My topic at the recent Historic Homes Workshop in St. Petersburg was on choosing exterior paint colors for historic Florida homes (it seemed more fitting to the theme of the workshop than "History of Outbuildings"). Below is the slide presentation that  was used as a background for the talk. Unfortunately it doesn't have my witty delivery along with the slides, but I am available to give the presentation to neighborhood associations and other local groups that are interested in the topic. Or you can email for clarification on any of the slide information.

(Click on the four arrows in the lower right corner to see the slides at full size.)

Our ten-year old son made this video for us. We're rather proud!

Historic Shed recently completed this custom 8'x12' hipped roof wood garden shed for an avid gardener in the historic Kenwood neighborhood in St. Petersburg, Florida. Located on a heavily treed lot with a 1940s Ranch home, the shed nestles between two palm trees and features a salvaged wood window, 15 light French door, metal roof, and bead board soffits.

 

Historic Shed custom designed and built a new 20’x22’ two-car garage with a 6’x12’ shed workshop to complement a historic bungalow in the Old Northeast neighborhood in St. Petersburg, Florida recently. The garage design uses elements from the main residence such as the roof slope, gable end vent, roof brackets and window casings.

View of the new garage on the alley side

The new pre-fabricated garage is constructed of pressure treated and dense southern yellow pine framing, 1x6 cypress roof sheathing, cypress siding, a cypress beadboard human-scaled door, and incorporates salvaged wood windows with traditional surrounds. The interior is sheathed in ½” plywood for additional shear strength and the building meets or exceeds Florida Building Code wind load requirements. The only non-traditional item in the garage design is the use of modern overhead garage doors, overlaid to look like traditional carriage house doors.

The garage was completely assembled in the shop, then broken down into components for delivery

Reassembling the pre-painted shed at the customer's property

Tie-downs and straps for wind load resistance

The completed garage as seen from the house, ready for landscaping

The completed garage with workshop bump-out

Outbuildings are a significant portion of the historic fabric of the historic Old Northeast neighborhood, adding a tangible layer to the history of the neighborhood’s development. Garages located on historic alleys tell the rising story of the automobile; early cottages reflect the use of live-in help; and storage sheds were often built for home business uses. This garage replaced a historic garage that had fallen into extreme disrepair and was awkwardly placed on the lot. The owners are very pleased with the new garage and workshop, with plans to add AC and a utility sink to the workshop to fully realize its potential.

I want to tell you again how very pleased we are with everything and how well the whole process worked. You are both great to work with and I hope we were okay for you. The garage is beautiful and I even had a note on my door the other night from someone saying "I want to see your garage! Call me...her phone # and name." - customer email

Human sized door leading to the workshop

Salvaged wood casement windows with traditional surrounds

The roof is sheathed with 1x6 cypress

Overhead garage doors faced to look like carriage house doors

Bungalows typically have great curb appeal, but when set amid entire neighborhoods of historic bungalows they are even better. The shed featured in this Bungalow Shed post is located in a great tree-lined, National Register-listed, Florida neighborhood with 325 contributing buildings, the majority of which are bungalow residences. Like many areas we get the pleasure of working in, the attractive neighborhood is very walkable, neighbors are friendly, and the dogs are spoiled.

Preservation Resource, Inc. has been extremely fortunate to have worked as Historic Preservation Design Consultants on the I-4 Improvement Project in the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District in Tampa, FL. The majority of the project was spent rehabilitating homes relocated out of the proposed highway right of way. However, one part of the project allowed us to design and construct a new free-standing structure: a bus shelter.

While bus shelters typically do not make designer's hearts race, this one is one of my favorite projects to have worked on. In part, this is because it is the first completely new, free-standing structure I ever designed that was actually built. We have completed remodeling/ rehabilitation projects of existing historic buildings and have built many additions, but when these types of projects are done well, your work is rarely even noticed because it looks as if it was always there. Starting from the ground up gives a different sense of accomplishment.

The shelter was first conceived when we were asked to create a commemorate monument for the long-vacant historic George Washington Jr. High School. The school was located within the proposed highway expansion right of way, and when relocation and leasing options for the building were determined not feasible, the school was demolished. Among multiple options proposed for commemorating the site, the idea of a bus shelter constructed out of materials salvaged from the school was chosen, to be operated by Hillsborough Area Regional Transport (HART).

The marker utilizes salvaged brick, one of the original cupolas and reflects design elements from the school building while meeting ADA accessibility requirements. A commemorative plaque was installed on the structure educating passer-bys of the school's history. In addition, wood flooring, interior doors and other architectural elements were salvaged from the building to be reused at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, a still functioning school with the same original design as the George Washington. Other items were salvaged for use in Public Art Projects by the City of Tampa and HART.