Grapevine Pattern Book (May 22, 2025)
Adopted by Ord. 2025-034 (June 17, 2025) directly into Appendix G §7(d)(2) — compliance is mandatory for all residential properties within the Historic Grapevine Township, College Street included. 72 pages; full PDF in your Downloads (GV_PatternBook_2025.pdf) and text extracted in the workspace. Produced with Architexas consultants after the Oct 2024 HPC workshop.
The deal it offers
"Use of this pattern book is required for all properties located within the boundary of the Grapevine Historic Township." In exchange for compliance, applicants "have the opportunity to achieve a unit building area more compatible with the spatial requirements of modern living" and certain encroachments into the side-yard setback plane and setbacks beyond what base zoning allows. Pattern conformity buys flexibility — the codified version of the Commission's old case-by-case negotiation.
The five-step method (Section 2)
- Understand your property — lot size, zoning rules (Section 5)
- Know the buildable area — ≤40% of lot for buildings (Section 4)
- Plan the building form (Section 6) — a Primary Mass plus smaller Sub-Masses / Side Extensions to break up bulk, plus Accessory/Engaged Masses (porches, garages)
- Choose a style (Section 3) — one of four sanctioned styles, used consistently throughout
- Follow construction & quality standards (Section 8) — approved materials; window/door/chimney/roofline rules
The four sanctioned styles
| Style | Period | Signatures |
|---|---|---|
| Folk Victorian | 1870–1910 | simple shapes + decorative trim, turned-post porches, symmetrical front, basic gables |
| Queen Anne Victorian | 1880–1910 | steep complex roofs, decorative woodwork, wraparound porches, towers/bays |
| Arts & Crafts Bungalow | 1905–1930 | low-pitch roofs, wide overhangs, exposed beams/brackets, porch under main roof |
| Prairie | 1900–1920 | low horizontal lines, hipped/flat roofs, banded casement windows, masonry, broad porches |
College Street's own 213 E College (Arts & Crafts) and 307 E College (Prairie, 1905 Wiggins House) are the book's exemplars per Heritage Foundation minutes.
Conditions of Application (Section 1, pp. 8–12)
Eight defined conditions determine which subsections bind a given project — the table maps each condition to applicable chapters. Most relevant to an existing homeowner: Condition 5 — "improvements to or expansion of an existing home" (your renovation/addition scenario). Others cover subdividing large tracts (1, 7), oversized lots vs. block average (2), misaligned lots (3), ≥35%-of-block-face tracts (4), and non-single-family structures (6). Read the table for your exact project before designing.
How it plays with the older layers
It does not displace the College Street Preservation Criteria (Ord 93-58) or Secretary of the Interior Standards for HL properties — App. G applies them in addition, most-restrictive-wins (§7(d)(2)g). The §7(d) hard caps (35 ft / 3,400 sq ft / 40%) are unchanged. Since adoption, routine pattern-conforming work increasingly clears at staff level (2026: ~3 staff approvals per hearing item) — see Trends Over Time.
Sources: Source Index §PatternBook; §Minutes-corpus (Oct 2024 workshop, Nov 2025 training, 2026 workshops).