the neighborhood and the dwelling. In simple, straightforward language, the pattern book examines proportions, materials, porches, doors, windows, wings, dormers, garages, and other house parts. The publication also guides people who are building houses from scratch. Transforming postwar housing Illustrations demonstrate how mass-produced postwar houses, many of which were produced without much attention to detailing, can be transformed into more refined dwellings. A small house without much style could take on a European Romantic character through strategic additions and detailing, for example. In the case of bungalows from the early decades of the 20th century, the goal frequently is to retain their existing character while adding on. To further help residents and contractors make good decisions, the city established a design center in a downtown storefront, staffed by a dozen to 14 employees. Anyone can visit the center, get a pattern book, and receive free advice from a staff member, including drawings. The center does not provide detailed architectural plans. The local AIA chapter has embraced the program by offering a lecture series on housing, neighborhoods, and architecture. “We have a lot of partnerships to make this thing work,” Ellis says. “[UDA principal] Ray Gindroz has his thumbprint all over the city,” Ellis observed. “He has really helped us to understand neighborhood design, good materials, etc.” Preparation and publication of the pattern book cost the city about $250,000, Ellis said. Before work began on the pattern book, Zimmerman/Volk Associates studied the housing market in Norfolk to understand why some kinds of houses weren’t selling and what the potential for a turnaround would be. Rob Robinson, UDA managing principal, said the cost of the Norfolk project was “way toward the upper end of the [firm’s] range” because “it involved lots of process with neighborhood groups and historic preservation groups” as well as close inspection of details (such as construction of typical eaves and porches) and instruction on how to transform many house types. Less expensive and more common, he said, would be a study of a historic district or a part of a city, which might cost “$65,000 to $75,000 and up.” Pattern books that focus only on architectural styles cost less than Norfolk’s book, which delves into neighborhood patterns of an entire city, not just house styles. u