Before
she became a homeowner, Becky Kitchin filled out a questionnaire at work that
asked for ideas on Oak Ridge housing to pass along to the city. In her
comments, she suggested: “Make plans available for people who don’t know how to
get started.”
Shortly
after that, Kitchen bought one of Oak Ridge’s original “alphabet” houses in the
Cedar Hill neighborhood to be close to work, to her son’s school, and Cedar
Hill Park, after being a commuter and then a renter for several years. Her
first house is a “C” house, one that has changed only slightly since it was
built for workers during World War II.
Though
it needed updating, it was ready for occupancy when she bought the house in
1999.
“It took every penny I had to get into it,” said Kitchen, a health physics technician with Oak Ridge Associated Universities. “I looked for something that I could be in for three years before we had to do anything to the house. This is my first house. I needed a direction to go.”
By
coincidence, three years later, in 2002, the City of Oak Ridge followed up on
her suggestion. The city began offering free, permit-ready renovation plans for
10 different types of historic homes built here during and after World War
II. That was just the motivation she
and her husband Rollin, a painting contractor, needed to begin an addition this
summer to their “C” house that will give her family a new master bathroom and
closet off the existing master bedroom.
Homeowners
and potential homebuyers have picked up 433
sets of house plans since the City of Oak Ridge began offering the free
plans last summer in a program aimed at improving the city’s aging housing
stock and helping to make renovation of these older homes affordable.
The
Kitchins were the first to get a loan to renovate their home with the city’s
house plans, according to Monica Austin, with the city’s Community Development
Department. The city hired Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon to develop three
different renovation schemes for each of the 10 house types, making a total of
30 sets of plans now available. For more information about the city’s house
plans, call Austin or Tim Ward at the Community Development Department,
425-3531.
The
Housing Development Corporation of the Clinch Valley, a non-profit organization
that offers several programs to help those with low and moderate incomes become
homeowners, is helping the city market the house plan program as one approach
to improving the affordable housing market in Oak Ridge. The free house plans
are available to anyone, regardless of income.
“We
are focusing on homeownership this week, National NeighborWorks® Week (June
7-14), and on the great opportunity the city’s house plan program offers to
those who own homes or those who are considering purchase of one of these
historic homes,” said Steve Murray, HDC executive director. HDC is a member of the
NeighborWorks® Network, a national network of 220 community-based non-profits
that work year-round to revitalize communities. Last year, for example, the NeighborWorks® Network generated
nearly $1.7 billion for affordable housing and community development, helping
67,300 families purchase, improve and maintain their homes.
For those buying and renovating at the same
time, the Fannie Mae HomeStyle mortgage product, available through Fannie Mae
lenders in the Oak Ridge area, fits well with the free house plan program.
HomeStyle enables families in one transaction to borrow funds to purchase the
home and to remodel it, with one low interest rate that applies to the entire
loan.
Kitchin
said she learned about the house plan program through a story in The Oak Ridger
announcing the innovative program and the unveiling of the plans at Roane State
Community College last July. After looking at the plans, she and Rollin chose
Scheme B for the “C” house renovation, making a few modifications to add the
closet and master bathroom alongside their already-enclosed back porch.
The
program offers cost savings to make renovation more affordable. Having
permit-ready house plans saves the homeowner anywhere from $500 to $2,000 in
architect’s fees, depending upon the extent of renovation. The city is offering
fee waivers of all but $25 for electrical, plumbing and building fees for those
using the house plans to make improvements on the city’s older housing stock, a
savings ranging from $110 to $150, depending on the cost of the renovation.
Kitchin
said she originally hoped the city would provide more information on
contractors and banks. “I wanted the city to do all the work,” she said. “I
realized that wouldn’t work. The city is offering a road map. The spots on the map,
we are going to have to fill in ourselves.”
Kitchin
worked with ORNL Federal Credit Union on her loan, and the credit union urged
her to get three bids and check contractors with the Better Business Bureau.
Besides the addition, the Kitchins are replacing the old windows and having new
siding put on. Austin and Tim Ward from the city’s Community Development
Department outlined for her the permits and inspections she would need as work
progresses on the addition.
And
they asked Kitchin for her for ideas on how to make the house plan program work
more smoothly. Put the house plans on the internet, she suggested. Invite some
local businesses to participate in a community initiative to renovate one of
the historic homes, she added.
In
a few years, when the Kitchins are ready to renovate their kitchen, they plan
to use the Scheme C for the “C” house, which converts the kitchen and utility
room into a kitchen-dining area, opening it to the living area. Other than the enclosed back porch, the
floor plan is the original one, with three bedrooms, living, room, kitchen,
utility room and bath, all on one level.
“We’re
going to do it in stages, so that we can live here and not get too stressed
out,” Kitchin said. “These houses, they are so well built that it would be a
shame not to utilize them, with their oak floors and sturdy construction.”