LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington’s Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday approved construction of a new free-standing residence on a vacant lot at 493 West Fifth Street in the Fayette Park historic district, overriding staff objections to the home’s attached garage in a decision the board called a model for future urban infill projects.
The board also postponed action on a contested porte cochere — a covered carport structure — proposed for 265 South Ashland Avenue after the homeowner made an emotional plea for the project, citing years of exposure to harsh weather and concerns about pet safety. That case will return March 18.
The West Fifth Street residence was the most consequential item on the Feb. 18 agenda. Staff had recommended disapproval, finding that an attached garage conflicted with historic district guidelines calling for detached accessory structures. But board members, after extensive discussion, concluded that the lot’s unusual position — facing Fifth Street rather than Fayette Park proper — gave the project a distinct context that made the attached garage acceptable.
One board member said she walked the entire Fayette Park neighborhood the day before the meeting and came away convinced that the lot was “completely divorced” from Fayette Park’s residential character. The street, she said, “really reads like an alley” lined with garage structures, making the proposed home’s built-in garage a natural fit rather than a suburban intrusion.
Another member praised the project’s restrained footprint, noting the home “could have been a much bigger house” but that the applicant kept the design “tidy and tight and very contemporary.” The board found the project was an example of sensible development that historic district oversight should embrace, not block.
The board approved the Certificate of Appropriateness with conditions requiring sensitivity to all mature trees on the site, conformity with district guidelines on tree preservation, and staff review of final details before the certificate is issued. A board member noted that every mature tree on the property had been individually located, measured, and modeled in the site plans at the request of a previous board member. The motion passed without opposition.
Following the vote, the applicant’s representative told the board the case should set a precedent, calling the analysis and review process “really great” and predicting it would serve as a model for future projects.
The board then turned to the South Ashland porte cochere, where homeowner Kim Gaines and architect Baron Gibson of Gibson Taylor Thompson appeared for what has become a multimeeting effort to win approval for a single-car covered parking structure on the side of the historic home.
Staff again recommended denial, finding that the proposed porte cochere replicates history that never existed on the property, would obscure a decorative awning that is a character-defining feature of the home, and is located on a prominent side elevation rather than at the rear as guidelines recommend.
Gibson pushed back, clarifying that the project had never been formally denied — only continued for further study when it was first presented alongside a rear porch addition four years ago. He presented a revised proposal that shifts the structure further back on the side of the house to avoid covering the decorative awning, a change board members received positively. One member said the redesign made the structure read “entirely differently” from the original proposal and was “not nearly as imitative.”
Still, the board raised concerns about the structure’s height relative to the front porch and debated whether the porte cochere should be freestanding rather than attached to the historic house. A board member suggested that separating the structure from the building would better protect the home’s stone detailing and architectural features.
Gaines told the board she has parked outside for 21 years and described the recent ice storm as “absolutely brutal.” She said the property’s existing carriage house is too small for a modern vehicle and that relocating covered parking to the rear would endanger her dogs, recounting how a neighbor on South Ashland had two dogs killed — one hit by a car after escaping through an open gate, and another struck when the owner was backing up behind the house.
“It’s not just for aesthetics — actually it’s functional for me,” Gaines told the board, adding that she was willing to relocate a garbage receptacle and lower the structure’s profile to satisfy the board’s concerns.
The board continued the case without objection to its March 18 meeting, giving the applicant time to return with a refined design that addresses the board’s feedback on height, attachment to the house, and stair modifications.
In routine business, the board approved seven staff-level actions across five historic districts, including tree removals in the Aylesford, Bell Court, and South Hill districts, front porch stair replacement on Oldham Avenue, a fence repair in Fayette Park, a tile roof refurbishment on South Ashland Avenue, and shutter restoration on South Upper Street. Meeting minutes from November, December, and January were approved collectively without objection.
The Board of Architectural Review next meets March 18.
