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NORTHWEST OF B & OAK STREETS Historic homes will be restored as part of $3M project Neighboring condemned units to make way for six brownstones Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 11, 2015 at 7:34 PM Updated Aug 11, 2015 at 8:12 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 11, 2015 at 7:34 PM Updated Aug 11, 2015 at 8:12 PM » Social News Labeled the biggest slum in Ashland’s core, a row of nine apartments on B Street have been condemned by the city and will be pulled down to make way for six brownstone units, which actually will be brick. They are part of a $3 million facelift by developer Don Jones and his Spartan Group of Ashland, which bought the apartments, as well as two adjacent historic homes on Oak Street, to be renovated. The city condemned the “eyesore” apartments immediately upon their sale, said the project’s architect Ray Kistler of Kistler, Small + White. The historic Chapman-Mickelson House, built 1902 in the Vernacular or Queen Anne style, will be restored to its original state, shedding additions that were “peeling away” from the historic home, says Kistler. It’s presently light green, two-story and sits on the northwest corner of Oak and B Streets, facing the Historic Armory. The historic 1907 Smith-Elliot house, immediately north on Oak, also will be restored to its original state. The project’s redevelopment application got a preliminary review before the Ashland Historic Commission, which gave unanimous approval. It will return for final approval and will start construction next spring, finishing in spring of 2017. City Administrator Dave Kanner posted a note online saying, “In the presentation, the applicant noted that the rental on B Street ‘is possibly Ashland’s most dilapidated property, within only a half block of the downtown.’” Kistler, in an interview, said, “What a slum it is, nine apartments — and two of them look like they have no working indoor plumbing. It was not healthy. They had even turned sheds into apartments.” Ashland historian George Kramer said the “dumpy houses” at 11 B St. were called the Thompson House, after a long-gone speculator in Ashland real estate. The first house in that row was built in 1930, was much added to since and sold many times over the years. Historic Commission Chairman Terry Skibby said the Chapman-Mickelson house was built in 1902 by longtime area rancher Henry Chapman, who came to Ashland in 1853, virtually at its founding, left in 1860, returned in 1880 and died in 1903, soon after the house was built. His sister, Victoria, widow of early blacksmith Michael Mickelson, took care of him in his decline and continued to live there. She commissioned the Mickelson-Chapman fountain in front of the Ashland Library, erected in 1929, according to her will. Kramer said he had no idea of the marginal housing in that B Street block, between Water and Oak, until considerable brush was recently cut back, revealing it. “B Street was a desirable neighborhood in early days, because you could walk downtown and to the Railroad District easily,” said Kramer. “I’m glad to see it restored. I was worried that someone in the Chapman-Mickelson house would fall asleep with a cigarette and it might be lost before anyone could do anything about it. It’s a real gem. Half the houses in the Railroad District used to look like that. It was a long time before anyone took notice of it.” The dilapidated houses, Kramer notes, were called “Topsy houses,” from that character in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” who said she didn’t know how she got so big; “I just grow’d.” The Smith-Elliot house was built in 1907 by Elliot and Hattie Smith, says Kramer. He was a livery man on adjacent Water Street, a business he ran with his sons Elmer and Bert. They owned the house into the 1920s. The six townhouses on B Street will be built in three pairs, with two stories, two bedrooms, two baths and parking on a flag lot behind them, not visible from Oak or B, said Kistler. Each will be 1,300 square feet. The city encourages density in the downtown area — and, says Kistler, the townhouses would have been more dense, but for a city ordinance enacted about 10 years ago, restricting house size and gearing it to lot size in historic districts. The was done “to help prevent MacMansions” such as happened on Granite Street when a very large new home replaced a tiny historic cottage, said Kistler. However, he adds, the new project is in multi-family zoning “and no one envisioned that … The ordinance also prevents apartments with much density here. This project is very low density.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Aug. 11, 2015 at 7:34 PM Updated Aug 11, 2015 at 8:12 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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