Illumination | Spring 2008

Angie Gaebler, architect and preservation expert, confers with workers from MTS. These doors, cabinetry and trim, most of which date from the home's construction in 1819, were removed and preserved thanks to the foresight of research center staff members.

"The bricks here are very soft, hand made, probably local," Gaebler says. "The mortar, a sand and lime putty mixture, was also hand-made, also produced locally. Together they formed a system. If you start messing with that system, bad things can happen."

Lime putty mortar is one of the oldest building materials in the world; its three-parts sand to one-part lime putty ratio dates back at least as far as the Roman architect Vitruvius. Portland cement, and the harder brick that suits it, didn't become widely used in America until the 1880s. "I think a big part of the reason this building is still standing is that nobody has ever tried to do anything to it," Gaebler says. "It's kind of preservation by neglect."

This is mostly a good thing, she adds, and not just when considering the brickwork. It means that much of the original foundation stone, locally quarried limestone and sandstone, remains on the site. The floor joists, massive trunks of local oak and hickory, still bear patches of the 190-year-old bark that clung to the timber when it was fitted in place. Much of the walnut flooring, along with the cabinets, sills, interior molding and chair rails, would have been in place during the Hickmans' tenure in the home.

Gaebler, a Kansas native who studied historic architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, says that in almost a decade of working on old houses she's seldom encountered a structure of similar age with so much potential.

"What's really interesting about this house is that there has been very little change; there is a lot of original fabric," Gaebler says. "Most of these houses that were continually lived in for two hundred years have seen a lot of renovations and updates: new plumbing, new electrical, new floors. You don't see that here."

Like many of those working with her, Gaebler admits she is sometimes amazed the place is still standing. "It's kind of a miracle, truthfully."

Changes that have been made -- the house was occupied by descendents of the Hickmans until well into the 1900s -- are being reversed. This has meant installing a more period-appropriate roof, bricking up added-on exterior doors and returning windows to their original dimensions.

Bringing back authentic door and window placement was particularly important, explains Ray Glendening, farm manager at the agroforestry center and an authority on the house's history. All of the house's openings would have been designed to maximize the efficiency of fireplace heat in the winter and cooling breezes in summer.

Published by the Office of Research.