[MassHistPres] Turning an old house into an "auxiliaryapartment" and adding a new house to the lot

[John Worden]

We had a similar situation in Arlington, albeit on a much smaller lot.  It
was in a 40C district so we had plenty of control.  There was an 1840s house
and its closely adjacent barn on the same lot.  The latter had been used in
post-barn years as a photography studio, the photographer living in the
house.   The new owners wanted to convert the barn into another residence
Of course zoning allowed for only one principal use per lot.  We gave them
permission to make minor exterior alterations to the barn to make it
suitable for residential use, then they went to the ZBA and sought a
variance of hardship, unique situation etc. (which they got).  In your case,
the carriage house could be converted to the second residence, and both old
buildings would be saved.

 

John Worden

Arlington HDC

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of dgkalman4 at cs.com
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 1:50 PM
To: marisa-ah at comcast.net; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Turning an old house into an
"auxiliaryapartment" and adding a new house to the lot

 

Is it possible to change the zoning of the land to allow for the property to
be considered freestanding condos rather than single family homes?

David Kelman

Keller Williams Realty

617 388 0793



-----Original Message-----
From: Marisa Morra <marisa-ah at comcast.net>
To: MHC MHC listserve <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Mon, Jul 22, 2013 12:53 pm
Subject: [MassHistPres] Turning an old house into an "auxiliary apartment"
and adding a new house to the lot

Hi All,
We here in Weston have a proposal in front of us that I wondered if anyone
has 
dealt with before.  We have an owner who has a 2+ acre lot that is long and 
narrow, hence non-conformong, with a c. 1860 house and barn & a c. 1910
stone 
carriage house.  The lot did not proof out as a flexible subdivision to be 
divided as they wanted, so now they are applying to take the 5 bedroom
house- 
remove 3 bedrooms, and have it count as an auxiliary apartment, and build a
big 
new house on the same lot. The building inspector has told them that this is

theoretically possible, but would need many variances. We on the Weston
Historic 
Commission are horrified, but have already imposed a 6 month delay, and this

house is not in a "district" . We feel this would set a bad precedent for
houses 
and lots in the same situation, of which there are many in Weston.  
Has anyone ever had this "auxiliary apartment" scenario  presented to them?

 
Any thoughts on how to deal with it, once our demo delay time frame has
expired?
 
Thank You,
Marisa Morra
Co-Chair, Weston Historic Commission
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