Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
308 Fountain Avenue
Between Laurel Avenue and Pine Avenue
3 beds, 2 baths, 1,520 SF on a 3,800 SF lot
Built, 1900
Last sold, 2023
It began as a compact, one-story house with a simple rectangular shape, an open front porch, and a modest early-20th-century domestic character. What followed was not a light update but a major reworking: the foundation was raised to make room for a basement garage, a second story was added, a broad wraparound porch reshaped the exterior edges, and the original porch was enclosed, changing the entry sequence and window pattern enough that the earlier form could no longer be read clearly. By the time those changes were complete, the building’s footprint, massing, and design had moved so far from the original house that it no longer retained the kind of historic integrity needed to remain legible as the earlier structure.
The house is organized as a broad, two-story volume with a low, sheltering roof and a strong emphasis on horizontal lines. A raised masonry base anchors the building to the site, while the upper walls are lighter and the exterior edge is carried by deep overhangs, exposed rafters, battered porch supports, and a wraparound porch that softens the mass and gives the façade its layered, handmade quality.
The house uses a compact parcel with unusual efficiency by folding a large amount of usable space into the building envelope itself. The basement garage absorbs parking at the lowest level, the wraparound porch and perimeter circulation give the house a much larger exterior presence than the lot size suggests, and the elevated deck-like areas extend the living space outward without requiring a big yard. The result is a property that feels tightly organized and layered, with the site working hard from the ground level up rather than relying on open lawn or leftover space.
Three Things I Love About the Home
1.a
2/s
3. d
