[MassHistPres] Converting historic buildings into "study houses", living history education offerings

[Paul Bourdon]

Hi Diane,

You might check out the Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol RI. They have a
small ca. 1790 cape that has been restored with a separate  bathroom
facility.

Paul Bourdon
Southborough


On 8/28/12 3:58 PM, "Diane Gilbert" <d.m.gilbert at comcast.net> wrote:

> Greetings to Everyone:
> 
> My outreach to forum participants is to find out which if any historic
> properties have been preserved in such a condition as to show the various
> layers of paint and wallpaper, the lath and plaster in various stages of
> deterioration, the beams and joists, the chimney and foundation, the intact
> cellar, including the repairs made by the owners during a building¹s long
> life.  Preservation and restoration done in such a way with the installation
> of only necessary and obvious modern tools and technologies such electricity
> for an alarm system, appropriate lighting, steel posts to secure the building
> alongside the original post and beam materials ravaged by time, serving as
> didactic displays to tell the story of the building but no longer serving
> their utilitarian purpose because no longer strong enough to support parts of
> the house, etc.
>  
> All along, our vision for the 1762 Elihu Akin House in Dartmouth, MA, this
> year marking its 250th anniversary, has been to adopt the preservation
> philosophy outlined above for the building itself. Saving the Akin House has
> been a work in progress for a decade and fortunately this project has been the
> recipient of CPA funds.
> 
> Preservation and stabilization with minimum restoration seem to be the best
> way to treat this historic building.
> 
> Our organization, the Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc. [DHPT] has
> proposed the future use of the property as follows:
> 
> PROPOSED FUTURE USE
> 
>             DHPT intends to complete the interior restoration of the Akin
> House so as to restore its important historic architectural features, but also
> to leave open for examination portions of the structural improvements so that
> they can be examined for educational purposes, as an example of eighteenth
> century architecture and construction technique.  We foresee it being used for
> that purpose in conjunction with the Dartmouth public schools, to be
> incorporated in their curriculum, as well as by appointment with schools in
> other communities and other groups interested in historic research.  We
> believe it should be open to the public for the same purposes on a limited
> basis.  We believe that the structure should also be restored so that it is
> available for other public functions, which may include temporary exhibitions
> of historic and artistic pieces, meeting space for small groups, and seasonal
> use as a visitor¹s center.
> 
>             All these functions require parking areas, handicap access, and
> restroom facilities.  Because the space within the Akin House is limited, we
> believe that we should consider the possibility of a second structure on the
> premises to have bathroom facilities, and examine whether such a structure
> would more efficiently and economically accommodate the meeting space
> function.
> 
> Most of you are probably familiar with the preservation work on the Strawbery
> Banke Museum and historic buildings in Portsmouth, NH.  By preservation, I
> refer to their Website for the definition below:
> 
> Preservation in the strict sense is simply the maintenance of an early
> structure as it has survived to the present moment. Because almost all old
> buildings have been altered over the years, preservation includes the
> retention of alterations which portray the evolution of a building throughout
> its history. Preservation does not involve further change to a building except
> for routine maintenance. Examples of preservation at Strawbery Banke include
> the retention of the 1807 dining room in the 1762 Chase House, the
> mid-nineteenth century Greek Revival elements in the 1811 Governor Goodwin
> Mansion, and the twentieth century bay window on the early eighteenth century
> Marden House.
> 
> I recently visited the Tenement Museum located in the Lower East Side of
> Manhattan and noted that some of the apartments have been preserved to show
> cracking paint and layers of wallpaper, boarded fireplaces, original flooring,
> tin ceilings and wall coverings, and many other features which have
> deteriorated over time but essentially capture the building when it was
> vacated in the mid-1930s.  Other apartments have been restored as part of
> their programming to educate visitors on how immigrants lived in their
> three-room apartments without running water, plumbing, adequate lighting and
> ventilation.  The Tenement  Museum also inspired me, reinforcing our plans to
> use the Akin House as a study house and for educational programs, using the
> house as an authentic classroom for living history, 250 years of culture,
> applying the disciplines of anthropology and archaeology, with connections to
> the socio-economic challenges of various periods in our history.
> 
> The Tenement Museum also prompted me to wonder how they can display rooms in a
> state of decay at a certain point in time without risking the further
> deterioration of the elements such as falling paint chips and preventing
> plaster from detaching from the walls.  I was unable to get any details about
> the hows of the actual preservation work itself so I am pursuing those
> answers, such as, leaving the  lead paint on display in various stages of
> deterioration without any danger to the air quality for the docents and the
> visitors. 
> 
> Another example of a ³study house² is found at the Sinclair Inn in Annapolis
> Royal, Nova Scotia.  You can search these museums online to find their
> Websites and more information.
> 
> All of the wordy details above to ask if there are such uses of historic
> buildings in Massachusetts.  The laws governing historic buildings and their
> uses vary state by state and country by country.
> 
> Any leads, thoughts, suggestions, advice much appreciated. Let me know if
> you¹d like to get more information about the Akin House.  I will send to you
> individually through your email address since attachments are prohibited here.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Diane
> 
> Diane Gilbert, President
> Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc.
> P.O. Box 87026
> Dartmouth, MA  02748
> 508-965-7265
> 
> 
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