Page 78 - Waxahachie, TX Residential Design Guidelines

TreaTmenT of His Toric resources

Dormers
Dormers were used traditionally on some homes in Waxahachie’s
historic districts, and provide light and ventilation to upper floors
and attic spaces. If a dormer is proposed as an addition to a
residential building, it should be similar in scale and design to
existing dormers on the building or to existing dormers in the
historic context. A new dormer should not significantly impact the
historic roofline of the structure.

4.16 Minimize the visual impact of a new dormer.
a. Where possible, locate a dormer on the rear or the side of
a historic building.
b. Set back a side-facing dormer from the building front to
minimize its visibility from the street and sidewalk, and to
Side
Front
preserve the roof line of the original building.
Minimize the visual impact of a c. Locate a new dormer below the ridgeline of the roof and
new dormer. Where possible,
so that it does not interrupt the historic roofline.
locate a dormer on the rear or the
d. Where a front-facing dormer is used, locate it to preserve
side of a historic building.
the ridgeline of the original building and to be set in from
the side walls of the original structure.

4.17 Where the historic building includes dormers, design
a new dormer to be in character with existing roof
dormers and with the roof form.
a. Design a new dormer to be a simplified version of the
historic dormer(s).
b. Design a new dormer to use similar materials to existing
dormer(s).
c. Design a new dormer to utilize a roof form similar to those
of existing dormer(s).
d. Design a new dormer to be no more than 10’ wide.
e. Design a new dormer(s) to not exceed a total of 30% of
the wall plane length.
f. Design dormer window to wall proportions to be similar to
those found traditionally on the historic building.
g. Do not visually overwhelm the scale of the primary
building with a new dormer.

Minimize the visual impact of a
new dormer. The top image is
inappropriate because the new
dormers overwhelm the historic
structure. The bottom image
displays a simplified use of new
dormers that are less visible from
the front of the structure, which is
more appropriate.
70 Waxahac hie Residential design guidelines