West Rutherford Historic District
The West Rutherford Avenue Local Historic District is comprised of houses built between 1930 and 1960 within the city limits of Athens, Georgia. The houses represent a variety of early-twentieth-century architectural styles including English Vernacular Revival, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, American Small House, and Ranch. The neighborhood reflects subdivision development in Athens in the early twentieth century when local developers situated new neighborhoods along streetcar routes developed during the end of the nineteenth century.
WLA Studio prepared a Historic District Designation Report and Design Guidelines for the Rutherford Avenue Local Historic District in Athens, Georgia. Working for the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department, team members Keyes Williamson and Mary Fenwick Parish performed a parcel-by-parcel inventory of the historic resources within the proposed historic district’s boundaries. The products of this inventory included physical descriptions of existing conditions of each parcel, identification of historic fabric, and explanation of the historic significance and character-defining features for each individual resource. WLA Studio also prepared recommended design guidelines that specifically addressed the preservation of historic features within the proposed districts.
During the development of the report and guidelines, WLA Studio met with property owners and attended public meetings designed to inform local residents of the project. The Athens-Clarke County Historic Preservation Commission unanimously approved the designation report and the Mayor and City-County Commission unanimously approved the designation in December 2016.
