Saratoga council strips two houses of historical resource designations

"The house at 14650 Sixth St. is known as the Nardie house and was built in the Queen Anne style. It was added to the city's Heritage Resource Inventory in 1988 because it met two of the listed criteria in the municipal code: embodying distinctive characteristics of style, type, period or method or construction and being a valuable example of the use of indigenous materials."

"Homeowners Ismar and Kristin Maslic applied to remove the property from the Heritage Resource Inventory in February because they felt that their renovations diluted any historical significance of the house. They argued that the house's relocation in 1925, six blocks away from its original location on Oak Street and Saratoga-Los Gatos Road, detached it from its historical context. They also said that previous modifications, like alterations to the porch and raising the house to accommodate a four-car garage, distanced it from authentic design."

"The Maslics said that they would try to maintain the Queen Anne Victorian aesthetic of the house through their use of colors and materials and by preserving and restoring existing details when possible. However, they planned additional modifications, including the addition of a one-car garage and conversion of the four-car garage into an accessory dwelling unit. The structure simply no longer possesses the historical integrity, Ismar Maslic said at the city council meeting."

Saratoga City Council voted on Nov. 5 to remove heritage resource designations from two houses at 14650 Sixth St. and 19050 Camino Barco. The Nardie house at 14650 Sixth St. was listed in 1988 for its Queen Anne architecture and indigenous materials but homeowners Ismar and Kristin Maslic argued renovations and a 1925 relocation undermined its integrity. The Maslics intend to preserve Queen Anne aesthetic details while adding a one-car garage and converting part of the existing four-car garage into an accessory dwelling unit. The Heritage Preservation Commission previously denied the removal request before the council voted to strip the designations.

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