Many of our clients know that their building needs help, but don’t know where to start. It can be hard to understand how disparate repairs are interrelated, and which ones should take priority. Building committees must be able to convey the historical significance of their building, and phase repairs to raise funds over time. PTF performs a wide range of assessment services to help plan the preservation of historic structures. These include, but are not limited to:
- Existing conditions reports
- Frame dating, and explanation of historic significance
- Structural drawings and digital 3D models
- Annotated photo-documentation
- Repair prioritization, phasing and estimates
Following the assessment, PTF has also directed a number of projects remotely by creating step-by-step repair drawings and instructions which can be carried out by skilled local craftspeople.
The following is a representative list. Please contact Emilee if you would like to see an example, or schedule a site visit. *Indicates properties on the National Register
JONATHAN FISHER HOUSE, Blue Hill, ME 2021
The Jonathan Fisher House is one of the best documented homes of its age and style. Its construction is wholly unique, with a design that reflects Fisher’s notably busy brain. The building is plank-framed, which means that it is composed of a stripped-down assembly of six vertical posts and horizontal floor girts and plates. This minimal frame is sheathed in 2” thick boards, which provide structural support for the roof, walls and floor girts. Plank frames were an economical approach, combining a typical building’s sheathing and studs into a single element – the “plank.” Plank frames are pretty rare and only becoming rarer because there is no sacrificial skin behind the clapboards. The structural elements are more exposed to weather and more complicated to repair.
*SABBATHDAY LAKE SHAKER HERB HOUSE, New Gloucester, ME 2021
The Herb House is a large utilitarian building, 30’ x 70’, consisting of seven bents, three stories and no basement. The building doesn’t contain the cooking hearth or room layout that could identify it as a former residence, but it is too tall, too finished and too segmented to be a barn. The height of the first-floor ceilings confirms its design as a work space, but it’s much larger than the typical workshop. It is difficult to explain the significance of this frame without describing what it’s not. It is rare to encounter a frame of this age that was not a residence, barn, place of worship, or municipal building. This is not an industrial building designed around large machinery or milling. The building is unique and significant as an example of architecture dedicated to the Shakers’ cottage industry. I can’t think of another context in which you would encounter a building dedicated to production of goods that was not either larger or smaller, nor used for housing humans or animals. Within the context of Shaker buildings, the frame may not seem unusual, but within the context of the larger world, it is extremely rare. The half floor in the center bay is certainly unique, but that the building has three functional and heavily used stories is almost more significant. The building is special not because the Shakers who used it were precious, but because the specific context of the Shaker community resulted in architecture unique to not only the meeting and dwelling houses, but within utilitarian buildings like this one.
HOWELL BARN, Rollinsford, NH 2021
The Howell Barn has the quintessential appearance of a 19th century barn, from its red reverse batten siding, to the big gable barn door and sliding eave windows. It is a utilitarian building, used for many years and most recently for a dairy, but also to house pigs, and always to store hay. The building is good-sized, just shy of 40 x 50, which is a little larger than the most common 19th century barns, but smaller than the typical 20th century dairy. Its continued use has preserved the barn well. The roof was maintained, and foundation replaced. The undercarriage is showing signs of decay and rot, but these have been admirably stabilized. In short, no one’s screwed it up.
*SABBATHDAY SHAKER OX BARN, New Gloucester, ME 2020
In 1830, the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake built a large Ox Barn that could house up to ten oxen and the hay to feed them. Over the next two centuries the need for oxen dwindled, and by the 20th century the barn was used primarily for hay storage, in addition to housing horses, chickens, and now sheep. The hay barn is an integral part of subsistence farming. Within many 19th century barns, the volume of a winter’s worth of hay dwarfed the space needed to house the animals. This led to a distinctive barn form and manipulations of that form to maximize storage. The Ox Barn is not only essential to the function of today’s Sabbathday Shaker community; it is essential to interpreting the way the community interacted with the land historically. It retains most major elements of the original timber frame in combination with later elements that reflect the Shaker penchant for innovation. The barn is functional, beautiful, and an important example of Maine’s 19th century agricultural architecture. Today, the building is in need of a number of repairs that will become a link in a long chain of frugality, resourcefulness, and craftsmanship.
HANKINS BARN, Turner, ME 2020
The Hankins Barn is a gable-fronted barn, 36 x 50, with interrupted tie beams and plates; the drive posts run to the principal rafters, dividing the barn into three neat aisles. The timber frame is almost entirely hewn, and the framing members are modest, the posts are straight 8x8s and the ties about 7×7. Although the building is currently clad in vinyl, the frame retains almost all of its original elements in their original configuration, including some impressive post-to-post plank bracing, which has helped keep the building square for more than 150 years. It is a beautiful example of a mid-19th century, “high-drive” barn.
*KAVANAGH HOUSE, Newcastle, ME 2019
The Kavanagh house is described by its national register nomination as “one of the finest pieces of Federal Architecture surviving in the State of Maine.” Despite evidence of deferred maintenance, our investigation of the framing confirms this assessment. The architect-builder, Nicholas Codd, crafted one of the most beautiful and well-designed roof systems that we have had the pleasure of investigating. The craftsmanship of the timber frame reflects the same level of care and attention to detail that is on display in the hearths and window surrounds of the first-floor parlors. The building is just over 44’ square. Its timbers were hand-hewn from Eastern White Pine. The hip roof is symmetrical across both the East-West and North-South axis. Although Federal-era house-wrights may have aimed for symmetry, it is quite rare for builders to achieve it. It is a testament to their skill that the measurements have barely shifted over 200 years.
WAGON HILL FARM, Durham, NH 2019
The Bickford-Chesley House at Wagon Hill Farm, circa 1806, is a two-story, center hall farmhouse. It retains much of its original interior trim and early exterior trim, including original skived clapboards. Significantly, the building was originally capped by a low hip roof; the present gable roof was built in the middle of the 19th century. Despite deferred maintenance, the building is an excellent example of a Federal-era rural architecture in New Hampshire’s Seacoast region. The report confirms the findings of the 1995 Master Pan and the 2009 Stewardship Plan: there is ample opportunity for responsible adaptive re-use which will benefit both the property and the people who visit it.
*DURHAM OLD TOWN HALL, Durham, NH 2019
Durham Old Town Hall was built in 1825 by Joseph Coe, a local merchant and shipbuilder. It is a fine example of a Federal-era commercial block, and remains an impressive architectural gem, even in this age of star-chitecture. It is a two-story brick building with a cornice height of three stories. The west corner is rounded, incorporating a curved door, transom and threshold at this main entrance. Two of the other corners, the north and the south, are at right angles, but none of the walls are parallel. The floor systems and roof systems are timber framed, but they follow a completely unique layout that has almost no perpendicular intersections, even where right angles might have simplified matters. The joiner was highly skilled, and something of an artist. At the intersection of Main and 108, it is squeezed by one of the busiest intersections in Durham, and is tightly abutted on the other two sides by a parking lot.
BURD BARN, Kennebunkport, ME 2018
At 17’ x 38’, the Burd Barn is small. It is extremely rare for a building of this size to remain so unchanged, especially in a bustling town like Kennebunkport. It is likely that the barn precedes the current house form, reputedly built in 1792. The style, form and tool marks are consistent with the late 17th century. The frame is both studded and girted, which is also extremely unusual for a barn. At first, the studding intimated that the barn may have once been a house, or intended for one, but there is no evidence that the building was ever used as a human abode. The combination of girts and studs in a barn is quite rare and very strong.
NEWMARKET COMMUNITY CHURCH, Newmarket, NH 2018
Newmarket Community Church, first built in 1828, is located in the center of Newmarket, NH. The main building is a gable-roofed building topped with a clock tower, louvered belfry and unique, oblique, four-sided spire. The cottage gothic elements on the tower and front portico indicate the series of renovations since the building’s inception, including the addition of a basement vestry. Inspection of the attic framing confirms the architectural history outlined by the Newmarket Historical Society. In 1828, the building did not contain a steeple, vestry, or front portico. Stud pockets within the “second bent” indicate that the front wall of the building was originally 8’ behind the current front gable. It appears that the builders chose to close in the building so that it could be used for services, with plans for a grander entrance. Just twelve years later, in 1840, the building was updated with a deep portico and colonnade, embodying the Greek Revival style that was popular at the time. This history is apparent in the attic framing; the original colonnade soffit framing is intact, with hewn framing above and circular-sawn framing closing in the front wall. The front gable contains a king post truss that has an identical hewing style to the rest of the trusses, but a simpler design, and updated tension hardware.
NORWAY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, Norway, ME 2018
The Norway Unitarian Universalist Church serves as an anchor, both architecturally and socially, for the traditional main street center of downtown Norway, ME. The domed belfry serves as a focal point and boundary marker to visitors, defining the dense and walkable town center. A timber-framed building, it is historically significant for surviving the Great Fire of 1895 and providing the meeting place from which the town organized a successful rebuilding.
*BELL HILL MEETINGHOUSE, Otisfield, ME 2017
Existing Conditions Report, Repair Plan and step-by-step drawings so that a local contractor could perform the (extensive) repairs.
NATHANIEL DUMMER HOUSE, Hallowell, ME 2017
Existing conditions, repair and site drawings. Photo report and repair planning.
WOODWARD BARN, Wolfeboro, NH 2017
The Woodward barn is a beautiful English barn, 40’ x 40’, with hewn framing members, gunstock posts and English tying joinery. The barn has 13’ posts, with a loft at half that height and a peak 27’ from the foundation. The framing is in great condition, with rot concentrated within the first (front) bent.
PILGRIM UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, Brentwood, NH 2017
Pilgrim United Church of Christ has a well-documented history in the town of Brentwood, NH. In 1751, the first Gully Meetinghouse was built on this site, named for the watershed directly to the East. The current building was erected in 1815, using parts of the 1751 frame. It was also called Gully. The church is a beautiful and remarkably intact Federal Era artifact. The front elevation accurately reflects regional trends in church design in the first quarter of the 19th century. There are three doors across the front elevation, each topped with a carved, half-round panel. Three arch-topped windows top the doors, and a half-round window adorns the tympanum.
NORTH FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH, Eastport, ME 2017
The North Free Will Baptist Church is one of two remaining public buildings from the Federal period in Eastport ME. It was built in 1819 and significantly altered in 1881, when it was lifted onto a new timber and masonry foundation wall. The humble exterior belies an elegant and well-preserved Federal sanctuary. The central section of the ceiling, about 25’ wide, is arched and supported by 17’ turned columns, with flat ceiling flanking the columns along either eave. The ceiling yields the best acoustics found Down East, surpassing concert halls in Boston and New York. Unused for many years, the tower has suffered significant water damage. The Tides Institute and Museum of Art has embarked upon rehabilitation of the building, restoring the plaster ceiling, and launching a concert series. PTF provided TIMA with an existing conditions report with annotated photos, frame drawings and prioritized list of repairs with estimates for planning and fundraising.
*CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Eastport, ME 2017
The roof system of Eastport’s Central Congregational Church combines the traditional strength of a king post-prince post truss and principal rafter-principal purlin roof with innovative tying geometry that prevents the pitfalls of rafter slippage. The roof geometry has maintained its joinery even though the foundation appears to have suffered a landslide into the basement of the church, and many of the carrying timbers are being carried by their floorboards. The exterior façade stands out for the near complete preservation of its original composition and trim detailing. It serves as a prime example of how some Federal Era builders used relatively simple building methods and a small collection of hand tools to create arresting architecture by integrating detailing with overall composition of fenestration and major trim elements. The Central Congregational Church was recently acquired by the Tides Institute and Museum of Art, who immediately began the stabilization process by improving access to the basement and tower. PTF provided TIMA with an existing conditions assessment with annotated photography, full frame drawings and a prioritized list of repairs, with estimates for fundraising and planning purposes.
BENTON FALLS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Waterville, ME 2016
Built in 1828, the Benton Falls Church is understated and intimate. An archetypal rural Maine church, the gable-roofed main building is topped by a tower resting on the front gable wall and first interior bent. The tower is topped by an open, octagonal colonnade, notable for containing the last bell cast by the (Paul) Revere Bell Foundry in Canton, MA. Overall, the building is showing its age, alongside a history of frequent Yankee maintenance. PTF provided the building committee with an existing conditions report, full frame drawings and prioritized repair plan with estimates for planning and fundraising.
ROLLINSFORD GRADE SCHOOL, Rollinsford, NH 2016
Provided existing conditions assessment and annotated photography to contribute to a comprehensive assessment funded by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and used to apply for LCHIP funding.
READFIELD UNION MEETINGHOUSE, Readfield, ME 2016
Readfield Union Meetinghouse is a multi-phase, multi-year project to preserve an 1828 brick meetinghouse with some of the most impressive trompe-l’oeil murals in New England. PTF performed an existing conditions assessment with full frame drawings and prioritized repair plan in 2012. The steeple was removed as a stabilization measure in 2013. In 2016, PTF drew a step-by-step undercarriage repair plan and specifications that were used as part of the RFP process. The drawings allowed the building committee to specify the repair plan, and ensure that bids were comparable. It also allowed the bidding contractors to write accurate estimates and better anticipate the repair process. RUMH was one of the first projects on which we used the step-by-step repair drawings, and then contracted with Connolly Timber Frames to complete the undercarriage repairs.
WEST AUBURN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, West Auburn, ME 2016
Existing conditions assessment, annotated photography, full frame drawings and prioritized repair plan with fundraising estimates. Report used in congregation’s efforts to obtain grant funds. Multi-phased project including repairs to the steeple and its foundation, framing repairs. Phase One began in 2016.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF MANCHESTER, Manchester, NH 2015-2016
Investigation and structural repairs to the truss system including epoxy repair, installation of permanent rod plates on king posts, tension connections and steel plates to prevent the further spreading of the frame.
ACWORTH HORSE SHEDS, Acworth, NH 2015
Following the collaboration that restored the Acworth Meetinghouse, PTF performed an existing conditions assessment for the Acworth Horse Sheds, combined with frame repair drawings and annotated photography. The frame drawings provided in the assessment were sufficient as construction drawings to repair the sheds.
VIENNA FARM, Gorham, ME 2014
The Vienna Farm Barn is a modified English frame with eight bents and interrupted plates. The frame contains many re-used elements and was expanded from a much smaller barn. The consistent location of scarfs in the middle of each tie beam indicates that the barn nearly doubled in gable width. There are elements of a modified queen post truss in the roof framing, but the geometry lacks significant tension connections that would allow it to function properly as a truss. The large roof endures considerable wind loads and contains no wind bracing, which is highly unusual given its size and location. In 2014, PTF provided the Jaegers with an existing conditions report with annotated photography and a prioritized repair plan with estimates. In 2015, PTF repaired the roof framing.
*MIDDLETON OLD TOWN HALL, Middleton, NH 2012-2013
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, photo-documentation, job phasing. The second floor of Middleton Old Town Hall is composed of a well-preserved 18th century meetinghouse that was moved to current location and elevation in 1812. In 1841, a muralist named John Avery painted a pastoral mural that wraps around all four walls and up onto the coved ceiling. We performed this assessment in collaboration with mural restorer, Tony Castro. It was funded by a matching grant distributed by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and funded by LCHIP.
*CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE, Canterbury, NH 2013
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, repair prioritization, phasing and estimates. In 2013, Canterbury Shaker Village partnered with Preservation Timber Framing to maintain and repair their historic structures. Utilizing the entire crew, we completed initial assessments of nearly thirty buildings which were used to prioritize repairs and identify buildings in need of more in-depth assessment, stabilization and repair.
*FIRST PARISH CHURCH, East Derry, ME 2013
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, stabilization.
Merrill House and Barn, Hampton Falls, NH 2012
Existing conditions report and structural drawings to be used for maintenance, planning and development. This house is a good example of an two-story, center hall residence built at the turn of the 19th century. It is accompanied by a barn that is really two barns in one.
Butcher Barn, Berwick, ME 2012-2013
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, stabilization. This unique barn frame has an English tie that terminates at a drive post, there is a strut that rises directly from the drive post to a principal rafter, and the foot of that principal rafter joins directly to the top of the post.
Storer-Garrison House, Wells, ME 2012
Existing conditions report, frame dating, structural drawings and photo-documentation. This two-story, center-chimney, 18th century home was built from timbers reclaimed from Wells’ Storer Garrison, famous for its part in defending Wells’ colonists during the 1691 Raid on Wells. The assessment was required by the town of Wells when the building was moved in 2012.
Mallet Barn, Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Freeport, ME 2012
Existing conditions report, job phasing, roof stabilization. This late-18th century barn frame was one of the largest in the state when it was originally built. It is one of the most well-braced barns we have encountered. It is topped by a beautiful principal-rafter/principal-purlin/common-rafter roof system which are supported by a series of large and individually-braced raising struts.
New Durham Meetinghouse, New Durham, ME 2012
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, repair prioritization.
*Elder Grey Meetinghouse, North Waterboro, ME 2012
Existing conditions report, structural drawings.
*Castle Tucker, Wiscasset, ME 2011
Repair prioritization, phasing and estimates, stabilization.
Ram Island Farm, Cape Elizabeth, ME 2011
Existing conditions report, structural drawings, phasing and estimates, repair prioritization. In-depth assessments of eight iconic 19th century farm buildings.