Preservation panel approves coach house changes at 1423 Elmwood Avenue, notes one opposition

The Evanston Preservation Commission voted to approve a certificate of appropriateness for 1423 Elmwood Avenue, allowing alterations to the existing detached coach house and ADU that include a one‑car garage, a small second‑floor exercise room and deck, and a one‑story side addition.

Natalia Silyarska, project manager at Studio Taller Architecture and the applicant’s representative, told the commission the project’s primary goal “is to introduce a garage since there’s no garage on the lot,” and that the design uses matching wood clapboard, shingle siding and Marvin aluminum‑clad windows to preserve the building’s historic appearance.

Commissioners discussed zoning setbacks and design alternatives. One commissioner asked whether an eave alignment could avoid breaking the coach house roofline; Silyarska said the aligned option had been considered in schematic design but was deemed overpowering, so the team proposed an offset addition to meet a three‑foot setback requirement.

During deliberation members flagged compatibility with the site’s small yard and noted construction standard 5, which addresses the relationship of a structure to open space. The Chair moved to approve the COA citing the applicable alteration and construction standards; the motion was called and the commission declared it passed. The Chair later corrected an initial announcement of unanimity, noting that one commissioner opposed the motion; the transcript does not record a numerical vote tally.

The certificate allows the applicant to proceed with the proposed exterior materials, window patterns and the garage opening as presented, subject to the standards specified in the motion. The commission did not take additional land‑use or zoning actions during this item; any zoning relief would be handled by the appropriate land‑use body.

Next on the agenda the commission took up a larger adaptive‑reuse proposal for Pioneer Place.