Preservation of Historic Winchester

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, and part 12.

Interior work is progressing on the plumbing, HVAC, and windows. Flooring options and lighting fixtures are also being discussed. Most of the flooring in the Braddock Street side can be restored, but the Cork Street side will need some replacement flooring. One option is to use reclaimed lumber from a supplier like Mountain Lumber Company. Using reclaimed wood is an especially good option for historic preservation projects. Not only is the reclaimed wood a closer visual match to existing historic flooring, it is also a green building practice and eco-friendly. As an added bonus, these reclaimed timbers are generally stronger and more durable than their contemporary counterparts. Another option for the replaced flooring could be bamboo, another hard, durable, and renewable source of flooring.

More finish decisions await the Noakes house, inside and out. We’ll see you again on the 11th for a look at some outside detailing.

Plumbing on the Cork Street side
Windows and skylights go in
More of the HVAC system is installed
Some sample lighting fixtures for the interior

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, and part 11.

Last time, we saw some revisions for the meter relocation plans in the exterior work to the building caused by the solid limestone outcropping incorporated in the foundation. Because the meter location changed from the Board of Architectural Review’s approved application, the updated plans for the meters needed to be submitted to the BAR again. To make the application to the BAR more efficient, plans to restore the cornice facing Braddock Street and the exterior paint color selections were included with the meter relocation discussion.

The cornice restoration in particular required additional research. The original cornice had been removed at some point after 1976. Photographs of the Samuel Noakes house were not particularly clear, but appeared to show a bracketed cornice with molding. To identify what type of molding was once installed, the 1976 Winchester Historic District architectural survey sheets were consulted. Although the photographs were still unclear, the written description confirmed the cornice had modillions and an egg and tongue cornice.

The last item brought to the BAR was the exterior color selection. The plan was to differentiate between the Braddock Street side and Cork Street side with complimentary but contrasting colors. Braddock Street will remain red and white, and Cork Street will become blue (Kensington Blue or Evening Sky) with green trim (Central Park or Greenwich Village). The BAR approved the blue and green combinations, leaving the final selection between the four colors to the owner.

Inside the building, the Cork Street side fireplace was partially dismantled, cleaned, and rebuilt. As you may recall, the fireplace had been bricked in and an alternative heat source used the chimney for ventilation. The bricked up portion of the fireplace was opened once more, uncovering a deteriorated but partially legible fireback. The opening made for the later stove was filled in during the reconstruction, restoring the original appearance of the fireplace.

Cornice reconstruction research

Cork Street side fireplace rebuilt

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, and part 10.

Work this time focuses on the HVAC and electrical systems. One of the goals of the rehabilitation was to incorporate the electric service more elegantly into the building and reduce the visible exterior wires and make the meters less noticeable on the facade. As is so common in Winchester, limestone made the conceptual electrical trench impossible. The house is built on part of the limestone shelf encountered in the side yard, and the excavation of the trench could undermine the house’s foundation. An alternate relocation plan is drawn up for submission to the Board of Architectural Review and Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative.

Masonry work begins

The rear shed wall is removed

Limestone puts a crimp in the meter relocation plans

HVAC bulkheads go in

The electric rough-in work is started

John Chesson has graciously offered to share his story and images of his ongoing adaptive reuse project at the Samuel Noakes house, 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street with PHW. We will be releasing these stories through the PHW blog in the coming weeks, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, and part 9.

The Cork Street side yard had a limestone retaining wall that was beginning to buckle. Walls bow out over time when the area behind the wall does not allow for proper water drainage. The plan to tackle this was to rework this area and create a new path through the wall to the Cork Street apartment. Excavation for this phase of the project was a bit more involved than expected, because under the top layer of soil was a limestone shelf. The concrete patio slab was also removed at this point to rework the entrance to that side of the building.

Work continues inside, as well. The half bath area on the Cork Street side is framed in, and more demolition is underway in the basement. The work in the basement reveals some telltale signs the building is as old as reported by the local historians Quarles and Russell, including machine cut nails typical of the early 1800s. To read more about the study of nails and their importance in archeology and dating construction, you may read “Nasty Rods of Rust and Dirt” at Curtin Archeological Consulting, Inc.’s blog. A list of further references in the article will get you started on visually identifying the era from which a nail dates. Nails, along with saw marks in wood, are some of the best ways to estimate the age of a building of uncertain construction date.

Work moves outside to tackle a failing limestone wall

The half bath area is framed out

More demolition is underway in the basement

John Chesson has graciously offered to share his story and images of his ongoing adaptive reuse project at the Samuel Noakes house, 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street with PHW. We will be releasing these stories through the PHW blog in the coming weeks, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, and part 8.

This time, we see some of the first coverings which will be applied to the exposed walls, a foam barrier. Insulation is one of the key ways to make an existing building more energy efficient. In general, this much stripping of wall coverings would be too much hassle, cost, and loss of historic fabric to make insulating masonry walls worthwhile. Since so much of the building has been stripped, the insulation is sensible to add at this point in the project.

If you live in an older home and are considering upgrading your HVAC and/or adding more energy-efficient insulation, you should refer to the National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Briefs #3: Improving Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings and #24: Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling Historic Buildings. The National Trust for Historic Preservation also has links to more resources on insulation. In general, it is less invasive and less likely to cause hidden damage to upgrade and maintain existing systems, utilize the historic ventilating systems in place, insulate areas with exposed structural members like attics and basements, add storm windows, and weatherstrip and caulk openings. Improperly applied insulation techniques will do more harm than good in an older home by holding moisture and causing rot, structural damage, and exterior paint failure.

Work also continues in a location we have not seen for a while, the barbershop area at Braddock Street level. Some of the previous creative uses for the space, like plumbing, air conditioning units, and lighting, will be better addressed during the renovation to make the most of the commercial area.

The installation of the foam barrier in the apartment areas

Work moves to the former barbershop area

John Chesson has graciously offered to share his story and images of his ongoing adaptive reuse project at the Samuel Noakes house, 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street with PHW. We will be releasing these stories through the PHW blog in the coming weeks, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, and part 7.

Last time, we saw the work begin to shift focus from making the building structurally sound to making the building function in 2012. As is typical in a renovation project, a few plans changed along the way and some additional plaster demolition occurred around the Braddock Street fireplace. This time, a similar reveal is undertaken in the upstairs fireplace.

In addition to looking at the bones of the structure, the HVAC system as well as plumbing lines are starting to take shape throughout the building. These systems are almost always some of the most difficult to retrofit into an older building with elegance. Being able to install or upgrade the HVAC and plumbing when the building’s structure is mostly exposed is the most efficient way to work with these often cumbersome systems.

The upstairs fireplace plaster is removed, similar to the downstairs reveal

More planning and work for HVAC and plumbing