The RESIDENTIAL AWARD is presented in recognition of significant renovation or restoration work completed on a residential building, within Burlington city limits, in the last three years.

The 2024 award goes to Sarah and Njama Braasch for their complete renovation of the c.1845 Saxe House on South Union Street. The home suffered a devastating fire in 2020 and sat vacant for several years before Sarah and Njama purchased the property and brought it back to life.

This brick home was built in the Greek Revival style for nationally acclaimed poet, lawyer, newspaper editor, VT attorney general, and one-time gubernatorial candidate John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887). c.1870 it was renovated in the Italianate style, which was popular at the time. Its unusual massing is due to the blending of the two architectural styles - at the core is a Greek Revival-style wood-frame house with American bond brick veneer, wide cornice, and entablature (the Italianate brackets were part of the 1870s changes). This is flanked by projecting one-story wings and capped by an Italianate belvedere with bellcast roof. 

The Saxe House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the South Union Street Historic District, in 1988.