Savannah Victorian Historic District, 103 East Duffy Lane (House), Savannah

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,53R-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This two-story lane cottage is an early twentieth cen- tury garage with living quarters above. It was built for Molin Hesse, who had built the cottage on the front of the lot more than thirty years before. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: ca. The structure was built after because the Sanborn Map lists a one-and-a-half-story building and the present structure is a full two stories. The New Improvement Book lists additions to lot valued at The Sanborn, updated in shows changes to this structure, These references may indicate that the present two-story structure was erected ca. or it may be the product of a major renovation of an earlier one-and-one-half-story nineteenth century carriage house. 2. Architect: Not known. 3.

Original owner: Molina (Melina) Hesse (Hess), a cashier with the Krouskoff Millinery Company. The Hesse family immigrated from Germany to Savannah in the and For background information, see Savannah Victorian Historic District, HABS No. GA-1169. B.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,53R-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Insurance Maps of Savannah, Sanborn Map Company, New York located in Georgia Historical Society. New Improvement Book, located in Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia. 103 EAST DUFFY LANE HABS No. GA-1169R (Page 2) City Directory, Savannah, located in Georgia Historical Society. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey August, PART IK ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION: A. General Statement: 1. Architectural character: This simple lane cottage is characterized by an overhanging balcony and Victorian screen doors. 2. Condition of fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior: 1. Overall dimensions: The two-story structure measures 31 across its three-bay front by 2. Foundations: Brick, covered with stucco. 3. Wall construction: Clapboard siding. 4.

Structural system: Wood frame construction. 5. Porches, steps: The north second-story entry stoop is approached from the west by wooden steps. The stair and porch balusters are plain; plain square posts support the shed roof. A wooden balcony extends across the south elevation at the second- story level. Its roof is an extension of the main block's gable roof. It also has plain posts and spindles. 6. Chimneys: A stuccoed brick chimney is located at center. Since there are no interior fireplaces, this may have been used to vent a wood-burning stove or space heater, 7. Openings: a. Doorways, doors: The north second-floor entrance is a raised five-panel door. The south door to the porch is a frame cottage door with a glass panel in the upper half and three raised panels below.

There are original Victorian screen doors with decorative corner brackets and a frieze of turned spindles on both the north and south elevations. Three pairs of hinged garage doors constructed of diagonal wooden strips open into the ground-floor area. b. Windows: The windows are two-over-two-light double-hung sash with hinged screens. 103 EAST DUFFY LANE HABS No. GA-1169R (Page 3) 8. Roof: a. Shape, covering: Gable roof covered with diamond-patterned asphalt roofing. b. Cornice, eaves: Plain cornice. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plan: a. Ground floor is divided into three bays by corrugated metal partitions between wooden piers. b. Second floor: A wide central hall flanked by a large room to the west and a kitchen and bathroom to the east. 2. Stairways: None. 3.

Flooring: Narrow wooden flooring covered with vinyl. 4C Wall and ceiling finish: Plaster wallboards and ceilings trimmed with picture molding. The kitchen and bath have wide waist-high paneling. 5 Doorways, doors: The interior doors are frame raised five-panel doors set into plain frames. 6. Mechanical equipment: a. Heating, airconditioning, ventilating: Gas space heater. b. Plumbing: Standard plumbing fixtures. c. Lighting: Electric wiring and fixtures. D. Site: The cottage faces south on the lane, but is entered from the north side. The cars enter the garage from the lane side. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey September, 103 EAST DUFFY LANE HABS No. GA-1169R (Page 4} PART III.

PROJECT INFORMATION" This project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey in cooper- ation with the City of Savannah, the Historic Preservation Section of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, Inc., and Historic Savannah Foundation. The recording project was completed dur- ing the summer of under the general direction of John Poppeliers, Chief of HABS; Kenneth L.

Anderson, Principal Architect; Eric Delony, Project Coordinator, Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, Inc.; Beth Lattimore Reiter, Project Historian, Savannah Landmark Rehabilitation Project, Inc.; and Susan Dornbusch, Project Supervisor, University of Virginia; with student architects Gregori Ander- son (Howard University), David Fixler (Columbia University), Stephen Lauf (Temple University), and Tamara Peacock (University of Florida), at the HABS Office in Savannah, Georgia. The drawings were edited in the Washington office in September by architects Susan Dornbusch and Gregori Anderson. The historical and archi- tectural data was reviewed and edited during October-November by staff histo- rian Jan Cigliano.

Photographs were taken in September by Walter Smalling, a staff photographer with the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. The doc- umentation on the historic district will be used in the rehabilitation of the resi- dences and in developing design guidelines for the area.