By Jessica Johnson

UM journalism student

Living in one of Oxford’s two residential historic districts comes with a major perk: owning a beautiful historic home located within walking distance of the downtown Square. However, maintaining that home also requires balancing the maintenance of historical integrity, while making it your own.

Stacey Goff and his wife Leigh Ann knew they would have to renovate their house on North 14th Street when they purchased the home in 2024.

“It’s an older house that hasn’t had work done to it in quite a while, and we wanted to turn it more into a primary residence.” Stacey Goff said. “So we’re needing to make the investments to bring it back to standard.”

In order to make those changes, the Goffs needed approval from the Oxford Historic Preservation Committee, which oversees the North Lamar Historic District where their home is located.

The Goffs had originally approached the Commission with renovation plans during a complimentary review held at a meeting on Dec. 16, 2024. A complimentary review has the Commission look at current plans and comment on them, allowing the homeowner to make necessary changes to meet City guidelines for historic properties.

In that complimentary review, the Commission took issue with the addition of a front porch and rearrangement of windows on the building, with Chairman Jack Garner citing the burden of proof needed to ensure the alterations kept in line with what the home looked like originally.

“I would like to see documentation to establish that what you’re proposing is in any way similar to what the original house would have been,” Garner said. “If you’ve got documented evidence that what you’re proposing is similar or even inspired by the original house, we would welcome that, but at this point, the fenestration is jarring when compared to what the house appears to be right now…It’s a radical change.”

Now, three months later on March 17, 2025, the Goffs appeared with their architect Jeremy Corken to present a new plan to the Commission in a second complimentary review, this time with the needed documentation. These new renovation plans included photographs of the house, featuring a front porch that no longer exists.

Planner II Kate Kenwright helped the Goffs find the photographs, talking to neighbors who had previously owned the property. She said the photographs, dated around 1931, were essential in convincing the Commission to approve the addition of a porch to the house.

“The design guidelines recommend against making changes to primary facades; they are not in keeping with the character of the house,” Kenwright said. “We didn’t have definitive proof that there was a porch there, so it wouldn’t have necessarily been recommended. So then having those pictures, we were like, ‘Okay, well you can see that this did exist.’”

As part of the city’s planning department, Kenwright emphasized the importance of following the guidelines set in place for historic districts.

“Following the guidelines doesn’t mean you can’t make a change,” Kenwright said. “People will put on rear additions all the time. The point is that the changes are in keeping with the age and style of the house and don’t overwhelm the existing building.”

Architect Jeremy Corken said the guidelines set out by the city play a big part in influencing design plans.

“It’s different from municipality to municipality,” Corken said. “Kate and Ben [Requet, City Planner] have been very helpful, helping us understand the guidelines. What they focus on and what we had focused on originally were two different things. We now know they care really about  the exterior and the two sides of the house that face public streets, and that’s it.”

While the complimentary reviews will help guide the Goffs in making revisions to their plans, they still have to seek a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Commission to have the plan officially approved.

The Historic Preservation Commission in Oxford oversees the North Lamar and South Lamar Historic Districts. It meets every third Monday at 5 p.m. in the City Hall Courtroom.