2001 Denmark Street, Sonoma County

As part of the permitting process to adaptively rehabilitate this historic barn, Permit Sonoma directed the owners to assess the possible environmental impacts of remodeling the barn. More specifically, however, Permit Sonoma questioned whether the proposed technique of “Partial Disassembly” was an appropriate historic preservation practice. Alice had prepared an “HRE” for the barn and determined that it was built between 1904-1930, is historically significant at the local level as  an example of Sonoma Valley’s vernacular barns, and retains enough integrity to convey its historic nature.

Because of the barn’s dilapidated state and close proximity to protected Valley Oak trees, the contractor proposed to disassemble the barn in framing sections, store the sections on site, pour a new foundation, erect the seismic bracing structure and then reassemble the historic sections back in their original locations over the new seismic underpinnings. Each framing section would be carefully braced and protected before being laid flat on a site several yards to the northeast. The technique is called “Partial Disassembly” and is an accepted preservation strategy, though it is not particularly common in Sonoma Valley. Alice determined that the procedure was critical for the preservation of both the barn and the Valley Oaks, and would be consistent with the “Secretary’s Standards.”