Deep into the winter of 2014, a banner stretched like caution tape across the front of Northwood Congregational Church. It implored commuters from Portsmouth and Concord, “Don’t Judge a Church By It’s Outside. Look for Restoration Coming Soon!” The red text on white vinyl was the freshest trim on the front facade. The porch sagged, the…
We all have illusions about longevity. Many people think that a building’s strength is derived from its foundation, made of stone, or brick, or concrete, but that’s only partly true. A good foundation is a blessing, but a bad foundation is not damning. We’ve seen so many foundation failures that in a well-designed timber frame, we…
I write a lot about our unusual jobs: a deserted island, an elevated dance floor, or a building-sized jewelry box, but most of us got into this to do jobs like the Jennison barn. The job incorporates so many of PTF’s defining motifs: barn preservation, adaptive re-use, local history and creative clients. The Jennisons called in early…
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…
(Hey readers, this was a cool job we completed over the summer, and Jake Imlay wrote up a nice blog post about it. Enjoy!) The Winter Street Center in Bath ME, home of Sagadahoc Preservation Inc., is striking at first glance. Sitting near the top of a hill, its gleaming white tower is outlined sharply…
This blog goes dark when it’s sunniest. Seems like every day this summer has been a good day to be working outside. We’re installing the last repairs to the undercarriage at East Derry First Parish Church, installing electricity for the clock at Hampton Town Clock Tower, waiting for the last of the ceiling to…
The Troy Union Meetinghouse had a crane day last week. The long-leaning steeple was partially dismantled, leaving behind the two front posts to stand like wooden antennae. The entire replacement frame has been cut by a crew of local craftsmen, and will be resurrected before the end of the summer. Read more about the process here,…
The First Parish Meetinghouse of East Derry, NH is preparing for a big anniversary, its tricentennial. What does one even get for a church on its 300th? Wood? Copper? Both, as it turns out. Beginning with a thorough assessment and rehabilitation plan in 2011, the congregation has been working steadily to repair extensive damage throughout…
The client’s wedding was in a week, and the barn in which he’d marry was in pieces on the ground. It was crane day, and a Friday, two things that don’t usually go together. In the worst case, a crane day on Friday means you don’t have an additional weekday in case you hit a…
The Lewis Conservation Center will be made up of five connected timber frames, a “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn” where the Big House is a reproduction of the 1722 East Derry Meetinghouse. One frame, the Gallery, re-uses the Green Barn, a scribe rule frame from the 1740s. The Education frame has the same…