Preservation Timber Framing

Traditional repair of timber-framed barns, homes, churches and steeples

Tag: Media

  • Langlais Restoration in Maine Sunday Telegram

    Arron and Jess in front of Seated Bear. Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette, for the Portland Press Herald
    Arron and Jess in front of Seated Bear. Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette, Portland Press Herald

    On Sunday, the restoration of Bernard Langlais’ wooden sculptures was covered in a full page spread of the Maine Sunday Telegram.  It was a pleasure to talk with Bob Keyes, and Shawn Ouellette, of the Portland Press Herald, and to meet the with the folks who raised the money to make this restoration possible.  The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is still trying to raise money for the restoration of “Horse in Field.”  We’ll start taking the lion apart tomorrow, and I can’t wait.  Read the article, here.

  • Freedom Mill on MPBN’s Maine Watch

    The Mill at Freedom Falls
    The Mill at Freedom Falls

    Tony Grassi, owner of the Mill at Freedom Falls, will be discussing its rehabilitation with Jennifer Rooks on MPBN’s Maine Watch this week.  The show airs Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm, Friday at 9 pm and Sunday at 5 pm.  It will also be on the radio on Friday at 12:30 pm.  Read more about our participation in the project here, but Grassi’s blog has better photos, so check it out!

  • Moffatt-Ladd’s Temporary Windows Illuminate PTF Talent

    David and the Moffatts. Photo by Deb Cram, from Seacoastonline.com
    David and the Moffatts. Photo by Deb Cram, from Seacoastonline.com

    Our clients often comment on a pervasive artistic sentiment within the PTF crew.  Shawn Perry and David Ford pursued careers in drawing and ceramics, respectively, before becoming timber framers.  Ed and myself majored in art as undergraduates, and a portrait of Reese (scroll down) hangs in the National Portrait Gallery (Reese’s friend Megan Ledbetter took the photo, but I’ll use any flimsy excuse to brag).  We think that our creativity and artistic curiosity add intangible benefits to our approach to carpentry, but sometimes those benefits are shown in stark relief.  David’s painting of the temporary windows at the Moffatt-Ladd House are one such occasion.

    While the window sash are being repaired, David and his crew cut and fit temporary inserts for the window frames.  On the plywood inserts, he drew silhouettes of former residents of the historic home, and lined out muntin divisions.  Volunteers from the New Hampshire Colonial Dames and the Museum’s seasonal staff finished the inserts by painting in the silhouettes.  It is always a pleasure to work with committed volunteers and a special joy to see David’s artistic talents on display.  Over the holidays, all of Portsmouth will have the chance.   Please read more about the project from Seacoast online.

  • 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 my favorite stories about the building, including its origin story, and how it was saved from the fire of 1866 by William Wilburforce Ruby, one of the founders’ sons.  Unfortunately, the online copy doesn’t include all the beautiful photos, so be sure to check it out on newsstands.

    The second article, in the Portland Daily Sun, covered a meeting in Boston between HUD, the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian, the Portland Freedom Trail and Boston’s African Meeting house.  HUD has been and is an important potential funding source for the restoration.  The Committee hopes that by completing the facade, they will attract attention and build momentum to fund the next phase.

  • PTF in the MFA

    Sunday, the Maine Sunday Telegram printed an article about Preservation Timber Framing’s participation in the renovation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:

    BOSTON – When the Museum of Fine Arts needed experts to complete a pair of 1700s period rooms in its new wing, a couple of craftspeople from Maine got the call to do the heavy lifting.

    Robin Neely, a glass conservator and consultant from the Deering neighborhood in Portland, made two lead-glass windows for the Brown-Pearl Room, newly installed in the elegant and breathtaking Art of the Americas wing at the Boston museum.

    Aaron Sturgis, a timber framer from Berwick, used his expertise to rebuild the 1704 Brown-Pearl Room as well as a dramatic timber frame for the Manning Room from a late 17th-century New England house.

    “To be an artisan involved in a museum as well respected as the MFA is — well, it’s astounding,” said Sturgis. “It’s an opportunity that you do not get many times….”  Continue reading...

    We appreciated the attention that the reporter, Bob Keyes, paid to the frame:

    REALLY BIG BEAM

    For Sturgis, his work at the MFA began several years ago when the period rooms were dismantled so the building project could commence. He was hired to help remove and later reinstall the timber frames.

    One beam from the Manning Room is 49 feet long and weighs 800 pounds. It’s the largest single object in the museum — so large that the new wing was built around it. The beam was put in place before construction was finished, because it was too large to move around once the wing was enclosed. As such, it was the first art object in the new wing.

    Sturgis appreciates the attention to detail the museum paid to the Manning Room. In its current state, the timber frame is interpreted as a work of art in itself. The museum has left the timber frame exposed, so people can see how it was made and how it stands together.

    The frame is the focus of the attention as opposed to the objects that fill the room, Sturgis said.

    “That’s what excited me the most, the fact that Manning was being considered almost its own art piece as a timber frame,” he said. “You have a much clearer and closer look at the artifact. You can actually go up and touch it.

    “From a craft perspective, saving an historic structure and illustrating how it was built and repaired it really exciting. It was an amazing experience.”  Full Article

    We are proud to have participated in such an important project.

  • Coverage

    We’re building the roof that will link the belfry and clock tower, while the local media is covering the crane day, and the steeple’s connection to the community.

    Here She Comes

    Christine Parrish of The Free Press wrote one of the best articles I’ve read, she really focuses on the joinery and construction history:

    Shawn Perry, of Preservation Timber Framing, Inc., the firm that was contracted to rebuild the steeple using the original plans and traditional joinery, stuck his fist into the heart of one of the rotten steeple timbers and pulled out a fistful of sawdust.

    “How this stayed standing, I don’t know,” said Perry.

    The clock tower bears 11,000 pounds of weight, according to Perry, so each corner beam would have had to take almost 3,000 pounds of weight.

    “A storm could have toppled it,” he said… read more

    From WCSH6 of Portland

    From NECN

    “Steeple Finally Home Atop Damariscotta Baptist Church” by Alex Brodsky, Lincoln County News

Think we can help? Get in touch.

Cell

(603) 781 5725

Office

(207) 698 1695

Email

Office Manager: Emilee Bolduc

President: Arron Sturgis

Mail

P.O. Box 28, Berwick, ME 03901

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