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We have been working on small projects and repairs to the "Old House" for over ten years but the Old House Society has been working towards a major restoration project which we are happy to join them in. There are several areas of the house that need immediate attention. The windows (as you can see in the attached photo) have deteriorated since they were built in the late 1930's. The clapboards and shingles need to be replaced and the old chimney needs some careful repair.
We started on the window restoration project more than six years ago. In 1996 we removed one of the windows and began our study of it. The windows that are currently in the house were built in the 1930's as part of a major restoration. The craftsman from that era based their details on fragments that were found in the house as well as a fairly intact window frame that had been protected under a lean-to on the North wall. The windows that were made and installed then appear to be similar to the original 17th century units but the reproductions are so accurate that they repeat many of the original design flaws that caused these windows to leak. Our goal was to research other houses of this era and to bring together a team of professionals to agree on a new design for the windows that would compensate for some of the original design flaws without altering the appearance of the window or affecting any original historic material. Prominent contributors to this committee include Alison Cornish, Bill Peters, June Metzner, Bennet Blackburn, Jack Cushen and Peter Stoutenburgh.
Some of the houses we examined and photographed were:
The Hempstead House New London Conn. 1678
The Paul Revere House Boston 1680
The Buttolph Williams House Wethersfield Conn. 1710
The Clemence Irons House Johnston R.I. 1680
The John Ward House Salem Mass. 1684
The Judge Corwin House Salem Mass. 1675
The Samuel Pickman House Salem Mass. 1664
The Jackson House Portsmouth N.H. 1664
Our examination of these houses revealed several details in common with our Old House but none of them had windows that had a shaped mullion like ours. We carried our research further and found that this particular shape – called an "ovolo" - was common to stone windows in England. Had our windows come directly from England? Were they built by a carpenter recently arrived from England who brought with him the tools and fashions of another country? We would be interested to find another house with "ovolo" mullions.
We built several "mock-ups" and revised our shop drawings until we came up with a plan for the alterations to the windows. The original drawings of the windows are available for study at the Cutchogue Library and when we are finished we hope to include our revised drawings to the file but, in brief, our changes are:
- increased the slope of the sill from about 5 degees to about 15 degrees
- reduced the width of the sill tenons on jambs and mullions and moved them to the interior of the window. The original sill tenons ran the full width of the mullions and created a "drain" where the water flowed into the sill and the wall under the window.
- added a polyurethane elastomeric compound to each joint to provide a flexible waterproof seal.
- made slight changes in the dimension of the "ovolo" mullion to create an edge to strike glazing.
- slightly altered the dimensions of the rails and stiles of the operable sash to accommodate the hinges and pintels.
All of the other houses we studied had diamond pane leaded glass similar to the Old House but there was a lot of variety in the pattern of the diamonds and the size of the panes. We were pleased to acquire the services of Jack Cushen of Studio Restorations who not only contributed substantially to the final design of the sash but has crafted our first three leaded panels that can be admired in the window we have installed.
When the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) was done on the Old House in 1940 there were fragments of hardware documented in the drawings. The oldest traces of the window found in the North wall lacked any sash and therefore no hardware. We called on the services of Bob Valentine of the Village Blacksmith to help us reconstruct the hinges, pintels and latches. The hardware on the 1940's windows was rather clumsy cut steel and he replaced it with much finer wrought iron with details similar to what have been documented on other windows of this era. The 1940's hardware will remain on the windows as they are removed,stored or displayed in the future.
The following photos document some of our work to date – if you have any questions about our work at the Old House you can contact us at eei1@optonline.net or if you would like to make a contribution or communicate with the Old House Committee you can contact Bill Peters at wpeters@suffolk.lib.ny.us.
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