Everytime I start to really disagree with things like heritage zoning I see something like this.
This has been floating around the internet for some time.
The funny part is that heritage zoning is the reason the addition looks the way it does. The upper floor was inaccessible and stairs needed to be added. Local regulations state that any additions must be visually distinct from the original structure so this monstrosity was the result.
Look up Caldwell Tower in Scotland for more information.
Why the fuck would additions need to be visually distinct?
Here is the episode of The Restoration Man that documented the project - they go into the planning side of this in-depth because it’s really a head-scratcher. The owner tried many times to get planning for more subtle alternations but they kept getting knocked back because it has to be distinctive enough that it’s clear what is the old building and what are the new additions. What you see is the result of that messy process.
Feels like the owner had enemies in the local administration
That’s dumb as fuck, literally even if it was brick you’d be able to tell from the weathering of the original stone. NIMBYs are fucking idiots.
if it’s so important that we must be able to tell when it was built, just fucking carve the date into each brick lmao
Maybe to not be misleading about what is original and what is new
I think you could tell when it goes from stone to plastic.
I work in stone conservation and for the body that dictates these regulations, even if it was built out of stone it would be required to be visually distinct. The only exception is if it were reinstatement of an original feature that had been demolished or decayed to the point that it had to be removed and fully rebuilt. In that case every effort should be made to source the stone from the same quarry, and the same mortar mix should be used.
An easy way to do that is make the addition not flush, or use a different kind if masonry. The linked documentary includes an interview with the local planning council who recommended finding a local architect with expirience to do it.
Instead the chrap English bastard just used the cheapest options he could find in Essex and wore the council down to approve this monstrosity.
I’d call this ‘malicious compliance’.
Why on earth white plastic windows and baby blue paint?
Budgeting? White PVC windows are cheapest, you pay extra for colors.
UK server, OK. Fine. But OP has never been to Pennsylvania in the US. Most houses over a hundred years old look like this: you can see the generations that have lived in it. First it’s stone and mortar; then there’s a wood addition ca. the early 1900s; then there’s a more modern addition ca. the 50’s or later. There’s one property that was briefly famous as it came up in Zillow that had 5 clearly distinctive styles and technologies worth of additions on it; it’s like every generation added another room with whatever was in style at the time. I can’t find a picture, but it was hideous.
I don’t know if it’s common all along the mid-Atlantic, but it is super common in Pennsylvania.
Is that a news crew huddling at the foot of it?
It would have been nice if they pointed out which part was renovated so I didn’t need to scour the picture to find it.
I need a useless red circle to find it
Sorry, I will write a detailed alt next time
I remember when this hit the news and do hope it’s been redone since.
edit: no updates on the Scottish Castle Association since 2012 and TripAdvisor photos show it unchanged other than some weathering.
edit2: Here is the episode of The Restoration Man that focused on the tower and it explains the planning process that led to this monstrosity.
Everyone laughing at the repairs to your tower until the Mongol hordes return - and theirs still aren’t done because they were waiting to source the right Welsh stone.
