Savannah Victorian Historic District, 414-416 East Waldburg Street (House), Savannah

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,530-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Masonry row houses are rare in the Victorian District. This is a particularly handsome row with marble trim. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: 19O0. The Tax Digest lists no improvements, but the Tax Digest of lists improvements valued at 2. Architect: Not known. 3. Original owner: Dr. Thomas P. Waring. The property is on part of lots E,F,G, Lee Ward. 4. Alterations and additions: The original four two-story townhouse units were subdivided into eight apartments, one on each floor in each townhouse. A new foyer was constructed for each townhouse to give access to the upper and lower apartment. Bathrooms and closets were added on the first floor. Corner fireplaces were removed in the rear room of the first floor.

For backqround information, see Savannah Victorian Historic District, HABS No. GA-1169." B.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA,26-SAV,530-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Tax Digest, City of Savannah, Georgia Historical Society. City Directory, City of Savannah, Georgia Historical Society. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey August, EAST WALDBURG STREET HABS No. GA-1169 0 (Page 2) PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural character: The use of brick and marble trim distin- guishes this turn-of-the-century row. The use of tile and the curvilinear outline of the gable over the bay window gives this structure a Spanish Revival style feel. 2. Condition of fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior: 1. Overall dimensions: The main two-story block measures across its four-bay front X 34' deep. The rear wing is X 2. Foundations: Raised brick pier over crawl space. 3.

Wall construction: Red brick. 4. Structural system: Load-bearing brick construction. 50 Porches: A one-story porch extends across the front (south) elevation, supported by wooden Corinthian columns on marble bases resting on brick pedestals. Plain wooden balusters support a plain rail between the columns. (The original turned wood balusters can be seen at 420 East Waldburg Street) At the rears a covered porch is located between the projecting wings of each unit. The back porch of 414 is approached by six concrete block steps; the original posts and rails have been removed and replaced by rough lumber posts. 6. Chimneys: Brick chimneys with tapered stacks are located in the party walU A brick chimney rises from the northwest corner of the rear wing 7. Opening: a.

Doorways and doors: The entrance to 414 is a double wooden door, each with four raised panels. The doorway has white marble sur- rounds, sill, and a transom window. The doors open into a narrow vestibule, through a transomed doorway, which opens into a recent foyer fitted with two wooden doors, one leading to the upper apart- ment and one to the lower apartment. b. Windows: There is a double window with white marble lintel and sill located at the first-floor level, south (front) elevation of each townhouse. At the second-floor level on the south elevation is a three-sided oriel. On the first-floor north (rear) elevation there is a double window with arched head that looks out onto the rear porch.

The original windows had double-hung sash with one- over-one lights, but many of the sashes have been replaced with two-over-one, one-over-six and one-over-two-light sashes. EAST WALDBURG STREET HABS No, GA-1169 0 (Page 3} 8. Roof: a. Shape, covering: Gable roof covered with terra cotta tiles, in front of a shallow gable roof with standing seam tin sheathing. The oriel's conical dome-shaped roof is covered with tin. The shed roof over the rear porch is covered with tarpaper. b. Cornice, eaves: Irregular parapeted gable ends with plain eaves. A row of wooden dentils articulates the plain cornice. A curvi- linear gable tops the oriel. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor plans: a. First floor: Side-hall plan.

Thestairwas enclosed when the townhouse was converted into two apartments, reducing the 8' wide hall to 4'. The parlors are divided by sliding pocket doors. The rear wing, originally a pantry and kitchen, is now divided into three rooms. b. Second floor: Side-hall plan. The rear wing is divided into a water closet, bathroom and rear bedroom. 2. Stairways: A single enclosed flight with turned balusters and newel post. 3. Flooring: Painted hardwood floors. The kitchen has vinyl covering. 4. Wall and ceiling finish: The stairhall and kitchen have recently been paneled in prefinished plywood paneling. The rear first-floor parlor and bathroom and water closet on the second floor have waist- high vertical wooden wainscoting.

The remaining walls are painted plaster with baseboards and picture molding. 5. Openings: a. Doorways, doors: A pair of sliding pocket doors divides the first- floor parlors. Each of these has eight panels arranged in two rows of four panels. All other interior doors have five raised panels and are framed by transoms and plain cornerblock surround. An arched opening is located between the rear parlor and back hall. b. Windows: The windows are framed in cornerblock surrounds. 6. Decorative features and trim: The first-floor parlor mantels are replacements. The wooden frieze and pilasters, ornamented with a sawn geometric diamond pattern, enframe a rectangular opening and support a curved mantel shelf. The tile surrounds and coal grates are missing.

The second-floor wooden mantels in the two eastern rooms have a frieze ornamented with an applied wooden scroll , and a bracketed mantel shelf with a beaded edge. The cast-iron coal grates are sur- rounded by painted ceramic tiles and spandrel infilled with a lyre and horn design. EAST WALDBURG STREET HA8S No. GA-1169 0 (Page 4] The mantel i.n the second-floor rear wing has a cast-iron coal grate, decorated with a torch and wreath design. The tiles in the surround are mottled blue in urn and swag designs. The design of the hearth tiles is concealed by paint. 7. Mechanical systems: a. Heating, ventilating: All interior doors have transoms for venti lation. The house was originally heated by coal fireplaces, and is presently heated by gas space heaters. b. Lighting: Electrical wiring. c.

Plumbing: The original bath was located in the second-floor wing, The commode is in a separate room from the sink and tub. D. Site: The row of townhouses is set back approximately 26' from the curb line. A 7' wide planting strip separates the sidewalk from the street. A plant- ing area (1EV X is between the front steps of each unit, and a rear yard extends 22' to the lane. Prepared by: Beth Lattimore Reiter Project Historian Historic American Buildings Survey August, 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 Le 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.