A strong downtown is critical for the health of a city and Harrisonburg is proof. Our downtown is thriving and surviving even in this difficult season. We have had some painful losses and I expect there will be a few more, but our core is strong and we are on the verge of tremendous growth. Downtown Harrisonburg is the heart of our region and the place that many of us love to live, work, and play. The strength of our town comes from confident and brave entrepreneurs, passionate supporters, and strong allies like HDR that support both. There are many things to love about our downtown, but we can always improve, and having a comprehensive master plan is the first step forward.
There is no doubt that our historic buildings that tell the story of our past and create the fabric for our future are a core reason for our downtown’s strength. It takes a bold vision for a building owner to invest in the greater good of a region by saving a historic building.
The amazing food culture that has been created in Harrisonburg draws people in from around the region. In fact, Harrisonburg is the first Culinary District in Virginia featuring a range of ethnic, fine dining, casual, and locally owned options. Along with festivals centered around food, a grocery store, and a bed and breakfast this downtown knows how to celebrate the region’s agricultural heritage.
We have ducks! How cool is it that you sometimes have traffic jams because of passing baby ducks or your office has a visitor?
Our crosswalks are creative and hopefully just a start to a more pedestrian-centric downtown. The sidewalks are being upgraded and infrastructure updated as our downtown continues to improve. Wouldn’t it be cool if our crosswalks were works of art?
There are a series of small park spaces in downtown to give places to rest and relax, have a conversation, or just enjoy nature. While I wish there were more trees and vegetation, we have some and the possiblity to have more. How cool would it be to have a downtown park? Maybe…
Our paths are becoming works of art.
The pandemic has helped create more outdoor dining spaces, a trend I hope continues to grow and expand.
When these clients contacted me they had just purchased her childhood home. The finishes, rooms, cabinets, views, and overall layout were rich with memories and traditions. They decided it was time for an interior update #renovation. So we went to work to update and reimagine the spaces while trying to preserve the historical emotional connections.
The structure of the building is in good shape, but the rooms are smaller than desired and the house has lots of small rooms. The ceilings heights for today’s typical home were low and the house feels dark.
So we worked on an economical way to adapt the spaces to bring in light and to raise the ceiling height. We removed various walls to open up the spaces and modernize the layout.
We are getting cloeser to finish materials each day.
Our downtown historic buildings make up the fabric of our community. A lot of work has been done to bring many of these structures back to life. Our firm was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on bringing new life to this downtown jewel a few years ago.
There had been a fire in the building and the first floor had already been renovated before we got started. Our task was to put back together a very rough structure that had not been loved in a long time. The renovation goal was to provide a variety of unit sizes to allow for a range of rents in our downtown. Each unit has a bit of a unique personality.
As the contractor started taking the building apart, we found out that there were a lot of mistakes made in the past. In particular, a plumber many years ago had cut the joists out of a large section of the structure. There is honestly no reason why that building was still standing as we continued to uncover damage done by years of changes. The building was put back together safe and beautiful. The project celebrates some of the original materials exposing brick walls and wood floors. The apartments in this structure range from small to generous and all have the perfect location in the heart of downtown.
We love the finished project. If you have a historic building that needs some love and a new vision give us a call. We can help with that task and would love to be part of your solution.
On this anniversary of moving into the DepotI wanted to share a love story about an Architectand a Train Station. This story starts many years ago around 2009. When I first moved to Harrisonburg and opened an office downtown I used to walk around looking at buildings. There was still a lot of empty storefronts and a lot of potential. On the outer fringe of the Historic Downtown there was this one beautiful building that was looking a little rough.
It has a powerful presence even in a neglected stage of life. It was often blocked from view by building products being stored all around the structure. One this sunny day as I was walking I snapped a photo of the building as a dreamed of what it could become in a new life. I would have loved to have my office in the beautiful structure. However, at the time I was a 1 person firm with little resources to expand my office needs and certainly no resources to renovate such a structure.
A few years later in 2014 I was invited on a trip to Warroad, MN to learn more about Marvin Windows. This is a training that is offered to architects and builders to see how the window is made / performs and to meet some of the people involved in the process. We were fortunate to have a private jet fly us up and back to shorten the time the trip would take away from our work that needed to be done at home. On this flight I was able to sit with R.S. Mongers & Sons, Inc. President Jim Higgs. We discussed many things as we got to know each other. One topic that came up was this beautiful building at the end of their street and how it would make a perfect window and door showroom and professional office space for an architect. The seed was planted perhaps.
The building however was still a little rough.
Then the stars aligned and I was in need of an office move. We were out of space in our current building and it simply did not fit the narrative we were trying to tell about our business. I started making calls to find the right next office space. It turns out at the same time the Depot building owner was also getting ready to renovate his building. I called Jim Monger and we discussed a strategy to provide design services and for us to take a good portion of the second floor professional office space. The timing was perfect and we all agreed on how to best move forward on the project. Design kicked off in early 2015and construction soon followed. Construction was painstakingly slow for me but in reality moved quickly for a building that had suffered so many years of neglect, fire, and water damage. Jim Monger was there most days and I was as well. It was a process for me of learning about the building, researching the history of this structure, and making design decisions as challenges arose. I learned the incredible history of the Chesapeake Western Railroad, why the building was built at all, the evolution of train culture / industry in Harrisonburg, and honestly fell in love with this building. I refer to it all the time as my Depot – even though it has other owners.
I was fortunate to be able to invite some of my friends to join me in the professional office space upstairs as construction finished up in the summer of 2016. It was an incredible project to be involved with on a daily basis for over a year. Then on July 5, 2016 we got permission from the city to inhabit the building. Moving day had finally arrived.
Now three years later time has flown by and I am still just as much in love with this building. Our work on this building, signage on the street, and monthly parties has grown our business without question. Saving a historic building in downtown Harrisonburg has expanded the narrative I want to tell about design, our business, and the importance of making sustainable decisions. The historic Chesapeake Western Depot building is a gem in our town and the CW has helped to shape our city in the past and my firm for the future.
As our 3 year anniversary arrives on July 5th I want to invite you to our monthly celebration of the arts, our building, and our small business. Just like our very first art opening in our space back in August 2016 with Rhett Miles, we have some amazing artists for you to see this month. I was blown away by their work as they were hanging it yesterday. You are going to want to be there! It is worth the drive, walk, scooter trip, or uber – come on by and see us!
The Old Town Harrisonburg kitchen makeover has been completed by Herr and Company. They shared some of the finish photographs with us showing off this make over. In case you did not read the first blog post HERE about this project, here is a brief summary. The home owners started renovating their downtown house to make it more friendly to modern living. They completed a few projects and then were ready to tackle the kitchen renovation. The rear porch had been enclosed and a rear deck was suffering from some lack of maintenance. Our goal, working as a design-build team with Herr and Company was to develop a plan that was structurally sound for this new space.
The existing kitchen was modest and a little dark.
The enclosed rear porch space was cut off from the rest of the house and oddly shaped to be a gathering space.
The goal for the home owners was to use all of this space for a modern and open functional kitchen. The space was restricted in width due to setbacks and existing roof lines. So the planning process was mainly to figure out how to make this narrow and long space feel open, bright, and make the work triangle small enough that it would be functional.
In order to visualize the space we developed a 3-d computer model to show the layout to our clients. This was helpful for them to work through how the space could be used.
So our rendering is fairly close to what got built, but we made a few changes. We were also able to open up the existing dining room into this space to allow for a better flow through the entire house.
We included a renovation of the existing laundry room.
This project is a great example of how to save an existing historic home, make it work for how we live today, and preserve our historical context in the neighborhood that surround downtown.
The LOFTS at 83 South Main are ready for move in after months of work.
It takes a special person to see potential in a building that has been neglected for so long. Fortunately our client was such a person. The LOFTS located in the heart of historic downtown Harrisonburg are now available for rent. Built in the 1880’s this South Main Street building has seen a massive revitalization. The exterior retains the historic character, but the interior of this building has been completely reconstructed and updated.
The exposed brick walls, large windows, and modern amenities will make these units some of the most desirable for local professionals. Located less than a block from court square and right across the street from Jack Brown’s these units will not stay available for long.
When we started the project there were considerable challenges. The floors sloped, there was fire damage, the windows were falling apart, and the plumbing / electrical / heating / cooling systems were a wreck. The previous building owner had not maintained the structure for many years. Once construction started we found even more structural issues that were hidden inside the floor systems and behind the plaster. This building needed a LOT of care to bring it back to a safe and comfortable dwelling.
Once Bryan Nesselrodt Construction completed their work you can see the beauty has been restored. The units are simple, but offer all the amenities you could want in a downtown LOFT. For more information on leasing, visit 83southmain.com. For questions about your next renovation project, just give me a call – we love saving old buildings and showing them love again.
