Challenge:

Provide design services for a complete exterior historical restoration and repair of this former mansion, which houses the Foreign Languages Department.

Solution:

The work included a combination of replacement and repair of the entire building exterior wood trim and siding. The curved bay area was completely re-sided using new cedar material, which was scalloped to fit the unique geometry of the curved structure. Extensive wood replacement was performed at the roof balustrade at the bottom of the mansard assembly. Entire sections of balustrade were fabricated from new mahogany and assembled in the shop. These individual sections were brought to the site and craned into place. The roofing waterproof membrane terminates at the top of the rails as well as continuing behind the rails to ensure that the historic detail remains but the water infiltration ends. Roof replacement (including asbestos removal) was performed at the flat roofs with rubber roofing as a replacement material over new insulation. New skylights were installed, and the existing decorative cupola (which was out of view) was removed as a problematic maintenance item. All the lower roofs were also replaced with rubber. All the windows were made operable with sash cord replacement and reuse of weights and then were re-glazed and painted. The decorative wood elements, such as the entry columns, the brackets at the dormer windows, dentils, and quoins, were fabricated from new mahogany to match the existing and then were replaced. The entire front entrance deck system was rebuilt and installed with new mahogany decking. Front steps were rebuilt to a less severe incline for users who are handicapped. The adjacent garage was restored in the same manner, using the same techniques at all the same locations.