Historic Guidelines - City of Melbourne, Florida

Frame Vernacular
ROOF
Exposed Rafter Ends
1) Front, side and cross gable.
2) Main roofs are steeply pitched (8:12 to 12:12).
3) Porch roofs have a low pitch (2:12 to 4:12).
4) Rafter ends are exposed, unadorned, and extend
beyond the face of the wall.
5) Asbestos, composition or metal shingles, V-crimp metal.
6) Brick or stucco chimneys, typically on the gable end
walls.
7) Dormers were sometimes used on 1 ½ story homes.
Panel Door with Glass; Wood Windows
DOORS
1) Transoms, fanlights are common.
2) French doors and simple balconies are used
occasionally.
3) Door trim projects out from wall cladding,
approximately ¾ inch. Jamb trim is at least 4” wide,
and headers (lintel) are normally 6” wide.
4) Doors contain recessed wood panels.
WINDOWS
1) Windows are single, tall and narrow.
2) Multi-pane, double-hung sash windows (6/6, 3/1, 2/2
Wood Double-Hung Windows
or 1/1). Jalousie used in later construction (mid
century).
3) Transoms, fanlights and attic louvers are common.
4) Second floor windows align with first floor windows.
5) Houses built in the early 1900s had wood windows.
Steel and aluminum casements were used in the
1950s and 1960s. Aluminum windows have been used
from the 1960s to the present.
6) Windows are spaced evenly along all facades.
7) Window trim projects out from wall cladding,
Picketfence
approximately ¾ inch. Jamb trim is at least 4” wide,
and headers (lintel) are normally 6” wide.
8) Shutters are not typically used. When used, they
should be paneled and should be either operable or
proportioned to look operable.
MATERIALS
1) Horizontal wood siding; less common are wood
shingles and board and batten.
ORNAMENTATION
1) Sparse, limited to ornamental woodwork.
FENCES
1) Wooden fences are most common. Wire fencing used on original sites.
2) Picket fences with various level of ornamentation, consistent with the main building.
DRAFT
INTRODUCTION
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