HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSI NCOA Response 406.282.4277
info@loveschack.com
www.loveschackarchitecture.com
Dear Ms. Rosenberg,
We have reviewed your comments on the NCOA application for 542 N Black Ave (#22257) and
have conducted some additional research into the history of this site and building. We request,
based on this research, that you reconsider your request for design changes to highlight the
original structure.
The existing house sits on a historically significant site (the former orchard tended by the widow
of one of Bozeman’s founding fathers), but neither the building nor the history of its inhabitants
are noteworthy. The parcel was platted as part of Bozeman founding father, William Beall’s,
second addition and was operated as part of the Beall homestead farm. The current Beall
Community Center was built by Beall during his courtship of school teacher Rosa Beall. They
married in 1868.
Although William Beall was an architect, none of his architectural contributions still stand. The
current structure was built after the death of Beall’s widow Rosa who died in 1930. In the years
following her death the parcel was sold, the orchard removed, and a 12’x30’ wooden structure
erected on the site in 1935, during the height of the Great Depression. The original structure
was a simple box, heated by a central wood burning stove. The original structure lacked even
covered entryways (these were a later addition).
The building, as it exists today, has been altered relative to what was constructed in 1935. The
slab-on-grade covered entrances were added after the building’s original crawl space
foundation construction. The rear 14’ of the building is a late addition to the building (dating
from the 70’s or early 80’s). The rear addition likely coincided with the installation of the current
wide format wood fiber siding (which, the historic property card notes, is obviously not a
material that is original to the structure).
The design process for the current design under review has been informed by the site’s history
and heritage as well as the character of the surrounding neighborhood. The current design
provides infill housing in a style and manner that is consistent with the general form, mass, and
layout of the existing structure. The façade facing Black Avenue will be preserved in,
substantially, its current form. The proposed additional units continue the site’s history of
providing small, modest, and attainable housing.
We request the design be approved as is, with the clipped eave and vertical metal siding on the
north elevation, so that the original structure, while being maintained in scale and form, is
congruent with the design as a whole. We believe this change in material does not detract from
the story of the development of this site but rather writes its next chapter for today and the
future of Bozeman.
1904 Sanborn Map of the Subject Site
1927 Sanborn Map of the Subject Site
Sources
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/realty/unsung-heroes-william-rosa-beall/article_e0f7
0a32-272b-5b18-8ff9-503940e17a3d.html
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