Architects are rallying to stop the demolition of a Belvedere home designed by a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright, arguing that it should be preserved as a historic resource.
“Somebody has to draw the line,” said Daniel Ruark, a Sausalito-based architect. “This ought to be preserved and protected.”
Ruark has appealed the city approval of a project that would raze and replace a home at 1 Belvedere Ave. The house is the work of architect Aaron Green, who completed the Marin County Civic Center after Wright’s death.
Ruark, a former associate of Green, is among architects and historians who contend that the house has historical significance because of Green’s connection to Wright — having served as Wright’s West Coast representative — and because the home exemplifies the Second Bay Area Tradition architecture, characterized by its rustic and organic features.
Homeowners Susan and Justin Kelly, who purchased the 2,814-square-foot house last year, disagree. The Kellys who have a home in Belvedere Lagoon, want to replace the Green-designed house with a contemporary, 7,233-square-foot house with a five-car auto court and carport.
Planner approval
The city Planning Commission approved the project Aug. 15 after deciding that the home, which has been vacant for years, has lost its integrity.
“They are excited to see their vision for the property realized,” said Jeff Jungsten, president of Jungsten Construction who is working on the project and is representing the homeowners. “They are pleased to have gotten the unanimous approval of the Planning Commission”
The matter will now be reviewed Tuesday by the Historic Preservation Committee, an advisory board, that will make a recommendation to the City Council. The appeal hearing before the council is scheduled for Sept. 11.
The Belvedere home was built in 1963 for Roy and Orchid Eldred, who lived there until 2003. The two-story house is built on a steep grade overlooking the bay. It features an open floor plan with floor-to-ceiling windows and natural wood and brick.
Pamela Hayden, daughter of the Eldreds, now lives in Oregon where she works as a historic preservation planner. She said at the time that her parents passed, none of her siblings lived in the Bay Area, so they decided to sell.
She said Green was personally selected to build their home and for that reason the proposal to demolish the house “is a shame.”
“The city should really take a step back,” she said. “This home is exemplary of his work. He made a beautiful home that my parents enjoyed for years.”
‘Master architect’
The house was sold in 2004, and the homeowners then did extensive interior work. The house was sold again in 2007.
In 2012, the homeowner applied for a remodel that was eventually approved but never built.
At that time, the city ordered a report by Garavaglia Architecture Inc. that concluded the home could be eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources. Despite that recommendation, the city’s preservation committee decided that under the criteria of the California Environmental Quality Act, Green is not a “master architect.”
Roger Felton, a member of the preservation committee, said this proposal and appeal is a replay of five years ago.
“As I understand it, this is chapter two,” he said. “It’s doing the same thing a second time.”
If city officials recognize the house as historically significant, it would complicate any project proposed there. It could make this proposal subject to a state mandated environmental impact review, a time-consuming and costly report. It could also derail the project completely.
“A full historical evaluation of the property has now been completed, which the committee will be reviewing,” Rebecca Markwick, associate city planner, said in an email. “Staff’s goal is to ensure that the City Council has as much information as possible when deciding whether the property has historical significance.”
Dilapidated shape
The city did receive four letters of support for the project, including from neighbors, before the Aug. 15 hearing. Another 12 letters in opposition were also received — 10 argued that the house could be considered historic and should not be demolished.
However, a recent historical resource evaluation by Mark Hulbert, of Preservation Architecture, based in Oakland, downplays Green’s prestige and concluded that the Belvedere home is of no historical significance because of its dilapidated condition. It’s a report that Ruark and others say is factually incomplete.
Alan Hess, an architect, architecture historian and critic from Irvine, said that the Golden Gate Village in Marin City, also by Green, is an example. That building, a public housing complex, was recently nominated by the state Historical Resources Commission to gain national historic status. Hess said that is proof that Green’s work is significant.
As defined by the National Register, a master “is a figure of generally recognized greatness in a field … whose work is distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality. The property must express a particular phase in the development of the master’s career …”
“A property is not eligible as the work of a master, however, simply because it was designed by a prominent architect,” it says.
‘Elegantly built’
Jenan Saunders, deputy state historic preservation officer for the California Office of Historic Preservation, said that there is no firm definition for “master architect” and it is often subjective.
Jan Novie, president of Aaron Green Associates, who worked with Green for more than 40 years, said the Belvedere home is among Green’s best work.
“What makes the house so great? It’s all about how it fits the owner’s program,” he said. “It was custom, beautifully, simply, elegantly built to fulfill every one of their desires; a great example of organic architecture.”
The Historic Preservation meeting is Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall at 450 San Rafael Ave. The City Council meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 in the same council chambers.
