Constructed ca. 1890, the Queen Anne style building at 521 East Bolton Street is located within the Savannah Victorian National Register Historic District. The building was purchased by Stephen Mears from the Historic Savannah Foundation (HSF) revolving fund in 2018 . Josh Ward, AIA, principal for Ward Architecture + Preservation, developed architectural plans for the owner to meet their needs in restoring the duplex into a single-family residence and complying with HSF’s facade easement program.
Historic character defining features were retained and non-historic partition walls were removed. The most significant change to the building was to reconstruct the missing front porch. Research revealed that in 1898 the building maintained a one-story full width front porch and physical evidence and materials on the building guided the new design to be as sensitive as possible while meeting current codes and regulations. Construction was completed in the spring of 2018. The project received a Preservation of Excellence Award from the Historic Savannah Foundation in 2019.