Design Review Committee approves window and façade repairs at 118 Main Street

The Montpelier Design Review Committee approved a renovation application for 118 Main Street (owner/applicant listed as Malone, Main Street / MyPillio Properties LLC) that covers window and door replacements, repair of a failing rear brick façade and replacement of asphalt shingles on the rear roof. Applicant representative Alicia described the project; committee members discussed window types, dormer styles, and the potential to restore previous openings.

Committee approval matters because the project affects a prominent downtown building and involves choices about materials and restoration that bear on the structure’s historic character and long-term viability as rentable office and storefront space.

Alicia, the applicant’s representative, said the windows are “rotting, so we're proposing to replace those and any doors that are also in disrepair.” She described the rear façade as having two layers of brick that will be taken down, a framed wall rebuilt, and the exterior brick veneer reinstalled using original bricks where available so the façade “should resemble exactly what it does now, but not crumbling under its own weight.” Plans label the rear portion as 7½ School Street. The front-facing windows on Main Street are proposed to match existing proportions (front: single 1-over-1 sash; rear: approximately 6-over-1 panes). The applicant initially described proposed windows as vinyl, black, with matching pane divisions; specification sheets from Green Mountain Window and Door Company included references to wood double-hung sashes and to systems that use a vinyl jamb liner or fiberglass-like clad (Ultrex-style) products.

Committee discussion covered several adjustments and options the applicant may use: restoring previous window openings where boarded, allowing additional openings on the rear façade if they match existing sizes and align vertically, making dormers consistent across the roof (members suggested either matching gable or shed forms), and considering skylights for interior spaces that lack exterior windows. Several members said they had no objection to additional openings so long as they matched the building’s rhythm; one member expressed a visual preference for gable dormers but did not require a specific treatment. Meredith Crandall, staff, noted that Green Mountain Window materials documentation could show wood sashes with a vinyl jamb liner and that fiberglass-clad windows were an acceptable alternative in the options list.

The committee also directed staff to include alternatives and to require a signature from the property owner acknowledging the options listed (window material alternatives, restoration of openings, and dormer treatment). Meredith Crandall said she would scan the final materials and issue the permit after she received the owner’s written acceptance of the options. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) provided material that staff said made issuing an associated river-hazard determination for the change of use easier.

The vote to approve was recorded with the following yes votes: Eric Yelbertson, Martha Smerski, Rebecca (member), Ben (member), Steven Everett and Liz Pritchett. No abstentions or no votes were recorded. The approval is subject to the owner signing off on the listed options and any standard permitting follow-up by planning staff.

The committee emphasized preservation best practices from the design-review criteria: preserve character-defining window patterns where feasible, repair before replacing where possible, and replace in kind only when deterioration prevents repair. Members suggested wood or fiberglass-clad windows as acceptable materials alternatives and requested documentation of the final product and installation details before permit issuance.