The property is presently shrouded in overgrown bushes and trees. The paint on the house is chipped and worn, and the windowpane at the entrance is broken. The large Victorian looks as if it has seen better days.
“We love Danville and love the site. It’s the gem of the city,” said Matt Branagh of Branagh Development. Branagh purchased the property directly from the Podva family, and this will be the first historic house conversion for the company.
“I think for my father, now that he’s older, he’s starting to do projects that are more fun for him,” said Branagh.
The house had been vacant for about five years before it was sold and will require some maintenance.
“There is quite a bit of damage,” Branagh said. “It’s pretty beat up. It hasn’t received the attention it has needed for the last 25 years.”
The company, which is now located on Railroad Avenue and School Street, also plans to build a 2,000-square-foot separate building on the lot that will have retail space in the front and offices in the back. The new building will be more visible from Hartz Avenue than School Street.
Branagh and the Heritage Resource Commission recently met at a study session to review Branagh’s plans for the old downtown Victorian. The committee gave the developer feedback on how to maintain its historical integrity while converting it into commercial space.
Lynn Osborn, chairwoman of the committee, felt confidant after the study session that Branagh Development will work with the town to keep it a historic site.
“It’s not technically designated, but we anticipate that it will be,” Osborn said. “(Branagh) has gone to a lot of detail and expense.”
Branagh has hired a historical architect to consult for the conversion. The architect attended the study session. The Heritage Resource Commission discussed the best and least intrusive way to install handicap access and recommended placing a ramp that leads from the street to the front door.
They also discussed improving and augmenting the garden to what it was historically. In the past there were more roses, said Osborn. There is also the possibility of eventually removing the large cedar tree, which dominates the front yard and obscures the front of the house. An arborist will examine the tree’s condition.
“Currently it overpowers the home,” Osborn said. “It’s not likely that it was original.”
The commission is also considering angled parking on School Street in front of the house. Parking spaces are already angled on the other side of the street. However, Osborn believes such parking would detract from the historic setting and in the end would only provide one additional parking space.
To make room on the lot for the new 2,000-square-foot building, Branagh plans to move the house five feet forward. This will also address a building foundation problem and will ensure that the historic building and the new building remain separate and distinct, said Osborn.
The commission listened to the historic architect’s recommendations for the house and agreed with all of them, said Osborn. They also asked the architect to consider if the redwood gutters on the house could be restored.
The Shuey-Podva redesign will next go before the Historic Design Review Committee, which is made up of members of the Heritage Resource Commission and the Danville Planning Commission. They will make the final recommendation, which will then be passed on to the Town Council.
The Shuey-Podva house was first owned in the 1890s by the Shuey family of the Shuey Dairy Co. in Berkeley. The house had a few subsequent owners. In 1938, LaMay Podva and his wife Cecile Bradley purchased the home for their family, where they raised their children Marilyn and David. The Podva family owned the home up until it was bought by Branagh Development.
This will be the first time the house will be used as a commercial space.
