Commission Denies Request to Demolish Madison Home

A request to demolish a home built in 1925 and replace it with a new house was denied by the Oxford Historic Preservation Commission Monday by a 3 to 2 vote.

The home, located at 1410 Madison Ave., was originally built in 1925 as a one-story, three-bay, brick veneered bungalow with a Craftsman influence.

A large, 2 1/2 story rear addition was built in the back of the house in 1995. The house is listed as “non-contributing” in the Historic Resources Inventory Survey due to the alterations to the house — the original cottage clearly discernable.

It’s that original structure that caused some of the commissioners to deny the request to demolish the home.

Before granting a request to demolish a home inside one of the historical districts, the commission must consider four factors that include:

• The individual, architectural, cultural and/or historical significance of the resource;
• The importance or contribution of the resource to the architectural character of the district;
• The importance or contribution of the resource to neighboring property values; and
• The difficulty or impossibility of reproducing such a resource because of its texture, design, material or detail.

Architect Jonathan Maddox of Howorth and Associates Architects said the building has not been maintained properly, and saving the original cottage would require a “lot of work.”

Commissioner Camp Best asked if the home’s “bones” were still good.

“They’re OK,” Maddox replied.

The commissioners who denied the request said they would like to see at least the facade of the original structure saved to give a “nod” to the history of the neighborhood.

Maddox presented plans for what would be built in place of the existing building if the request to demolish was approved. The proposed new home also had a one-story portion that steps up to a two-story building in the rear.