Montpelier Restoration Update - 5/6/2008

Plastering

     

The masons have put a whitecoat onto the walls and ceiling of M-109 (South Passage).  They have also whitewashed the walls and ceilings in M-008 (south cellar passage) and M-009 (South Kitchen).  

 

Doors

Olivier duPont-Huin and Keith Forry continue to repair the suriviving Madison-era doors.

 

M-100 (North Wing Chamber)

     

Jack Fisher has applied an off-yellow colored distemper to the walls.  Evidence for the distemper, which is similar to the paint that was applied to the walls in M-106, M-205, and M-201, was found on one of the cornerbeads that flank the fireplace.  The pigment, which gives the glue-based distemper its color (seen in the image to the right), comes in large, solid blocks and has to be ground down to a powder before it is added to the warmed distemper base.

 

M-200 (Small Bedroom)

  

In order to test two different methodes of cleaning the floors, two test patches have been made on the floor in this room.  The first test patch (the image to the left) was done by abrasively cleaning the floor and the second test patch (the image to the right) used a chemical similar to a paint stripper to remove the many years of accumulated wax and stains found on the floor.  As a result of the tests, it is clear that the test using the chemical remover was more effective in removing the waxes and stains from the floors and less damaging to the historic floorboards.  However, prior to cleaning the floors throughout the house we will have paint conservator Susan Buck take samples from the floors to determine if there were any finishes on the floors in Madison’s era and to record the floors’ finish history.  We will also leave a small portion of flooring uncleaned in each room for future testing.  

 

M-204 (Garret Closet)

Gene Lyman is assembling the ladder stair that will access the garret.  Ladder stairs were very common in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and were often found in secondary spaces such as outbuildings, cellars and closets.

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Colonnade

Bill Bichell, Gene Lyman and Blaise Gaston have installed the upper and lower rails for the colonnade railing.  Bill Bichell is currently making a template for the Chinese-style fretwork that will infill the railing.

Mason Wayne Mays has also started to apply the final coat of render to the columns on the colonnade.  The finish render will be made from lime putty mixed with a very fine white sand.  The render is being mixed to the consistancy of a very thick whitewash and it is applied in a single, very thin coating. 

 

South Wing Deck

Mac Ward has laid out and poured the footers for the south wing deck.

 

South and North Wing Cellar Entrance (East Side)

Mason Jerry Campbell continues to veneer the eastern entrances to the cellar passages with hand-molded bricks.

 

Exterior

  

Thomas Tyler is installing the gravel base for the pathways that will lead from the Portico stairs to the cellar entrances.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 4/30/2008

Plastering

The walls of M-002 and M-008 (North and South Wing Cellar Passages) have received their single coat of plaster. The walls of the cellar stairs in the North and South Wings have also been plastered.

The masons have also plastered the fireplaces in M-100 (North Wing Room) and M-201 (Large Bedroom).

Wayne Mays has finished patching the small areas of missing plaster in M-108 (Drawing Room).

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Doors

Olivier duPont-Huin continues to return the surviving Madison doors to their original sizes and Keith Forry is installing patches to repair holes in the Madison doors that are associated with second and third generation locks.

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M-106 (North Passage)

Mac Ward has installed the cove molding under the nosing of the stair treads.

Dino C. and Greg Calloway are priming the period II stair. Because the railings, newels and risers will eventually be grained to look like mahogany, a cranberry color is being used for the prime color. The skirt boards are also being primed a dark gray color and their finish coat will be the same dark gray finish found on the other baseboards in the house.

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M-111 (Nelly’s Back Room)

Bill Bichell has installed the H-L hinges on the eastern exterior door. This door was originally used to access the detached circa 1764 kitchen found in the South Yard and possibly as way to bring food into the 1764 Dining Room without using the main exterior doors or passages.

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M-204 (Garret Closet)

Gene Lyman is building the ladder stair that will access the garret (attic).

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Colonnade Deck

Bill Bichell, Gene Lyman and Blaise Gaston are installing the bottom rail of the Chinese railing. In the video above, Gene and Bill use a very large, 12” circular saw to cut a slopping rabbet joint into the Chinese railing’s bottom rail.

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South Wing Porch

Mac Ward continues to prepare to install the eastern deck on the south wing.

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South and North Wing Cellar Entrance (East Side)

Mason Jerry Campbell has finished veneering the south cellar entrance and has started to veneer the north entrance.

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Exterior

Thomas Tyler has started to layout the forms for the pathways that will lead from the Portico stairs to the cellar entrances.

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Archaeology

The archaeologists have almost finished their work at the site of the new bathroom building and are preparing to start excavating the site of a slave quarter that was part of Montpelier’s South Yard outbuilding complex. For more information click over to their blog “Latest Dirt” (http://www.montpelier.org/latest_dirt/).

Monptlier Restoration Update - 4/23/2008

Plastering

The walls and ceiling of M-111 (Nelly’s Back Room) and M-112 (Nelly’s Best Room) have received their white coat. The ceiling of M-107 (Entry) has been brown coated and the single layer of plaster has been applied to the walls of M-009 (South Kitchen). Traces of a single plaster coat survives in these spaces and it helps to mark these rooms as secondary to the more finished spaces on the first and second floor. The firebox of the fireplace in M-200 (Small Bedroom) has also been plastered.

Wayne Mays also continues to repair the plaster in M-108 and he is currently patching small areas of missing plaster.

Doors

Dino C. and Greg Calloway continue to prepare the surviving Madison-era doors for painting. After they have been prepared for painting Olivier duPont-Huin and Keith Forry restore the doors by patching any holes and expanding the doors back to their original lengths and widths.

Colonnade Deck

Bill Bichell and Gene Lyman continue to prepare the railing for installation.

South Wing Porch

Mac Ward continues to prepare the framing and supports for the south wing porch and the wheelchair lift. The new framing is made out of heart pine.

South Wing Cellar Entrance (East Side)

Jerry Campbell is installing a brick veneer over the poured concrete retaining walls. He is using hand-molded bricks made by Old Carolina Brick Company to match the Madison-era bricks found at Montpelier.

Exterior

The final grade has been established on the west side. As is shown in the video above, stakes that are marked with the height of the new grade level are first installed and then top soil is brought in to raise the lawn back to its circa 1812 level. There is no documentary or physical evidence for Madison-era foundation plantings and we are currently planning on seeding or sodding the new top soil. Landscape architect John James and restoration carpenter Thomas Tyler are both shown in the video.

Restoration Advisory Committee Meeting

A meeting of our Restoration Advisory Committee was also held this week. The advisory committee is composed of preservation and restoration professionals from other historic sites, such as Monticello, Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, Popular Forest and Old Salem as well as organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. They have been involved with the project since the initial investigation phase and continue to offer invaluable guidance. In the photo above they are considering different approaches to replicating the historic finish on the colonnade columns.

montpelier restoration Update - 4/9/2008

Plastering

A brown coat has been put onto the walls of M-111 (Nelly’s Back Room) and the ceilings of M-108 (Drawing Room), M-112 (Nelly’s Best Room), M-111 (Nelly’s Back Room) and M-009 (Nelly’s kitchen) have all been white coated. A scratch coat has also been installed on the walls and ceiling of M-110 (South Stair). The masons have also applied the scratch and brown coats to the ceiling of M-009 (Nelly’s kitchen). In the video above the masons are applying the white coat to the ceiling of M-108. The white coat, or finish coat as it is sometimes called, is made from a traditional lime putty (no modern cements) mixed with fine, white sand. The white coat, which measures about an 1/8 of an inch thick, is first applied with a trowel and then leveled and smoothed with wet brush followed by a trowel.

Doors

Dino C. and Greg Calloway continue to prepare the surviving Madison-era doors for painting by scraping off the loose paint and priming with a shellac primer followed by a modern “oil” or alkyd primer.

Millwork

Blaise Gaston and Nick Oster are milling the framing, treads and risers for the 1797 cellar stair. The stair will be installed in M-003 and access M-106 (North Passage). Jack Abele is also milling the boards for this stair’s plank enclosure. Portions of the original planks from the stair enclosure were re-used by the duPont’s as nailers and the new planks are being milled to match the original ones.

Painting

Jack Fisher has finished putting the first coat of distemper onto the walls of M-106 (North Passage), M-201 (Large Bedroom) and M-205 (Upper North Passage). The color is based off of traces of the Madison period distemper found in both the North Passage and the Large Bedroom. Distemper is a traditional paint made from animal hide glue (a glue derived by boiling animal hides and connective tissue down into a gelatin) and its use was fairly common in the 18^th- and 19^th-centuries.

M-204 (Garret Closet)

Gene Lyman has finished building the scuttle door for the garret entrance hatch found in ceiling of the closet.

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin has finished building the south cellar stairs. In the photos above he is installing the last skirt board by first making a mock-up out of Masonite to ensure his final cuts are accurate.

Colonnade Deck

Bill Bichell and Gene Lyman are laying out and cutting the top and bottom rails of the deck railing.

South Wing Porch

Mac Ward has started to cut the framing for the porch that will be built on the eastern side of the South wing. In the photos above, Mac is cutting box joints into the large, heart pine beams that will support the porch deck. Box joints are interlocking joints that use square tenons to join two pieces of wood together at a right angle.

North Wing, East Cellar Entrance

Tim Proffit is veneering the poured concrete retaining walls for the cellar entrance. He is using hand made bricks from Old Carolina Brick Company.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 4/2/2008

Plastering

The mason’s have scratch coated the walls of M-112 (Nelly’s Best room) and M-111 (Nelly’s Back Room). They have also applied the scratch and brown coats to the ceiling of M-009 (Nelly’s kitchen). In the video above, Tim Proffit, Robby Kolb and Lewis Rucker are shown installing the brown coat in Nelly’s kitchen).

 

Doors

Dino C. and Greg Calloway continue to prepare the surviving Madison-era doors for painting

Keith Forry and Bill Bichell also continue to repair and patch the surviving Madison-era doors. Keith is installing dutchmen (new pieces of wood that replace missing or deteriorated elements) and Bill is restoring the rails and stiles to their original sizes with finger joints.

 

Millwork

Blaise Gaston and Nick Oster were on site this week helping to lay out the Colonnade deck’s Chinese rail and to take measurements for the window sashes they are reconstructing.

 

Painting

 

Jack Fisher has applied animal hide size (or glue) to the walls in M-104 (Madison’s Room), M-105 (Dining Room), M-100 (North Wing Room) and M-200 (Small Bedroom). The size acts like a primer and prepares plaster for either wallpaper or distemper (distemper is a paint made from animal hide glue mixed with pigments to give it color). In the video above, Jack applies the size with a traditional sizing/distempering brush.

Dino and Greg also continue to prepare the north wing passage for painting.

 

Analysis

Dr. Susan Buck took additional samples from the cellar this week to help determine what the Madison-era finish was on the cellar walls and how the bases of the Colonnade columns were finished. In the video, Susan Buck is shown taking small samples of the whitewash with a scalpel.

 

M-108 (Drawing Room)

Wrought hooks were installed on the north wall. These hooks will be used to support a large (7’ x 10-1/2’) painting of the Supper at Emmaus that visitor accounts and documentary evidence show was once found in the Drawing room. While the design of the hooks is conjectural, their location is based on two holes that were found in surviving Madison era brickwork.

 

M-201 (Large Bedroom)

Gene Lyman has installed the door to the north wing deck. This door, and doorway, was removed in the 1850s when the almost flat wing roofs (framed using Thomas Jefferson’s terras framing technique) were replaced with a more typical hip roof.

 

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin continues to install the treads and risers for the south cellar stair.

 

Portico

Bill Bichell is making a jig to assemble the lattice that will cover the space below the portico deck between the column bases and the main house. While no physical evidence of the lattice survives (it was removed in circa 1855 when Portico columns were sculpted down to the ground), a lithograph from circa 1830 shows the lattice in place.

 

Colonnade Deck

Ed Gomez is laying out the railings for the Chinese rail that will enclose the colonnade deck.

 

Exterior

Mac Ward continues to install the supports for the north and south wing porches.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 3/26/2008

Plastering

The mason’s have applied the brown coat to the ceiling in M-108 (Drawing room). They have also troweled the scratch coat onto the ceiling in M-112 (Nelly’s Best Room) and M-111 (Nelly’s back room).

 

Doors

Dino C. continues to prepare the surviving Madison-era doors for painting. All of the loose paint is being removed from the doors and, as a result, an amazing amount of information on the Madison period hardware is being exposed. Clear evidence of different lock types, as well as knob locations, key holes and escutcheon plates, is being uncovered. Mark Wenger, the lead architect, is carefully tracing the evidence and then using the tracings to design the new door hardware.

Keith Forry also continues to repair and patch the surviving Madison-era doors.

 

Millwork

Blaise Gaston continues to mill elements for the period II cellar stair and is working on exterior doors and transoms for the wings.

 

M-109 (South Passage)

The masons are installing and re-securing the lath in this space. The new lath is reused, riven, heart pine that has been recovered from other pre-1850 houses in the region.

 

M-110 (South Stair)

Mac Ward has finished installing the railing for this stair as well as the skirt boards.

After Mac finished installing the trim, the masons installed new lath for the walls in the stair well. The next step will be to apply the plaster.

 

M-003 (1797 Cellar)

Les Lamois continues to install the horizontal, beaded heart pine sheathing in this room.

 

M-005, M-006, M-008 (1765 Cellar)

The masons have whitewashed the walls of these spaces with a thin whitewash. The thin whitewash will allow the new brickwork installed during the restoration to be visible while still providing a restored finish for the walls. The exposed ceiling framing, which features evidence of the cellar’s evolution, will not be coated with a new layer of whitewash.

 

Portico

The transoms for the north and south portico doors (the doorways flanking the central door) are being installed by Gene Lyman.

 

Colonnade Deck

Ed Gomez is installing a new threshold for the door into M-206 (Architecture Room).

 

Exterior

Mac Ward has started to install the supports for the handicap lift that will take visitors in wheel chairs from the south cellar passage up to a deck on the south wing and into M-111 (back chamber).

The masons also continue to lay the flagstones in front of the cellar passage doors.

 

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin continues to install the treads and risers for the south cellar stair.

 

Archaeology

The archaeologists have started to excavate an area northeast of the mansion that will be the site of the new visitor bathrooms. This excavation is being undertaken primarily to mitigate the impact of the new building on any possible below-ground resources. However, prior excavations have revealed evidence of architectural rubble that is possibly associated with the c. 1809 building campaign and hopefully more will be uncovered. For more information on the Montpelier Archaeology department and their recent finds, check out their blog at http://www.montpelier.org/latest_dirt/.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 3/19/2008

Plastering

The mason’s have applied the scratch coat onto the ceiling and the walls of the Drawing Room. Much of this room’s Madison-era wall plaster survives and the new plaster will blend in with the existing plaster.

The walls in M-001 (Dolley’s Kitchen) have been whitewashed. The walls in M-118 are also being whitewashed.

 

Doors

Dino C. has started to prepare the surviving Madison-era doors for painting. Keith Forry also continues to repair and patch the surviving Madison-era doors.

 

Millwork

Blaise Gaston has started to mill the parts for the period II cellar stair and build the reconstructed doors.

 

M-109 (South Passage)

Gene Lyman has fitted the last, and longest, piece of paneling back in place. After he installs the paneling and puts the cap back in place, all of the trim for the south passage will be installed. To fit the paneling in place, the new bottom rail is being scribed to the floor with a jig saw and, as seen in the video above, the corners are being shaved with a traditional slick.

M-110 (South Stair)

Mac Ward has started to install the railing and balusters on the second floor landing. While the location of the newel posts was clearly visible, the railing and the balusters had been removed and discarded by the duPonts during their 1901 renovations. The design for the new balusters was based on similar c. 1760 balusters found at Castle Hill, a house in neighboring Albemarle County.

 

M-111 (Back Chamber)

Mason Tim Proffit has rebuilt the back of the fireplace in this room. The fire back had not been rebuilt earlier because access was needed to the ductwork and electrical conduit built into the back of the stack.

 

M-003 (1797 Cellar)

A metal I-beam has been installed to support the floor in the 1797 cellar. This beam replaces two duPont-era wooden beams. While it is unfortunate to have to add a modern element to the cellar, the beam is needed to ensure the structural stability of the floor.

 

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin continues to install the treads and risers for the south cellar stair.

 

Exterior

Excavators under the direction of Landscape architect John James have started to restore the grade in front of the Mansion back to its Madison-era appearance.

The masons have started prepare the area in front of the cellar doors for paving.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 3/12/2008

Plastering

The walls in M-001 (Dolley’s Kitchen) have received their one and only coat of plaster. The single layer of plaster is based on surviving examples of Madison-era plaster and it will produce a rough, uneven texture in keeping with the space’s use as a kitchen. The walls in the kitchen will also be whitewashed, which is the same finish that was found on plaster fragments recovered from the space.

The remaining walls in M-118 have been white coated (except for a small section in the southwest corner) and the ceilings in M-106 (North Passage) and the South Wing Closets have been whitewashed.

Currently the masons are preparing M-111 (Back Chamber) and M-108 (Drawing Room) for plastering.

 

Doors

Bill Bichell and Keith Forry are repairing the original Madison-period doors. These doors, which date from all three Madison construction periods, were found re-used in the duPont Mansion. Many of the doors had been cut down to fit new or out-of-plumb doorways and finger joints are being used return the doors to their original sizes. Finger joints, which form a serrated edge down the entire length of a board, were specified because they provide more surface area for gluing then a common butt joint.

Keith Forry also continues to patch duPont-era mortise lock pockets. Because the doors are made from heart pine, Keith is using heart pine for the patches.

 

Painting

Dino C. has finished priming M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room) and is painting the summer beam in M-001 (Dolley’s Kitchen).

Jack Fisher is applying the hand-ground, linseed-oil based paint to the trim in M-105 (Dining Room) and M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room).

 

M-109 (South Passage)

Gene Lyman has started to apply the cap on the installed portions of the wainscot. As with the paneling, a majority of the cap survives from circa 1765.

 

M-110 (South Stair)

Mac Ward is installing the skirt boards and a corner board along the girder (one of the principal framing members used in a timber-frame floor system) that projects into the stairwell. A small portion of this c. 1765 ovolo embellished corner board had been re-used by the duPonts and was recovered during the restoration.

 

M-003 (North Cellar)

Mason Wayne Mays and carpenters Thomas Tyler and Chris Edwards are repairing the brick trimmer arch that supports the outer hearth in M-105 (Dining Room).

 

M-008 (South Cellar Passage)

Olivier Dupont-Huin is installing the stringers and winder supports for the stair. His next step will be to install the treads and risers.

 

Colonnade

Ed Gomez is preparing the top layer of decking for installation and Nick Oster is installing the flashing that will protect the door from water damage.

 

Exterior

Two more chimney caps were installed.

Montpelier Restoration Update - 3/5/2008

Plastering

The masons have applied a finish coat to the ceilings and a majority of the walls in M-118 (Nelly’s Chamber) as well as the ceiling in M-001 (Dolley’s kitchen) and M-002 (North Wing Cellar Passage). They are also troweling on the finished brown coat in M-106 (North Passage).

 

Hardware

To repair the mortises cut into the historic doors by the duPonts for their locks, Keith Forry is installing dutchmen in the mortise pockets. New locks, designed after evidence found on the doors, are currently being built and will be installed as they are made.

 

Painting

Dino C. has finished priming the woodwork in M-105 (Dining Room). Work also continues on preparing M-104 (Mr. Madison’s Room) for painting.

 

M-109 (South Passage)