98 Shaw Avenue, Kenwood – Commemorative Plaque

On 24 August 2014, the South Napa Earthquake critically damaged the ca. 1889 house at 98 Shaw Avenue in Kenwood.  After the house was “red tagged” and vacated, the owners assembled a team of professionals to evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to return the property to residential use. Alice prepared an HRE for the property and determined that the house was designated as “Sonoma County Historic Landmark #77” and was eligible for listing in the California Register because of its association with an Italian stone mason, Peter Maroni. Alice also prepared an “Alternatives Analysis” to evaluate a variety of construction techniques that could be employed to rebuild the house (centercore boring, horizontal diaphragms, shear walls, moment-resisting frames, etc.). That analysis determined that none of the alternatives would satisfy the programmatic need to return the structure to residential use. In coordination with the Sonoma County Historic Landmarks Commission, Alice and the owners agreed to photo-document the structure and prepare a commemorative panel to be installed on the new house proposed for the site. The house was rebuilt in 2018 and the panel installed at the front gate.