The Historic District Review Board approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for a grand, monumental structure at 8 Bay Avenue. The zero-hundred block of Bay Avenue fronts the Chesapeake Bay and has few homes currently there. This home will be massive, and will take up the entire triple lot parcel. Despite the size, staff found the proportions to the block acceptable.
Chairman Fehrer offered concerns that, given the size, the home could also qualify as a hotel, and could directly compete with new Hotel being renovated just around the corner. Sean Ingram of Quality Structures responded that the applicant had no intention to convert the home into a hotel or Bed and Breakfast, “No, they are going to retire here, and they in no way shape or form are planning to change this to a hotel. They plan on having family and friends visit for Thanksgiving and 4th of July…they’re going to need the space. They are going to retire here, but the applicant’s husband will still be working for a while so he can pay for all this.”
The home will include a four car garage on the first level as well as a full exterior deck.
Erin Harvey says
B.S. This is an AirBnB monstrosity for massive family reunion rentals, not a home they will retire to. 4 car garage? How does this possibly fit into the character of the town? Total bummer. The owners will reap huge rental fees for this house, but the rest of us will be subjected to a McMansion eyesore right in the supposedly historic district.
Sean ingram says
Erin, I consider us friends and value your opinion. There is no intention of renting this.
Shelley Hunt says
I realize this is an old post I am trying to get contact information for you Sean Ingram.
Sjteaches@gmail.com
Daniel Burke says
Personally I’m delighted that someone is going to invest that kind of money in The Historic District. However, it doesn’t matter what the current owner’s intentions are. They could sell it the day after they they move in. The permits go with the property. The next owner could turn it into a disco if zoning allows it.
Erin Harvey says
Whether or not they rent it was not my biggest concern. If this gargantuan home is actually built, they might as well rent it out or sell it to someone who will. Most people that are retiring try to downsize, not live in a home with several empty bedrooms most of the time. But that’s beside the point.
The problem is with the size and scale of a home like that being built within our historic district. The fact that it could qualify as a hotel should have been a giant red flag to the historic review board. I don’t believe we have any homes with three garages, let alone four. Any other homes that take up three lots? And if you are going to build a hotel, I’d rather you go ahead and build something that looks like one – see the beautiful renovation being done to the old inn. But a massive home has no place within the historic district of Cape Charles. If the owners wish to retire to our town with a home like that, I would suggest they build in any of the Bay Creek neighborhoods, where a home like that could fit in beautifully without affecting the historic nature of the area.
If this building moves forward, I wish you luck with it, Sean. Nothing personal against you or your company. It’s a big job, and I’m sure you will do well with it. But I think it will be a sad blemish along our waterfront, and I’m disappointed that our historic review board let it pass.
joy says
The Historic District Review Board has guidelines to follow. Please note the in the Guidelines, under Building Mass/Scale it states “Respect the scale of the town, which is generally at a human, as opposed to a monumental scale.” It goes on to state the buildings should not be overly large……
Guidelines. If we continually disregard the guidelines, we will lose our historical status. But that doesn’t seem to matter to some.
When planning new development and rehabilitation, please read the guidelines. They can be found on line at the Town’s website.
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Erin clearly forgets the opprobrium and fire directed at the Inn during it’s reconstruction. It too was slammed by the Apparatchiks of the HRB.
But it’s in CC’s nature to surrender rights to unelected bureaucrats so…….most do so prefer top be led there.
I say good luck to the new hotel/house/disco. And kudos to the locals employed in erecting it. I bet they really appreciate the income, and opportunities it provides them and their families. Gotta love that capitalism.
J Jackson says
I think it will be fantastic! Welcome to the neighborhood! Those lots are overly narrow anyways, so building on three lots makes sense to me! To the rest of you, try being neighborly! And if you don’t like the review board’s decision, get elected to the board and effect change. Otherwise, your negativity is the only thing ruining the town!
J Jackson says
Please also note there are no scale bars on the elevation drawings and no mention of the actual square footage of the home.
Note: Elevation Drawings are available through the town planner. More details from the staff report: Presently the building footprint is approximately two-thousand onehundred (2,100) square feet. Upon completion of the addition, the new dwelling footprint will measure approximately sixty-four (64) feet by seventy-eight (78) feet, or roughly five-thousand (5,000) square feet. The property owner intends to vacate two lot lines and create a parcel exceeding sixteen-thousand five-hundred (16,500) square feet. The building footprint will change considerably.
Brian Wiersma says
I think this is fantastic and hopefully a sign of accelerated development in the great town of Cape Charles. My family and I love Cape Charles and marvel at the potential of it. Walking around town and seeing historical homes purchased and rehabbed year over year is always fun. This will obviously be a prime example of this. I’m looking forward to returning next year seeing it… it looks beautiful and certainly an improvement over the vacant lots that have fronted Bay Ave for the last decades!
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
Potential? Mr. Weirsma, CC is AGAINST fulfilling potential. Why, that smacks of development donchaknow.
We can meet at the Firehouse Restaurant and talk about it…………errrrrr, not that one, sorry………
Eleanor Bruce says
I don’t understand exactly where this new house will be built. Is it the first block when you turn off Mason Avenue? Isn’t there currently a house at 8 Bay Avenue? Please help. Thanks.
Note: Yes, it is the first house on the corner. It stands on a triple lot, and the owners plan to expand the home to take up the other 2/3.
Eleanor Bruce says
Okay. Thanks!
Blue Hoss says
As you are not paying for it, does it matter?
Eleanor Bruce says
Blue Hoss, is that question directed to me?
Brian Wiersma says
Eleanor, I suspect Blue Hoss’s question was directed to Ms. Erin. She was pretty negative about someone building a nice house on an empty lot in Cape Charles. Perhaps because it will block the beautiful view of the industrial plant across the inlet, not really sure?