Two applications for steel shake roofs were unanimously approved by the San Marino Design Review Committee on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Both homes currently have wood shake roofs. At least three homes with a wood shake or wood shingle roof have caught on fire in the last year.
“I’m all for it being fire-proof with the recent fires in town,” noted Vice Chairperson William Dietrick. “I think wood shakes are not going to happen anymore.”
Dietrick enjoyed the weathered wood color of the proposed steel roofing material. Committee Members Kevin Cheng and John Dustin felt that the material appeared artificial.
“For me personally, I still think the visual look of the product on such a prominent roof…looks very artificially manufactured,” Cheng said of the house at 1804 Windsor Road. “But weighed in balance with the other considerations I would be able to support this project.” Cheng also cited considerations of cost, durability and quality.
“I still am not overjoyed with the look of the product. It just doesn’t have a natural look to it,” said Dustin. “In the balance of safety and insurability and all the other factors, I think we need to give this product a try,” he added, noting that the steel material would work better with a gable roof, such as the one on the house.
Committee Member Corinna Wong and Committee Chairperson Frank Hsu also opted to experiment with the product, despite earlier concerns.
“I’m willing to give the product a try on a gable roof,” said Wong.
“The roof is such a prominent feature here for this house,” Chairperson Hsu reminded.
“I’m willing to give it a try and see how it works out. And if it doesn’t come out well this will be an example of what not to be,” Hsu said.
Resident Sebouh Terzian spoke in support of the material—which he recently installed on his Winston Avenue house—for his neighbor at 1380 Winston Ave.
“In the summer it was cooler. In the winter it was warmer. We are so happy with that roof. It’s light weight, no worries about fires [and] we can walk on it. This is all a plus, plus, plus,” said Terzian, praising roofer Robert Lansford, who will roof the two houses.
Winston Avenue homeowner An Ly said neighbor Terzian’s experience with his steel roof convinced him to replace his “disintegrating” wood roof.
“He invited me to go and walk on it, and I said ‘are you serious?’” said Ly. “I walked on it and it’s really amazing.”
Committee members had similar feelings.
In addition to previously stated comments, Dustin and Hsu had supportive remarks for the Winston Avenue proposal
“This is a smaller home. The roof size is minimal. It does have gabled edges as well, so I think this product is going to work here,” said Dustin.
“It’ll fit and it’ll last longer than a wood roof,” Hsu said of the steel product.
1520 Circle Dr.
The DRC unanimously denied an application for a new front yard driveway gate and modifications to existing pilasters at 1520 Circle Dr.
A representative for the homeowner, Donna Dockendrof, said that the homeowner’s primary concern was privacy.
“They would like to have a little bit more privacy and the fact that people walk just on their property,” said Dockendrof, presenting the committee photographs of driveway gates on Circle Drive.
“It’s just a vehicle to keep people from going onto her property,” she added, noting that a particular neighbor trespasses regularly.
Committee members had other considerations in mind. Committee Member Dustin even provided the applicant with a potential solution.
“I appreciate the homeowner’s concern about people walking on her property. I think that’s just a simple contact and say ‘please don’t walk on my property.’ And if it becomes a problem, call the police,” suggested Dustin.
“The gates don’t fit on that block. They’re too tall. They’re vastly overdone in the ornateness of them for the style of the house,” he added, noting that he did not see any other gates on the block.
“The way the home is situated and where it is on the block, placing these prominent gates right out front would, in fact, make that turn and curve onto Circle Drive feel even more tight and small,” Cheng noted.
“The goal is to try to maintain the open, garden-like feel,” he said. “Adding the gate would merely make the street look even tighter and narrower than it is,” Wong agreed.
“The pilasters are not right. They should be plain and more traditional than these are,” observed Dietrick, also noting a dearth of driveway gates on the block.
1230 Mesa Rd.
Committee members approved an application for a front yard fence and driveway gate at 1320 Mesa Road by a split vote of 3-2.
The committee added conditions that the fence be 5 feet tall, that existing hedges be maintained at 4 feet in conformance with city code and that the railing be altered to a scroll pattern.
“If you reduce the hedge by about a foot, you’re going to see a little bit more of the fence itself,” responded Ben Lundgren, the project’s landscape architect and a former member of the San Marino Planning Commission.
“This fence is back further than the rest of the fences on the street,” he added.
The approved driveway gate will replace an existing driveway gate, which currently sits flush with the front of the house. However, the new gate—made of tube router steel and proposed to be powder coated a semi-gloss black color—will sit much closer to the street.
Committee Members Corinna Wong and Kevin Cheng voted against the proposal.
“I don’t see the true necessity unless they, in fact, want to have this gate in place so that they can freely utilize and have parties on their front lawn all day long,” said Cheng.
The remaining majority of the committee voted in favor of the proposal.
“That street has got so much vegetation in front of all the other houses and older 6-foot hedges and there are some fences,” said Vice Chairperson Dietrick. “I think that this would not be incompatible with the neighborhood.”
“Given that they have fences on both sides of this house, this is more like an infill. And it would compatible if you look straight down the street,” Chairperson Hsu added.
677 S. Santa Anita Ave.
The Design Review Committee again unanimously voted to continue a proposed second-story addition and first floor remodel at 677 S. Santa Anita Ave. The homeowner modified the proposed style to reflect a Cape Cod home.
While committee members appreciated the homeowner’s efforts, they agreed that a greater degree of refinement would be needed prior to an approval.
They also encouraged him to look closely at other Cape Cod houses in San Marino. The committee will review the proposal for a third time on at the committee’s Dec. 2 meeting.
