Warner Circle Restoration Plans Progress

As plans to restore Warner Circle Mansion are getting underway, residents are pleased with the house restoration plans but have voiced some concerns about how the landscaping and exterior work will affect the surrounding areas.

Staff from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and architects presented preliminary design plans for the restoration project in a public meeting on Wednesday.

David Bell of BELL Architects explained the schematic design for Warner Circle Mansion, also known as Circle Manor. The plans include restoring historic aspects of the manor — built in 1890 — and removing other parts of the building, including the area that was added and used as a nursing home from 1956 to 2006.

"We tried to come up with an appropriate design while being sensitive to the long-term uses of the park," Bell said.

In order to make the appropriate designs, Stephen Paczkowski from BELL researched the history of the building and archaeological zones. He pointed out that there is only one period image available from the Warner era (1893-1913), which was provided by the Kensington Historical Society. The Library of Congress had alteration drawings from when the McKenney family lived in the house (1914-56).

Paczkowski said that lightning rods, shutters and the weather vane are gone from the original structure and wondered whether the community would want to create reproductions.

"We may put these things back to keep the image purer historically," he said.

The architects explained that the Warner era house had many more details and that the McKenney era designs were much simpler.

"There were different architectural additions," Bell said. "We're trying to marry the two to pick up the spirit of both additions."

As far as the structural designs go, neighbors of the mansion and committee members were pleased and didn't offer criticisms.

But when Patricia O'Donnell from Heritage Landscapes LLC spoke about the master plan for landscaping, attendees offered some concerns.

O'Donnell said that in order to make landscape plans she needed to look at residential and institutional landscape characteristics, character-defining features, cultural and natural resources and continuity and change of the area.

"We need to respect what we inherit, but we cannot put things back to a previous time," she said.

After comparing the different eras, O'Donnell decided to retain the character of the topography, construct additional walkways for recreational use and make sure that there is enough parking but that it is hidden enough so as not to affect the exterior views of the mansion.

When the home was built, houses were meant to be nestled into the landscape, so bushes and trees will be added to tuck the parking areas into the landscape. That posed a concern for chief of police for Montgomery County Park Police.

Parks Police Chief Darien Manley said he understands the need for screening the parking area but is concerned about the level to which it will be hidden.

"There is not a lot of crime in the parks here, but there is rise in theft from autos," Manley said. "This creates opportunity for criminal activity."

He added that there needs to be more natural surveillance of the area in order to prevent crime. O'Donnell agreed and said that tree limbs will be high and shrubs will be kept below waist-level for good visibility but hidden enough not to affect the nearby homes.

Attendees also expressed concern about the addition of more trees around the mansion.

The hill is often used for sledding when it snows, and residents want to make sure that the children of Kensington could still use the park for that purpose. O'Donnell assured them that none of the landscaping plans will alter the area that can be used for sledding.

The architects have created three steps of construction phasing. Phase one will remove the nursing home additions and reconstruct the walls of the historical structure. Phase two will rehabilitate the house, add stairs and make the house useful to business and residents. The final phase will construct additions, rehabilitate the carriage house and create the new drives, parking and a separate building for a public meeting room.

There is no estimate on start or end dates for restoration because the plans need to be finished in order to get the funding. Julie Mueller, the project manager for the parks commission, explained that the current design plans are 35 percent complete and are still in draft form for information purposes only.

Mueller said that they have enough funding to complete the rest of the designs, but that BELL was only contracted for the first 35 percent of the designs. The commission will enter competitive bidding for the rest of the project.

After the designs reach the point of approval from the commission and the Warner Circle committee, they will be reviewed by the park system and then sent back to the architects for a final review.

Mueller said they hope to have a formal submittal by the end of October.