Design Guidelines Summary

For Cow Hollow residents considering building a new home or making modifications to their current home, it is important to identify those features or elements that give the building its visual character.

Elements of Design

Following are the six basic elements of residential design considered in approving Cow Hollow residential permits. The terms used below are defined in detail in the full version of the Guidelines (in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format).

1. Siting

• Location of a project site, and its topography
• Setback of the building from the front property line
• Rear yard, i.e. the setback of the building from the rear property line
• Side yard, i.e. spacing between buildings and light wells

2. Building Envelope

• Roofline: the profile a building makes against the sky, and the organizations of projections above the roofline
• Volume and Mass as expressed by the visible facades

3. Scale (Height, Width and Depth)

• Dimensions of the elements which make up the building's facades
• Proportions of the building, and of the elements of its facade

4. Texture and Detailing

• Materials and Colors used to finish the surface of the building
• Ornamentation used, including the amount, quality and placement

5. Openings

• Entryways - the pedestrian entries into the buildings
• Windows - how they are articulated and used in the facade
• Garage doors - the vehicular entries into the building

6. Landscaping

• Tree pruning for the retention of mid-block open space
• Tree selection and placement