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Orange County HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Approved Meeting Summary May 28th, 2025 Bonnie Davis Center, 1020 US 70 West, Hillsborough MEMBERS PRESENT: Eric Deetz, Todd Dickinson, Rob Golan, Carol Ann Lewald, Cecelia Moore, Anne Whisnant MEMBERS ABSENT: Art Menius STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator GUESTS: Rod Mullen, interested citizen ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Dickinson called the meeting to order at 6:29 pm. ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: None ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for April 23rd, 2025, meeting: Golan moved to approve, seconded by Deetz; guest Mullen noted that his first name was Rod, not Ron; correction noted by staff; motion carried. ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Landmark evaluation form: evaluation exercise using updated edition of form: staff referred members to the handout of the updated evaluation form, incorporating input from our meeting when this was discussed. Staff suggested that the best way to refine the form will be to use it in a real evaluation exercise. The owner of the James H. and Bernetta Cole Hackney House at 753 Smith Level Road have expressed interest in applying for landmark status. Staff provided PowerPoint presentation about the ca. 1903 one-story Queen-Anne influenced farmhouse on a 12 acres site south of Chapel Hill, located within the Chapel Hill ETJ. This house is noteworthy for its exceptionally ornate patterned shingle detailing and stylish porch. This first came on our radar in 2000, when NCDOT evaluated it for a proposed road widening project and determined, with the SHPO agreement, that the house was eligible for the National Register, so it was placed it on the State Study. The shingle work and front porch are among the best examples of their type and style still extant in the county, outside of the town limits. Staff shared photos of the exterior and interior, along with site plan drawings and aerial photos showing the house in context. The interior exhibits two highly decorated vernacular Victorian mantels that are among the finest known in rural Orange County. These represent high levels of craft and inventiveness, to the extent that they are folk art, in the spirit of the work of Thomas Day in the northern part of the county fifty years earlier. Some outbuildings remain standing. This is a typical farmstead from that period, with typical outbuildings. It's likely that it stands on a portion of the land that was formerly part of the nearby Smith plantation. Discussion followed about the form, the scoring process, how to evaluate integrity of site features. Lewald suggested adding a rubric that provides explanatory detail and guidance about the criteria and how to apply it, ie, what is required for a high or low score etc. For example, architectural significance will be high for a property designed by a notable architect. But equally significant are vernacular properties crafted by talented but unknown carpenter- 1