Historical April 1997 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
As long as I have been cognizant of the 6100 block of Kingsbury which has been a fairly long time as I grew up in Parkview and Paul and I bought our first house on the 6000 block of Washington, I thought the exterior of 6178 Kingsbury was one of the ugliest in the neighborhood.
Some misguided person had removed the roof and railings of the front porch over thirty years ago.
To hide the scar left on the wall, wood siding had been applied; it was painted gray to try to blend in with the stone facade.
This was not aesthetically pleasing.
The greater crime to the house, however, was that the porch removal had dramatically compromised the proportions of the house, making it top heavy.
The owners immediately before us had made a great improvement by putting up a railing around the perimeter, thereby providing a bit of balance to the roof and prohibiting small children from falling off into an unfortunate brick planter which was filled with bushes with prickles and which covered a handsome limestone foundation.
When it became obvious to us seven years ago that our dear, and beautifully rehabbed, house on Washington was becoming too small, we looked at this house on Kingsbury.
The irony of life: buying the ugliest house in the neighborhood! Luckily, the interior had a lot going for it and I took the attitude that once inside I didn’t have to worry about how it looked on the outside.
We soon found out, however, that not having a porch roof was more than an aesthetic problem. Not only did one got wet going in and out, the tile floor was a slippery nightmare, the mail (despite all good attempts from the mail carrier) would be damp, and water seeped through the floor and into the basement, and the tuckpointing of the foundation was washing out and in a time in the not too distance future, a wet basement would be the least of our worries. Enough was enough. Last fall, personal friend and architect, Elizabeth Panke drew up plans which would replicate what the porch probably looked like. Down the street, 6106 is the exact same house as ours — same fenestration (window) pattern, same roof line, and same stone facade. Karleen and Tom Hoerr graciously let us take pictures.
The Heritage & Urban Design Commission approved the permit application in less than a week. Dick Law of Dakota Builders (Dick has built two screened porches as well as lots of other less glamorous projects for us) wanted to get the porch up before winter hit. Despite several surprises typical of any major building project with old houses and at times uncooperative late fall weather, Christmas this year found us with a front porch to appropriately decorate with lights.
The weather changed before we could do the final paint job and the tile floor, ruined by years of weather, waits for the spring to be replaced.
But what a thrill it has been to be able to stand outside while opening an umbrella without getting soaked. Mail is no longer soggy. And the basement is dry and has become a floor hockey arena. Best of all, however, Is coming home to a house which has regained its late Victorian dignity and architectural Integrity.
Original photograph caption
Reconstructed porch at 6178 Kingsbury. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1997.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1997_04.pdf, printed page(s) 1, 6; PDF page(s) 1, 6.
