473 Fourth Street East, Sonoma

The City of Sonoma Planning Department directed the owners of this 1931 cottage in downtown Sonoma to assess the potential impact of replacing the garage behind the house on the historic character of the adjacent house. Alice had previously prepared an HRE for the property and determined that the house qualifies as a locally significant resource because of its association with Samuele Sebastiani’s real estate development of Sonoma (1910-1944) and as a prototypical example of one of Samuele Sebastiani’s modest rental cottages from the 1930s. The HRE also determined that the garage was not historically significant. In  reviewing the proposed project to replace the garage, Alice determined that the new building would not have a physical or visual impact on the historic cottage and was, therefore, consistent with the “Secretary’s Standards.”