By Katy Tajha
Lost in the wonders down in the archives of the Kelley House I came across a booklet from 1987 giving an insightful look behind how the Mendocino Review Board makes it’s decisions. Meeting visitors as a docent at the Kelley House and a bookseller at Gallery Bookshop I’m often asked “How can townsfolk’s keep the village this way? How do you keep the place suspended in time? Who makes the rules?” What follows is a quick history lesson.
Mendocino did try to incorporate in 1970 and 1982 but the vote failed. In 1973 the village became a Historic Preservation District on the National Register and the Review Board was formed. The Review Board has a say on what happens west of Highway One and Lansing except for the “new” subdivision along Palette Dr.
Though the town is referred to as Victorian that word refers to a period of time, not architecture. The Mendocino Historical Review Board Guidelines of 1987 taught me alot about vocabulary (and the line drawings helped too!) In the Victorian period New England Salt Box, Gothic Revival, Italianate and vernacular were architectural styles built here. Vernacular meant local custom and materials took precedence over any particular style. Commercial shops liked to build false fronts. Go look at Gallery Bookshop from Kasten street and you’ll see a big false front done in vernacular style. Basically these guidelines say you don’t demolish anything or materially alter its appearance without permission. If you want to build something new that will look old you do it with permission. There are guidelines for site development and building design addressing scale and proportion, exterior building materials, everything from foundations to roof form and architectural features Your choice of exterior paint color has guidelines. There are LOTS of guidelines. Like them or hate them…there’s guidelines for home and commercial units both.
Review Board procedures are explained as are appeal processes. The monthly meetings of the Historical Review Board are some of the best local drama available, in my humble opinion, as preservationists and developers work out differences. Sometimes this takes a REALLY long time.
I really enjoyed the eight pages of glossary with line drawings. Now instead of looking at the pointy thing on top of a roof tower and calling it a “thingie-mabobby” I know an upright pointed termination used for decoration on top of a structure is a pinnacle. The carved decorative projecting boards placed against the incline of a gable is a bargeboard. Cresting is the ornamental finish on top of a roof, perforated and made of iron or scroll cut wood. Dentils are small rectangular blocks, similar in effect to teeth, often found in the lower part of a cornice. Dripstones are projecting molding over the top of windows and doorways to shed rain. The arrangement of windows in a building is fenestration. Goodness! My architectural vocabulary is expanding by the moment! A bay window that starts on the second story of a building is an oriel window. A soffit is the underside of a eave and a favorite place for a bird to build a nest. My architectural knowledge of the village I work in and the rules it takes to preserve it were expanded reading this document.
Here’s an idea for the curious. Become a docent at the Kelley House Museum. There is a serious need for friendly folks to volunteer and help keep the Kelley House open for visitors. Then, as you wait for visitors to wander in, you can read this booklet and learn more about the village. Imagine your delight when someone asks about molding on a building that is double curved, concave and convex. You can tell them about cyma recta and cyma reversa design because you read about it in this booklet.
Contact the Kelley House about docenting. It’s easy…