PTF has worked with large urban museums like the MFA-Boston and remote historic sites like Wood Island Life Saving Station. Some follow strict preservation guidelines, like the Marrett House, and others are innovators in adaptive re-use, like the Mill at Freedom Falls. Some of our most interesting projects are the ones that defy categorization, like the Hampton Town Clock Tower. The following is a list of projects with a secular, public mission. Or you can read more in-depth posts on our blog.
*Indicates properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places
WOOD ISLAND LIFE SAVING STATION, Kittery Point, ME 2016
Structural restorations to the former US Coast Guard lifesaving station on Wood Island off the coast of Kittery, Maine. PTF, along with General Contractor, Chesterfield Associates, and abatement teams from Envirovantage, completed the first Phase of the restoration project: hazardous waste removal, internal and external structural repairs, new asphalt roof, and weathertight skin. Restorations will be completed in future phases.
PLAYER’S RING, Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH 2008, 2018
2008-2009 – Replacement of cedar shingle roof, window restoration, insulation.
2018 – Full window restoration, tight scribing of wood casing to historic brick window openings. Repair of historic front door.
*THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE MUSEUM, Exeter, New Hampshire
2008 – The interior restoration of an historic tavern including recreation of trim elements, painting and flooring repairs. The main house has begun a multi-year preservation effort beginning with structural repairs of the main house and connected ell sills. Extensive repairs to 7 dormers throughout the roof system and the preservation of the original front door pediment on an original wood clad brick treasury building.
2018 – Structural repairs and siding replacement. Any structural repairs required supporting brick infill within wall cavity.
HAMPTON TOWN CLOCK, Hampton, NH 2016
Design/build of a stand-alone tower to house a century old clock. The tower is a contemporary timber frame design that references the iconic roof structure of the original Odd Fellows building that housed the clock.
*WINTER ST. CHURCH, SAGADAHOC PRESERVATION, Bath, ME 2016
Design/build of temporary timber framed scaffolding to assist in the removal and reconstruction of failed plaster and lath barrel-vaulted ceiling.
LEWIS CONSERVATION CENTER, Kensington, NH 2014-2015
Design and creation of timber frames based on traditional historic timber framing common in New England in the early 19th century. The frames were built with traditional methods using hand tools to ensure authenticity, beauty, and strength. Of the six frames, one is an existing historic timber frame from the 18th century that we carefully repaired with in kind materials; while another frame is modeled after the 1722 East Derry Meetinghouse in East Derry, New Hampshire.
*HISTORIC GAS HOLDER HOUSE, Concord, NH 2014
Stabilization of damaged roof system and cupola. Insertion of H-Beams to create complex interior structural staging system for access. Performed investigations of roofing and cupola and provided recommendations for repair.
*HISTORIC HARRISVILLE, BUILDING #3, TRIP HAMMER SHOP 2014 – 2016
Perform extensive structural repairs from cellar to roof on the ca. 1844 historic Trip Hammer Shop, the oldest building of the mill complex. Repaired and or replaced rafters, tie beams, floor joists and wall plates.
*CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE, Canterbury, NH 2013 – 2016
Canterbury Shaker village is a working museum complex of 30+ buildings. Our services there have ranged from building inspections and maintenance prioritization to special projects. Our most recent projects at the Village include complete restoration of the Meetinghouse fence, roof replacement on the restaurant, exterior painting of the north façade of the meeting house. Participation in festivals and exhibits are also part of our service to the Village.
*MARRETT HOUSE, Standish, ME 2013
Complete repair of frame-and panel wall and timber-framed sill and studs after car crashed through parlor of this Historic New England building.
OGUNQUIT MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, Ogunquit, ME 2012
Replacement of portico columns. Restoration of Seated Bear and other sculptures by Bernard Langlais. Read about it, here.
*MILL AT FREEDOM FALLS, Freedom, ME 2012
Structural rehabilitation of grist mill (c. 1834), and resurrection of attached ell. The crew faced a number of obstacles: one corner of the building had dropped more than 10 inches out of level, and a stream that once powered the turbine still runs between the granite walls of the foundation. Stabilization of the structure required building staging around and on top of the works of the turbine, 16-20 feet above the rushing water. After stabilizing the building and the cutting the repairs, the crew was tasked with installing 12″ x 16″ hemlock timbers of lengths up to 22 feet over the rushing waters. Read our blog posts about the process.
I-FARM, Boxford, Massachusetts 2009 – Ongoing
I-Farm is a multi-building complex soon to become a working farm that teaches early farm technology and sustainable agricultural practices. Our work there began with the complete restoration of an historic barn that had been built with timbers reused from an earlier English barn. Our recent projects include the restoration of a water tower and utility shed, building the timber-framed addition to the kitchen ell, and creation of black locust arbor and trellises. Currently, we are restoring the main residence.
*Moffatt-Ladd Museum, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 2008 – 2017
2012 – Scraping and restoration of exterior facade. Please read about our paint prep process, here.
2008 – Extensive structural repairs of the “Counting House” including sills, floor girts and timber framed elements in the front eave wall. Siding and Roofing removed and repaired in kind. Extensive structural repairs to “Back Ell” including the replacement of porch posts to more closely match the original configuration of the ell. Roof structure was repaired and new sheathing placed before installing a new white cedar shingle roof. Copper gutters were also installed to direct rain water for use in the gardens.
After completion of the restoration of Moffat Ladd counting house, PTF repaired an historic arched window for the mansion. The lites of the arch had been cut out of a single board, whose grain ran horizontally, meaning that some muntins were composed entirely of short grain. Some muntins were two-part, with the inside, molded profile applied to the outside, glazing bar, a detail found in some Georgian windows. Contact Arron Sturgis for more information.
1999 – 2004 – Extensive sill replacement on three story red pine timber frame structure. This museum required extensive girt, post and stud repairs along three sides. Continued structural repair of undercarriage. Provided technical assistance in on-going Historic Structures Report. Yearly maintenance, preservation planning and grant writing. This high style Georgian residence dates to 1762.
Vaughan Homestead, Hallowell, ME 2011-12
Roof repairs to the main house on this 1790s homestead.
Tenant House at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, MA 2012
Girt repairs on the tenant house at this late 17th-century farm.
Cooper-Frost-Austin House, Historic New England, Cambridge, MA 2012
Post repairs on the oldest standing dwelling in the city of Cambridge, MA
Castle Tucker, Historic New England, Wiscasset, ME 2011
Assessment and structural stabilization of outbuildings at Castle Tucker, c. 1807, including Barn, Carriage Barn, Studio and Woodshed. Highly recommended as a detour when stuck in Rte 1 traffic at the Wiscasset Bridge.
Sheafe Warehouse, Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH 2011
The Sheafe Warehouse is a timber frame warehouse built in the early 18th century. Its second story overhangs the Portsmouth’s harbor, an innovation that made it easy to unload cargo directly from the decks of Piscataqua gundalows. In 2011, PTF reshingled the roof, with the help of our Maine Preservation interns. Keith Trefethen is the ongoing job lead in PTF’s participation in the preservation of this and other buildings in Prescott Park.
*Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, Maine 2010-ongoing
PTF built new piers and a floor support system for the later portion of the Herb House, as well as installing new perimeter sills, floor joists and post feet in the earlier portion of the building. When carpenters were repairing the floor beneath the stairs, they removed a portion of wall that had been hiding former storage space which still held an old seed tray, a rare artifact. These discoveries are part of what makes preservation work rewarding. We are fortunate to work on buildings built by carpenters renowned for their craftsmanship. Contact Dan Boyle for information about this project.
2005 – Extensive structural repairs to the “Sisters Shop” including perimeter sills, undercarriage and posts. The brick foundation was re-laid and two brick and stone candy kettles were rebuilt to match the original configuration of these elements.
2000 – Structural repairs to earliest timber structure on campus. Post feet repairs, tie beam splices and some replacement in kind. Open barn pre-dates the Shaker community circa 1780
*THE ABYSSINIAN MEETING HOUSE, Portland, Maine 2008-2017
Multi-year, multi-phase rehabilitation of one of New England’s three African-American Meetinghouses that was built by and for the African-American communities. Our work began in 2008 with the recreation of exterior soffit and rake trim to match original 1840’s meeting house. Disassembly, repair and installation of preserved king post truss roof system to match original frame design of historic meetinghouse. Spruce and Pine timbers 38 feet long were incorporated into remaining historic fabric to recreate the original roof structure. Installation of new roof shingles over repaired roof structure. Our projects include the removal of twentieth century interior walls and floors to expose original sanctuary footprint and features, restoration of exterior facades including recreation of original fan details, sill replacement, and further exterior façade restorations.
*Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 2009
Repair and reinstallation of the Brown Pearl Hall and the Manning Room Frame within the new wing of the museum. Work included the careful restoration and repair of two timber frames removed from the museum four years prior. The Brown Pearl Hall was created in collaboration with museum staff and historic mason as an authentic first period room to eventually be furnished to represent that time period. The timber frame, historic fireplace and plaster walls and original wide pine flooring were repaired and set exactly as had been the original roof configuration. The Manning room was transformed to a freestanding timber frame within which period furniture and other sculpture would be placed. All work was documented extensively through photographs and careful measurement. Contact Arron Sturgis for information about this project.
2003 – De-installation of Somerset Room, a first period museum artifact.
Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2008-2009
Removal and transport of Carved Ceiling Beams from the Hôtel Desbarres, Dijon, c. 1540. The carved oak beams are 30 ft long and 14″ by 14″. The beams were documented, lowered on staging from 25 feet in the air and into specially made crates to protect and store the historic fabric. These crates were then transported to long-term storage during museum renovation. The crates were 30 feet long and some weighed as much as 4200 pounds. Contact Arron Sturgis for information about this project.
From Gilman, Roger, Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Nov., 1934), pp. 10-15, “In the Fogg Museum the main architectural feature, after the central court, is the great ceiling in Warburg Hall. Its dark beams of oak, moulded and richly carved, with their heavy framework of cross beams, make a worthy setting for the Museum’s twelfth century capitals. It is known to have come from Dijon, out of an old building in the court of number 3 rue Jeannin, and it is apparently late Gothic in style…”
*Historic Harrisville: Mill Number One, Harrisville, New Hampshire 2006
Complete restoration of eight sided belfry and dome on stone mill building. The belfry framing was removed to the ground to allow its safe and comprehensive repair. The belfry bed timbers within the stone tower were replaced in kind and bolstered to support the weight of the belfry. The metal roof on the dome was scraped and painted. The exterior trim on the belfry was removed and repaired and stripped and re-painted and then re-applied to match the original trim configuration. A new copper soldered seam roof was installed over new sheathing boards applied to the original hip roof beams.
2004 – Structural timber repair of 59’ x 114’ stone mill building with 9” x 11” timber floor tie beams and king post trusses. 20 of 28 ties and trusses were repaired using Southern Yellow Pine beams to replace original second growth pine and hemlock.
*Warner House Museum, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 2005
Carefully documented and removed portions of five dormers to allow for structural repair of roof and preparation for a new asphalt shingle roof. The dormers were re-built using as much original material as possible. Replacement parts were created in kind to match original fabric.
*Parson Capen House, Topsfield, Massachusetts 2004
Returned to the house museum to continue structural repairs of 17th century residence. Repaired second floor plates and tie beams in white oak to match original wood species. Provided oak vertically sawn clapboards to be installed by volunteers.
*Clark House, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire 2004
Complete structural restoration of historic cape house museum c. 1776. The building was raised up on cribbing to allow the rebuilding of the field stone foundation. In kind repairs were made to perimeter sills, undercarriage beams and perimeter posts and second floor tie beams.
Shirley-Eustis Carriage Barn, Brookline, Massachusetts 1999
Complete dismantling of Ingersoll-Gardner carriage barn in Brookline, Massachusetts. The frame was photo-documented, tagged and catalogued. All repairs to frame were done using traditional timber repair techniques matching the original fabric in both size and species. Epoxy repairs made where appropriate.
Berwick Academy, South Berwick, ME
*Fogg Memorial Building Belfry Tower 1998
Removal of extensively damaged belfry tower from stone building. Re-created timber frame structure including bed timbers upon which the new tower sits. Careful dismantling, cataloguing, and stripping of southern yellow pine exterior trim details on all levels of the tower. Re-assembly of original trim onto new frame and comprehensive paint applications to all levels and all sides of the reconditioned trim. Installation of copper roof systems at all levels. Gold leaf applied to dome and the original bell installed on a new white oak bell frame.
Oakes House 1999
Structural Repairs and architectural trim re-production and installation on historic residence circa 1860.
Hayes House 1998
Structural repairs to early 19th century Federal home with a double perimeter sill. Post and girt repairs. Preservation of exterior and interior window architectural details