Architectural

Appropriateness
in the Stockade
Historic District
The following illustrated principles are
drawn directly from Restore Oregon’s
much lauded “Compatible Infill Design”
Report (2011). The full report is available
online.

This presentation has been prepared

by Marissa Marvelli for the public in
anticipation of the Kingstonian Project
review.
This presentation has been put together to assist the
public in understanding the sort of questions that the
Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission (HLPC)
should be considering as they review proposed new
construction in the Stockade Historic District.

The HLPC’s review procedures are defined in Chapters

264 (Historic and Architectural Design Districts) and 405
Zoning in the City of Kingston Administrative Code.

Given the aesthetic nature of architecture, the answer to

what makes a new building appropriate for any historic
district can be subjective. The following principles are
intended to help guide a constructive review.
1. The
District is the
Resource, Not
its Individual
Parts
Designated historic districts are
significant as a collective whole
and must be considered as such,
and protected in their entirety.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
Boundaries of the *The Stockade District is also a National
Register Historic District, the boundaries
Local Stockade of which are not identical to those of
the local district. Kingston’s Historic
Historic District* Landmarks Preservation Commission
is responsible for locally-designated
districts and buildings only. These district
boundaries are defined by local law.

N
1870 Beers Map

Project Site
South on Wall St from
John St ca. 1905
New construction must respond to and protect
the integrity of the overall historic district in
much the same way as an addition does to a
historic building.*

* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”

2. New
Construction
Will Reinforce
the Historic
Significance of
the District
Infill buildings should relate to and
strengthen the core characteristics
of the district. New construction
should build upon the story of
the district through its design,
landscape, use, cultural expression,
and associated interpretive displays.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
“Kingston’s Stockade Historic
District is a significant
historical, architectural and
archaeological area in the
development of New York
State. The area is important
as one of three early New
York colonial settlements...
as a planned fortification,
as a leading center of early
government serving as the
State’s first capital, and as a
representative cross section
of three hundred years of
architectural development.”
- Stockade District National Register Nomination
 Project Area

Project Area

North

1200 ft (366 meters)

Map 5. 1695 Miller Map (taken from Fernow 1881)

 “To this day, the boundary lines of this stockade are formed
by Green Street, Main Street, Clinton Avenue, and North
Front Street and are still intact. Also, amazingly enough,
almost the entire bluff promontory forming the perimeter of
this area, elevated above the lowland, is still comparatively
intact. Therefore, of the three first settlements in New York
State—Albany (Fort Orange, New York (New Amsterdam),
and Kingston—it is only Kingston that the authentic
elements of an original fortification remain.”

1858 J.H. French

Map
 1888 Burleigh
Panorama of the City
of Kingston

Fair St Extension

Buildings lining the old boundaries of the

Stockade have historically faced inward to the
district. The rear elevations of N. Front Street
buildings are utilitarian in character, giving
further emphasis to the district’s edge.
Stephen Blauweiss Collection

Photo: Bob Haines Collection

The elevated
plateau on which the
Stockade is situated
has never been
substantially altered
or expanded.
3. New
Construction Will
Complement
and Support the
District
Most historic districts have a
discernible aesthetic rhythm of
massing, scale, and siting. Infill
buildings should not deviate in a
detracting manner from these
elements, but appear as
complementary members of the
district.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
Existing Building
Footprints in the
Stockade Historic
District

Old Montgomery Ward

footprint
The Footprint of the
Proposed Kingstonian
in Relation to Existing
Buildings
Continuous,
Coplanar
Commercial
Street Walls
Emphasis on the
storefront base
Most nearby
buildings range
between 2 and 3
stories
Stuyvesant Hotel,
attention to small
details
4. Infill Will Be
Compatible
Yet Distinct
New buildings should be
identifiable as being of their period
of construction; however, they
should not be so differentiated
that they detract from – or visually
compete with – their historic
neighbors. Within historic districts,
compatibility is more important than
differentiation.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
The following seven
projects are examples of
contemporary buildings
in historic contexts. Each
illustrates a different design
approach and each is highly
specific to its site. What is
an appropriate architectural
response for one context
many not be for another,
especially Kingston’s
Stockade District. The
purpose of showing these
examples is to inspire
critical design thought.
Contemporary dialogue
with the nautical history
of NYC’s Front Street.
A new mixed use development in NYC’s
South Street Historic Seaport District,
designed by COOKFOX.
Context / contrast.
A modern building fills
a missing tooth in the
streetscape.
A new residential development in NYC’s
Tribeca Historic Seaport District, designed
by BKSK Architects.
Contextual but not
imitative.
A new mixed use development in
Greenwich Village, designed by
COOKFOX.
Balancing the complex
character of a historic
neighborhood
A new mixed use development in
Georgetown, designed by Beyer Blinder
Belle Architects.
Modern ornamental
terra cotta honoring
historic cast iron
details.
A new commercial building in SoHo, NYC
designed by BKSK Architects.
Quiet backdrop.
Clearly new but not
distractingly so.
A mixed-use development in Seattle
designed by OlsonKundig.
Traditional materials /
modern form.
A new LEED Platinum school in
Gladstone, NJ, designed by Hone &
Associates.
5. The Exterior
Envelope and
Patterning of
New Buildings
Will Reflect
District
Characteristics
Infill design elements, patterning,
texture, and materials should
reflect the aesthetic and historic
themes of the district.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
Existing Buildings by
Primary Material

Brick Stone Frame Other

Texture
& Depth
Ornamented
Commercial
Buildings
Symmetry
Decorative
Brickwork
Detailed
Storefronts
6. Contributing
Buildings Will Not
Be Demolished
to Create Infill
Opportunities
Properties deemed “contributing”
to the district must not be removed
or rendered non-contributing to
make way for new construction.
Consideration should be given to
the demolition of non-contributing
buildings 50 years of age or older on a
case-by-case basis, dependent on the
character of the district.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
The old Herzog Warehouse at North Front and
Fair Streets was originally built as a hotel of frame
construction. M.H. Herzog converted the building
to a wholesale warehouse and store in 1937. The
brick facade and extension were added in 1946. To
a certain extent, these heavy-handed alterations
damaged the building’s historic integrity.
Photo: Friends of Historic Kingston
1887 Sanborn Map
The hotel was built in the 1880s. By
1890 it had been rechristened The
Clinton. It would later become the
Mitchell House. Hotel operations
continued until the 1930s.
• Buildings deteriorated
beyond repair may
be demolished if
so determined by
the State Historic
Preservation Office
and local preservation
commission.

• Properties deemed
non-contributing to
the district should
be retained and/or
documented if they
have achieved historic
significance over time.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards
for Reconstruction:

1. Reconstruction will be used to depict vanished or non-

surviving portions of a property when documentary
and physical evidence is available to permit accurate
reconstruction with minimal conjecture, and such
reconstruction is essential to the public understanding of
the property.
2. Reconstruction of a landscape, building, structure or object
in its historic location will be preceded by a thorough
archaeological investigation to identify and evaluate those
features and artifacts that are essential to an accurate
reconstruction. If such resources must be disturbed,
mitigation measures will be undertaken.
3. Reconstruction will include measures to preserve
any remaining historic materials, features and spatial
relationships.
4. Reconstruction will be based on the accurate duplication
of historic features and elements substantiated by
documentary or physical evidence rather than on
conjectural designs or the availability of different features
from other historic properties. A reconstructed property
will re-create the appearance of the non-surviving historic
property in materials, design, color and texture.
5. A reconstruction will be clearly identified as a
contemporary re-creation.
6. Designs that were never executed historically will not be
constructed.
Existing Footprint of the
Old Hotel (solid yellow)
and Proposed “Replica”
(dashed yellow line)
7. Archaeological
Resources Will
Be Preserved in
Place or Work
Will Be Mitigated
When new construction must
disturb archaeological resources,
mitigation measures should
contribute to the story of the
district.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”
 REMAINS
OF THE OLD
STOCKADE
HAVE BEEN
UNCOVERED
IN PAST DIGS,
INCLUDING
ONE IN 1970
ON A SITE
ACROSS
FROM THE
SENATE
HOUSE.

Published: July 28, 1970

Copyright © The New York Times
JOSEPH DIAMOND, PH.D., ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE KINGSTONIAN PROJECT:

“Due to the project area’s potentially sensitive location within the National
Register Stockade Historic District coupled with the fact that there are
multiple precontact sites within a one mile radius, it is recommended that
Phase 1B testing should be undertaken within the area presently slated for
construction (also known as the APE). The project area borders a National
Register Historic District in a location where subsurface testing has never
been undertaken. Potential archaeological deposits include, but are not
limited to 1) the 1658 Stockade along the northern edge of North Front Street,
2) the moat constructed by Stuyvesant in June of 1658 which surrounds 3
sides of the stockade area, 3) deposits associated with the 17th-century Dutch
and British Colonial Periods, and 4) deposits of Native American origin which
may be mixed with or underlie the deposits from the 17th-century Dutch and
British. ...The targeted areas could be tested before construction impacts,
or during construction-related activities as long as time is set aside for
sampling archaeological deposits.”
• Archaeological mitigation
must conform to local,
state, and federal laws
and accepted professional
standards.

• When appropriate,
archaeological mitigation
should be accessible to
the general public in an
educational capacity.

• Information yielded from

archaeological mitigation
should be interpreted
in the new building and
throughout the district.*
* Restore Oregon, “Compatible Infill Design”