At East Derry, we knew the lantern was in bad shape, but we couldn’t know the full extent until we had it on the ground. Brian Cox was the job lead. He says, “The will of the church was holding that thing together, many layers of lead paint, and band-aid flashing details.” It was chilling…
Last Thursday, I popped out of bed at 4 am, like Sal on her way to Bucks Harbor. Scott informed me that if I wanted to help remove the Chestnut St Church spire in Camden, I needed to be there by 6:00. By the time I arrived, Scott and Arron had set the rigging. About…
Over New Years, my intentional friend likes us to sit in a big group and practice “Rose, Thorn and Rosebud.” We say the best thing that happened to us this past year, and the worst, and the thing that we’re looking forward to in the coming year. My rose took so much time that it’s been…
Restoring an historic building takes a lot of stamina. The sense of warmth and meaning one feels within a restored structure comes from the labor invested by the craftspeople who built it and the experiences of the community that used it. Once complete, the Steiner-Truesdale residence in Newfields, N.H.,will reflect not only a century of…
Since 2009, the iFarm in Boxford, Massachusetts has been keeping crews from PTF busy. Christine Barensfeld, the owner of the farm, has collaborated with PTF to restore the farm which consistently operated from 1750 – 1932. Chris purchased the farm in 2009 a midst the threat of developers who would have purchased the property and…
Preservation in the field can take many forms. Most of the time, preservation is the most practical and reliable answer to a client’s needs, but there are times when pure preservation isn’t feasible, or reasonable (see Demeritt-O’Kane). The New Castle Congregational Church and gazebo offers an alternate model. The congregation has endeavored to preserve the…
On Wednesday, the crew down at iFarm raised a new timber-framed kitchen ell. The modified English frame is based closely on joinery found in the late-18th century house. We based the size and location of the addition on evidence found in the house frame of an original, and now demolished, ell. Like the house frame,…
Over the past week, we have been using up our supply of softwood wedges at the O’Kane House. In the effort to gently remove the delicate, hand-planed moldings, we tap narrow wedges in along the paint lines, crushing the wedges with repeated use (and saving the edges of the trim). It is a slow, thoughtful…
The Hill fireplace is nearing completion. From the outset, this project has been among our most rewarding. We designed the panelled wall using HABS drawings from a house built by the father of the builder of this house. Knowing that the design is grounded in historical precedent lends the project a sense of purpose greater than that…
Tomorrow we embark on the building of the Hill fireplace. The Hill house is a turn of the 19th century farmhouse, with all the attendant revisions and additions. The owner wants to restore her fireplace to reflect the time period it was built and the building trends in her region. Through her own research, she…