Purpose
The purpose of these guidelines is to define clear documentation requirements for historic homes in compliance with Mountain Lakes Ordinance 08-12. This ordinance specifies that, prior to applying for a demolition permit for a historic home, the owner must, among other things, fulfill the documentation requirements of the ordinance. The Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee (the “HPC”) has published a list of historic homes presumptively satisfying the definition of a “Contributing Dwelling” subject to the special requirements for a demolition permit under the ordinance.
Homeowners who intend to apply for a demolition permit fortheir historic home have two options to fulfill the documentation requirement: they can either allow the HPC entry to the property to develop the documentation directly, or choose to create the documentation themselves and submit it to the HPC for approval. Homeowners who choose to generate the documentation themselves must obtain confirmation from the HPC that their documentation is in accordance with guidelines established by the HPC. If the HPC does not send a letter to the homeowner within sixty (60) days of the submission of the documentation to the HPC, the homeowner will be deemed to have complied with these requirements.
For those homeowners who decide to generate the required documentation themselves, the documentation should cover as clearly or practically as possible the following aspects of the home:
- Property Map
- Interior Layout
- Property & Streetscape
- Exterior Architectural Details
- Interior Architectural Details
- Construction Materials
Each of these items will be treated separately.
- Property Map — A copy of the most recent survey should be included in the submission to the HPC. The submission should preferably be electronic in a PDF file format, but can be hardcopy if that is all that is available. CAD files, if available, are also welcome. The survey should be created by a licensed professional surveyor.
- Interior Layout — An accurate floor plan in a PDF file format should be created by a licensed professional architect, homebuilder or other professional design resource approved by the HPC. Visual Marketing & Design of Morristown (tel: 973-919-4927) has been approved by the HPC to perform this work and is willing to perform this work at a reasonable price. CAD files, if available, are also welcome.Each floor of a house should have a separate floor plan, including any basement or attic. Each floor plan should include room dimensions noted directly on the drawing. Rooms should be labeled by current use or original use where known. Porches, stairways, fireplaces and other features should be clearly represented. Complete width and length of the house should also be noted on the first floor drawing.
- Property & Streetscape: Photos must be taken of the property during daylight hours on a clear, dry day. The photos must be clear, use proper magnification (the objects of interest should fill the picture / screen), and use a .jpg file format. The photographic output must cover all contributing historic structures on the property, including outbuildings, walls, walking paths, fountains, pillars, etc. Videos are also welcome in mp4 format, but the photos are required. Specific photo and video guidelines can be found below.
- Exterior Architectural Details: Photos must be taken of the property during daylight hours on a clear, dry day. The photos must be clear, use proper magnification (the objects of interest should fill the picture / screen), and use a .jpg file format. The photographic output must cover all faces of the home including the rear of the house, any porches (covered or otherwise), the roof, roofline and all chimneys. Videos are also welcome in mp4 format, but the photos are required. Specific photo and video guidelines can be found below.
- Interior Architectural Details: Photos must be taken of inside of the home under the brightest lighting possible. Please take the interior pictures after furniture and personal articles have been removed if possible. The photos must be clear, use proper magnification (the objects of interest should fill the picture / screen), and use a .jpg file format. The photographic output must capture as much architectural detail as possible, including ceilings, floors, staircases, wainscoting, fireplaces, doors, windows, etc. Videos are also welcome in mp4 format, but the photos are required. Specific photo and video guidelines can be found below.
- Construction Materials: A list of architectural details should be developed in Microsoft Excel from #4 and #5 above. The list should include the architectural details organized by exterior face if outside and by room if inside. The material of construction (e.g., wood type, stone, brick, plaster, stucco, etc.) should be noted in a separate column.
All six items must be submitted in their entirety to the Committee in order for the documentation package to be considered complete and considered for approval.
Submission: When the applicant has gathered the six items above they should undertake the following to ensure that the documentation is received by the HPC:
- Each of the six items above should be placed on a USB flash drive (also called a jump or thumb drive) and placed in the HPC mailbox in the Mountain Lakes Borough Hall along with any hardcopies of material (e.g., old paper surveys, etc.) necessary to complete the application. The thumb drive will be returned to the applicant after the HPC copies the contents.
- Send an email with the applicant’s name, address and a short note indicating that a documentation package has been placed in the HPC mailbox to HPC@MtnLakes.org.
- If you do not receive an email response within three business days from the HPC confirming receipt of the package please call the HPC committee chairs listed on the HPC committee page.
Photo Documentation Guidelines
General: All photos should be submitted to the committee electronically in .jpg file format. The photo quality must be such that they are usable by the HPC.Pictures should fill the frame as much as possible without completely filling the frame, capturing architectural details, foundations, and roofline.
When submitted the files must adhere to the following naming convention: the first three letters of the street name, followed by the street address number to three digits, the date the photo was taken in YYYYMMDD format,a two digit number indicating the picture number in the series starting with “01” for any given house, and ending with the file extension “JPG”. All letters are to be capitalized and each piece of data is to be separated by hyphens (not “em” or “en” dashes).
Example: If twelve pictures were taken of 1 Morris Avenue on July 18th, 2012, the first three photograph file names would be:
- MOR-001-20120718-A.JPG
- MOR-001-20120718-B.JPG
- MOR-001-20120718-C.JPG
To avoid duplication of street codes there are five exceptions to street name convention. They are:
1. | Lake End Place | = LEP |
2. | North Briarcliff | = NBR |
3. | North Crane | = NCR |
4. | North Glen | = NGL |
Property & Streetscape: Beginning by looking at the house from the street or the address street if it is a corner of through lot:
- Take one photo of the property from the each street bordering the property
- Take pictures to capture all details of historic interest or significance such as walls, pillars, walkways, outbuildings, etc.
Exterior Architectural Details: When you have walked around the property and returned to your starting point, the next step is to capture the house itself. Beginning with the front of the house:
- Take three (3) pictures of the each face of the house. The 3 pictures should be:
- Left side-view (as you face the facade)
- Direct view of the facade
- Right side-view (as you face the facade)
This yields at least 12 pictures of the exterior of the house and each should include the foundation, roof, roofline and any chimneys. The first three pictures should always be the front of the house.
- Take close up pictures of any particularly interesting architectural details or finishings. Any extra photos should be taken (and numbered in the file name) after the 12 basic shots of the exterior.
Interior Architectural Details: Enter house through front door. Cover each room in a logical sequence, moving clockwise through the house if practical.
- Take one photo of the floor.
- Take one photo of the ceiling.
- Take one photo of each wall.
- Take photos to capture details of historic interest or significance. Focus on details such as:
- Box Ceilings
- Staircases
- Wainscoting
- Floor Patterns
- Doorways & Doors
- Windows
- Original Bathroom, Kitchen or Lighting Fixtures
- Moldings
- Fireplaces
Basements, garages and attics are optional.
Video Documentation Guidelines
General: Video submissions are optional, supplemental additions to the submission. A video is not required for approval, but would be appreciated. All videos should be submitted to the committee electronically in .mp4 file format.
Property & Streetscape: Beginning by looking at the house from the street or the address street if it is a corner of through lot:
-
- Walk around the property in a clockwise direction
- Use a slow pace to minimize bouncing or other undesirable effects
- Zoom to capture details of historic interest or significance such as walls, pillars, walkways, outbuildings, etc.
- Use audio where appropriate to describe what the audience is seeing.
Exterior Architectural Details: When you have walked around the property and returned to your starting point, the next step is to capture the house itself. Beginning with the front of the house:
- Walk around the home in a clockwise direction
- Use a slow pace to minimize bouncing or other undesirable effects
- Zoom to capture the full face of the house as you walk around so that the house and its details (windows, porches, roof, roofline, chimneys, etc.) are clearly captured
- Use audio where appropriate to describe what the audience is seeing.
Interior Architectural Details: Enter house through front door. Cover each room in a logical sequence, moving clockwise through the house if practical.
- Use a slow pace to minimize bouncing or other undesirable effects. Each room should take no less than 1 minute.
- Use audio where appropriate to describe what the audience is seeing.
- Zoom to capture details of historic interest or significance. Focus on details such as:
- Box Ceilings
- Staircases
- Wainscoting
- Floor Patterns
- Doorways & Doors
- Windows
- Original Bathroom, Kitchen or Lighting Fixtures
- Moldings
- Fireplaces
Basements, garages and attics are also of interest, but are less important than the items above.