Tag Archives: Historic

Preservation

What did you do for summer vacation? A Decathlon in Historic Preservation?!

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Back in grade school, I enjoyed when students would get up in front of the class and talk about what they did for their summer vacation. This summer rather than taking a rest from a very recent move to New Hampshire and new job earlier in the year I decided to spend it pursuing my passion for teaching traditional craft skills.

I’ve been teaching the ‘Traditional Building’ master’s class at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) in partnership with the North Bennet Street School (NBSS). It’s a low residency master’s program in Historic Preservation wherein students come in from around the country for a very intensive hands on week in Boston and spend the rest of the semester working online.  For 8 straight days the students are with me from the early morning until dinner time, they grab a quick bite to eat and spend their evenings completing the intensive portion of their other class this semester ‘Preservation Philosophy and Practice’ with Virginia ‘Ginny’ Adams.

Some highlights of the week included:

  •  A walking tour of many historic homes and buildings in Boston including the Paul Revere House, Otis House, Gibson House and Trinity Church hosted by Steve O’Shaughnessy who is the Head of the NBSS Preservation Carpentry Department
Walking tour of historic buildings and homes in Boston
Walking tour of historic buildings and homes in Boston
  • Learning about how to mix and analyze paint with historic paint expert Sara Chase who is a PC program adviser to NBSS
Mixing paints and related analysis
Mixing paints and related analysis
  • Learning about historic hardware and fasteners with preservation expert Robert Adam (former head of PC program at NBSS) and touring the Saugus Ironworks NHP
At the Saugus Ironworks NHP
At the Saugus Ironworks NHP
  • A private tour of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston
Group shot at the MFA
Group shot at the MFA
  • Historic plaster work with master plasterer Andy Ladygo — another adviser to the NBSS PC Program
Historic Plastering
Historic Plastering
  • Traditional woodworking (hand planes, moldings etc) and Historic Window Sash Restoration with Bill Rainford (NBSS PC Graduate and Workshop Instructor)
Sash restoration work
Sash restoration work
  • Historic Timber Framing with Rich Friberg — NBSS Preservation Carpentry instructor and master wood turner

    Timber Framing
    Timber Framing. Photo by Zachary Ingalls
  • To commemorate the experience Robert Ogle, MDS Director at the BAC had the shirts below made up for the class which will be a new tradition for this program. I’m happy to report that everyone survived the week.
"I survived the HP Intensive Week @ The BAC Fall 2012"
“I survived the HP Intensive Week @ The BAC Fall 2012”

Once the intensive was over, everyone took a quick breath, headed home and have been busy with their cameras and notebooks applying some of the skills they learned to their own work and later assignments in the class ever since.

All in all it was a great way to spend a summer vacation.

Historic Places

Blowing in the Wind — Historic Weathervanes

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Oftentimes the little details of a building make all the difference — turning a non-nondescript barn into a memorable place. Did you see that barn with the flying pig on top of it? Did you see that house with the fish weathervane?

When wandering around the Freedom Trail in Boston you better keep your eye out for weather vanes. What animal sits atop Faneuil Hall? If you don’t know it you may be accused of being a British Spy as they did in revolutionary times.

Grasshopper Weathervane
Grasshopper Weathervane

Still don’t know what it was? It was a 4 foot gilded grasshopper, but don’t let anyone know I told you.

Grasshopper on top Faneuil Hall in Boston
Grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall in Boston

In addition to telling you the direction of the wind, and giving artists a chance to show off, the weathervane can also tell us other things about the building it is perched on top of.  They often differentiated public from private buildings, may hint at the status of the owners, what business may go on in the building etc.

The Capitol
The Capitol

Beyond the traditional banner or arrow weathervane, the array of sizes and styles was only limited by the imagination of the craftsmen creating them.
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Variety of Weathervanes
Variety of Weathervanes

In recent years these iconic pieces of our architectural landscape have been recognized as true works of folk art garnering displays at museums like the MFA in Boston, Colonial Williamsburg and the like.

Animal Weathervanes
Animal Weathervanes

But don’t let all the new found attention from the museum set fool you into believing they have a lock on the market — there are still people making their own weathervanes and exploring new possibilities.  So the next time you take a walk around the block or visit a historic area keep an eye out for interesting weathervanes. If you drive up towards Freeport Maine you’ll even see several businesses that specialize in making novel new models. In your travels if you find any that are particularly notable, drop me a line via email or leave me a note on the blog.

Until then, I’ll let the wind point you in the right direction.

Dove Weathervane at Mount Vernon
Dove Weathervane at Mount Vernon

In the slideshow below you can see several of the interesting weathervanes on display in Colonial Williamsburg’s historic area and a few from the MFA’s collection in Boston MA.

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Historic Places, Portfolio, Timber Framing

Timber Frame Repair in Dorchester MA

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Timber frame repairs at the historic Anna Clapp-Harris house in Dorchester MA.

Group shot in front of the house.
Group shot in front of the house.

Repairing a rotted modern sill can be challenging work. Repairing a timber framed sill can be even tougher if the foundation you are sitting on needs to be re-chinked into place as well. This house had some interesting things going on — beyond some questionable handywork by previous owners or tenants as you’ll see in the slides below. As each layer of the building is peeled back you can get a much better feel for its earlier glory days. By repairing the sills and other structural issues first we set the house on solid footing for upcoming repairs and restoration work.

Look for an upcoming post showing the restoration of the front windows which really give the front facade a new lease on life.

Captions in the slide show give additional information. 29 slides in this post, so be warned it might take a moment to load.

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