Approved Louella Mansion plan gets HARB nod

Radnor Townships Historic and Architectural Review Board gave developer Cas Holloway a 3-0 nod of approval Wednesday night, deeming his plan for restoring Louella Mansions Second Empire architecture and gabled mansard roof appropriate to safeguard the architectural and historical integrity of the iconic building.

Radnor Township commissioners had voted 4-2 in February to approve the final plans of C.F. Holloway III & Co. to convert the existing Louella Mansion apartments into condominiums and construct a new underground parking garage, but the issues heard by HARB Wednesday were considered important enough to be brought back before the board.

Of particular interest to the HARB board were proposed exterior renovations that included the enclosing of the porch at the west end of the building; the removal of a coal chute, two existing at-grade windows and a basement entrance; and the relocation of two windows on the north side of the building.

Also discussed was the roof line, as the plan would opt to continue the mansard roof out and over the enclosed porch, and also shutters, windows, doors and roofing materials.

Holloways architect summarized the history of the 1867 house with its additional wings added in 1890 to accommodate its change of function into a hotel, and the western porch addition somewhat later on, in the 1920s or 30s, when Louella became an apartment building. He noted the original wrap-around porch, which was discarded with the buildings enlargement, the three-story porches that were built onto the south and north facades, and also the fact that enclosed porches have been common additions to many of the homes in the Louella Court historic neighborhood as well as other historic buildings in Wayne and elsewhere.

Holloway plans to reconfigure the existing 25 apartments into 12 condominiums with attention paid to upgrading all of the mechanical aspects of the badly outdated building to conform to code while preserving the historical look and quality, but with modern replacement materials where age and rot have taken their toll.

Neighbors and local historians have questioned and criticized Holloways choice of AZEK molded products for trim, moldings, decks and other architectural features, referring to the proposed restoration as plastic.

HARB board member John Dziedzina noted, however, that three preservation projects he is familiar with, all with no budget for the exterior work, have specified AZEK, which will, apparently, outlast wood.

Board chair Cameron Lacy summarized his opinion on the issues that the board had heard about -- that enclosing the west porch represents an architectural feature that has been done many times before, that removing the coal chute and basement entrance would have no significant impact, and that the relocation of the windows is an improvement.

Louella court neighbors have retained counsel to appeal the Board of Commissioners approval to the townships zoning hearing board. That appeal is expected to come up in April. Continued...

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Approved Louella Mansion plan gets HARB nod