Yesterday was the first day we had a crane on site to help dismantle the O’Kane house frame. I don’t think the day could have gone more smoothly, all thanks to a great crew, and crane operator Frank Donahue. Thank you, Kendra, for all the pictures. Check back soon for more.
Over the past month, an injection of new blood has invigorated the dismantling process. Not only have we three new Maine Preservation interns; Dave Ewing, Andrew Cushing and Noah Kerr, but Jim and Kendra, two clutch workers, to boot. Brian Cox has been on site, managing the inventorying and dismantling of the windows (stay tuned for…
PTF has recently embarked upon a worthy away job to preserve a mill in Freedom, ME. Originally a grist mill, it was later converted into a wood turning mill, which closed in 1967. The building has lain dormant since. When the project is completed, the water turbines in the basement of the mill will generate…
Preservation Timber Framing has been involved in a number of museum projects in the past. We reconstructed the Brown-Pearl and Manning Rooms for the Boston MFA, rebuilt the Moffatt-Ladd coachhouse in Portsmouth, and dismantled 16th c. Carved Ceiling Beams for the Fogg Museum at Harvard, to name a few. We are honored to have been a part…
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article about I-Farm and Chris Barensfeld’s efforts to restore it. Online, the story was accompanied by a video and slideshow. From the article: For years, Christine Barensfeld dreamed about fixing up and living in a property down the street from her home: a historic white barn, carriage…
Since last we updated, PTF has been busy on a number of projects. The Northern contingent documented and dismantled a barn in West Poland, which will be repaired and rebuilt on a new site five miles away. The Southern contingent is repairing the trim on the Federated Church in South Berwick, as well as putting…
Over the past year, part of our crew has been busy repairing a barn at I-Farm, a multi-building complex soon to become a working farm that teaches early farm technology and sustainable agricultural practices. Around the turn of the century, the barn that had been there previously, a hand-hewn English frame (eave entry) was converted…
On Friday we erected the Ice House, c. 1770. This small, 10′ x 13′, frame is an exact replica of the larger barn to which it was found adjacent. The Ice House had been fully sheathed inside and out, and the wall cavities filled with sawdust, for insulation. It is extremely rare to find an…
A few months back, we disassembled a barn in Lebanon, Maine. Since then, we took the pieces back to the shop, repaired what we could, and re-designed the rest. This Spring, we assembled the frame using original and remade pieces, and Shawn and his crew have been busy hanging the cornice. Click on the photos…
During the past few months, Ed has been busy at the shop cutting a reproduction barn frame for a client. The original barn fell in a Nor’Easter, and we salvaged as much as we could. We will re-use much of the bracing, an upper gable, and a front gable drive post that has a large…