Category Archives: Churches

Acworth Meetinghouse receives Preservation Honor Award

Built by Elias Carter in 1821, the Acworth Meetinghouse, with its double lantern spire, is a masterful representation of historic building craft.  But by 2008, the building was in desperate need of repair.  PTF was called in to give an estimate, … Continue reading

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Unveiling York First Parish Church, (we took the staging down).

Last week, we dropped the staging from the front of the York First Parish Church.  After the 24 ft picks were lowered smoothly, we took apart the rest of the ledgers and standards like a rogue band of dismantling Doozers.  … Continue reading

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Trim Time

These past few weeks, with the inclement weather, the York Congregational trim has kept us busy in the shop. Using a steam box, we carefully scraped the lead paint from the trim pieces, made dutchman repairs, and filled nail holes … Continue reading

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Face Lift for an Old Girl

We have begun replacing the clock faces of the First Parish Congregational Church in York, Maine.  Formed in 1636, the congregation is the oldest in Maine.  The current building was built in 1747, and moved to its position, facing the … Continue reading

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Our Biggest Fan

In 1900, Charles Goodhue drew this sketch from the memory of an elderly parishioner.  This is one of the only remaining images that depict the building from this era.  Fortunately, evidence within the building has proven this sketch to be … Continue reading

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TTRAG Symposium this weekend

The annual meeting of the Traditional Timber Framers Advisory Group is this Saturday, and our crew is really looking forward to it.   Our own Dan Boyle has worked hard to organize a great event in Topsfield, MA, which will include … Continue reading

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The Salvage Detectives, Part I

The most interesting part of working on the Abyssinian has been the process of discovery.  When we first started working on the restoration, we encountered dank apartments and the absence of much of the original truss framing.  There was little … Continue reading

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Abyssinian before: Abyssinian after:

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Press on Preservation

Last week, PTF was featured in two more articles, these ones about developments at the Abyssinian.  The DownEast article focuses on the social history of the building as well as the people responsible for its restoration.  It contains some of … Continue reading

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Sill Crazy After All These Years

We’ve begun work on the Abyssinian Meetinghouse again.  Last week, archaeologists dug test pits in the basement and driveway, while we worked on cutting a new front sill.  After years of damage, no part of the original front sill could … Continue reading

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