At first glance, the unassuming ranch-style home located in Dix Hill, New York, isn’t very different from other homes in town; so much so, that when historian Steve Fulgoni first moved to Dix Hill and learned jazz legend John Coltrane was once a resident, it took him months to find it. The three-story house was where Coltrane and his wife Alice raised their family and where Coltrane conceived one of his greatest compositions, A Love Supreme. Thanks to tireless efforts by Fulgoni and others, the home, which was set for demolition, is now in the hands of the non-profit organization Friends of the Coltrane Home and on the National Register of Historic Places. With the house secure, the organization now faces the arduous task of planning its future.
A new student project guided by Assistant Clinical Professor of Historic Preservation Brent Leggs will soon offer the organization some options. Commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and The Coltrane Home, Leggs and eleven graduate students from the Historic Preservation Program spent the semester developing a comprehensive building use study that identifies re-development opportunities for the site. The finished document, which will be unveiled to the Friends of the Coltrane Home’s Board of Directors in March, embodies the social value of the Coltranes’ legacy while providing recommendations for developing revenue sources to advance the organization’s larger goals.
The recommendations recognize an important and financially necessary trend in sustaining historic places: moving from the traditional “museum house” to places that earn revenue to remain financially sustainable.
“This project,” noted HISP program Director Dr. Don Linebaugh, “is a model for modern preservation in that it engages diverse and unheard stories and thinks creatively about both cultural and financial sustainability of an amazing site.
The team focused on several overarching themes for their programmatic vision, including music, education and empowerment. Site visits, stakeholder interviews and extensive research into both Coltrane and similar historic homes provided context for developing their ideas. Collaboration with experts at UMD’s Dingman Center at the School of Business helped the students translate a mission-driven agenda into one that also makes money. The finished product will offer schematic representations of these ideas, courtesy of team members Maha Tariq and Kelly Haley, who are also pursuing their Masters’ in Architecture.
“There is obviously a large social mission we needed to convey, but the house has to sustain itself financially,” explains Tom Gross, a graduate student in Historic Preservation and one of the project team members. “We needed to explore ways to produce income on the site and go beyond convention.”
This means expanding the roster of uses to include more unconventional sources of revenue. The students’ careful work, Tom hopes, will be both appropriate and inspired.
“We want to present them something they will embrace,” he explains. “Traditionally, homes like this end up static, cast in amber. As preservationists, what we need to ask is, ‘What’s the best way to preserve the story and the place for the long term?’ Our goal is to offer options that will allow the home to self-sustain in an impactful way for years to come.”
Assistant Clinical Professor Brent Leggs said, “By leveraging the historic site’s cultural legacy for increased social impact, our project envisions a transformative space for diverse audiences. Having a great mix of students pursuing dual degrees has enriched our journey of discovery and stimulated deep discussions about preservation economics.”