Collections On The Go

The house may have closed for the season on October 15, but you can still get your Beauport fix this winter.  

Sleeper was known for his distinctive collections of objects placed in specific arrangements throughout the house.  This year, one of these arrangements will be disassembled and shipped to New York as part of the 2010 Winter Antiques Show.  The ‘amethyst window’ arrangement, which is set within a passageway from the Octagon Room to the Golden Step Room, features different shapes and sizes of amethyst glass set within a Gothic window. 

The Winter Antiques Show in New York is one of America’s most prestigious venues for fine and decorative arts. Founded in 1954 to benefit the East Side House Settlement, a social service organization supporting families and community development, the Winter Antiques Show has long set the standard for antiques shows nationwide. It sparked the creation of “Americana Week” in New York, where exhibits, auctions and events celebrate collecting. Attracting top American and international dealers and celebrity crowds, the 56th Winter Antiques Show will be held from January 22 to 31, 2010, at the National Historic Landmark Park Avenue Armory in New York City, with the celebrated opening night party on Thursday, January 21.

In celebration of Historic New England’s centennial, the 2010 exhibition will be Colonial to Modern: A Century of Collecting at Historic New England. In keeping with the antiques and works of art showcased at the show, where each object is authenticated by a committee of 160 experts and range in date from antiquity to 1969, Historic New England will present a survey exhibit showing some of the finest objects from our collection of nearly four hundred years of New England heritage. Our focus will be great objects with great stories – such as the Quincy family’s Boston-made Japanned high chest, a 1735-45 tour de force of furniture, which comes from one of New England’s most influential families and has survived two fires.

Historic New England has long been active at the Winter Antiques Show, working with dealers who support our collecting efforts, and hosting an annual reception for Appleton Circle members at a different private home or collection each year. For 2010, the organization’s involvement will be expanded with participation at the opening night party and through a series of lectures about our properties, collections and work, which will be offered for the public in the historic Veterans Room, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and fellow members of Associated Artists.

Major donors to Historic New England’s centennial initiatives or this exhibition will receive Winter Antiques Show tickets allowing the highest level of access to the show. For more information on special donor opportunities, opening night festivities, and other events, please contact the development office at development@HistoricNewEngland.org or at 617-227-3956.

The Elegance of Masonry

Beauport is over 14,000 square feet, with over 40 rooms, and home to over 5,500 pieces of American and European art.  Amongst what may appear to be  only whimisical and eccentric nooks, is an elegance of style–not only on the interior but also in the overall architecture of the building.  

 We know from historic documents that Sleeper was very involved with the layout and design of the house even down to the dovecote over the Franklin Game Room.  He worked with a local architect, Hafdon M. Hanson (1884-1952), for over twenty-seven years to establish the building that exists today.   

Beauport has its own unique architectural style, borrowing from Shingle, Queen Anne, Colonial, and various European revival styles.  Early photographs and Hanson’s architectural drawings show that Beauport began as a wood-framed, L-shaped cottage, covered with stucco on the first story and shingled walls on the second with a foundation of irregularly coursed un-cut fieldstone.  In 1913 Sleeper reinforced the stone foundation with concrete and covered most of the remaining stucco with a brick veneer, which was more fashionable at the time, in an English bond pattern.  Later additions were constructed with the same un-cut, irregular fieldstone as the foundation.  But one of the most distinctive pieces to the exterior of the house are the brick chimneys–six of them to be exact–in various shapes and sizes.   

The 1907 “Little Beauport” began with two chimneys, the Bishops Cap chimney, so named due to the distinctive concrete top and the Potted Chimney that included two clay pots as caps.  These were simple chimneys with mostly square bases and minor brick corbelling.  In 1912, Sleeper extended the house to the east and constructed the Belfry Chamber, Chapel Chamber, and Linebrook Parish Room, which included the Spiral Chimney.  This chimney has a large square brick base and four ‘candy cane’ like towers, surrounded by a parging material, extending from it.   The bricks on the towers are laid at a diagonal, in the round, and in opposite directions of each other creating an interesting pattern.   Following his mother’s death in 1917, Sleeper installed the Pine Kitchen or Pembrooke Room in her honor.  The room included wood paneling from her ancestrial home and a large cooking fireplace, which exhausted through the Drum Chimney.  This chimney has a high tower with three distinctive levels and closed and open gothic brick patterns that make the chimney appear drum-like.  Also during 1917, Sleeper installed the Franklin Game Room and the Herringbone Chimney, which is long and thin and includes a diagonal herringbone brick pattern at the top.  The last chimney was installed in 1921 for the Golden Step and Master Mariner’s Room.  The Gothic Chimney has a massive, square, brick base with outlines in the shape of a large Gothic window.

Currently, there are several leaks at the chimneys.  Lead flashing has pulled away from the building allowing water to easily get in.  In the past, the lead flashing has been caulked in place, probably as an attempt to stop leaks.  Unfortunately, caulking traps moisture within the chimney and can lead to serious deterioration of the bricks and mortar joints.  As part of the overall Save America’s Treasures grant, the masonry chimneys will be restored during the spring of 2010. 

Bishops Cap Chimney

Potted Chimney

Spiral Chimney

Drum Chimney

Herringbone Chimney

Gothic Chimney

Tour Season Ending

The public tour season for Beauport is coming to a close–October 15 will be the last day for tours and then the house will be closed until June 1, 2010.  Even though the 2009 summer started off as a rainy one, many wonderful events took place on site, including Wine at Twilight, Afternoon Tea, Picnic By The Sea, and Nooks and Crannies Tour.  Several projects also took place this past year that  resulted in some interesting changes at the house.  Three of the most distinctive projects were the brick  terrace restoration, which revealed brick steps that were covered by a second owner in the early 40s (a more detailed post to come); the restoration of the historic landscape and planting beds; and a large scale wood window conservation project, which repaired and repainted over 130 sash at the house.  

But even though the season is coming to an end and the house will be winterized, more property-based projects are starting… upcoming projects include: wood shingle roof replacement, Belfry Tower restoration, masonry work at 6 chimneys, skylight repairs, and more landscape work. 

Stay tuned… more exciting work is still to come!     

   

Calendar of Events

The 2009 tour season at Beauport is in full force so come out and join us for an event!  Advance registration is required.  Information on all Historic New England events as well as online registration can be found here: http://www.historicnewengland.org/things/calendar/Events.asp  

Wine at Twilight(August 21, 6:30-9pm): Begin the evening with a house tour as the setting sun glints off the colored glass in the Golden Step Room, and admire Sleeper’s magical lighting effects throughout the interior.  Then join us for a twilight wine tasting on the Beauport terrace, with its breathtaking harbor views. ($30 Members/ $40 Nonmembers)

Picnic By the Sea(August 27, 1-4pm): Celebrate the Year of the Kitchen with a catered buffet lunch on the grounds.  This family friendly event offers the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely afternoon with delicious New England fare and breathtaking views of the harbor.  Bring chairs or a blanket to sit on.  Guided tours on the hour.  ($15 Members/ $25 Nonmembers/ $10 children 12 and under)

Nooks and Crannies Tour (September 12 and October 10, 9am-1pm): This leisurely behind-the-scenes tour of Henry Davis Sleeper’s summer retreat allows plenty of time to explore each room and includes passageways, closets, and other spaces not usually open to the public.  Guides highlight their favorite objects and share rarely told stories about Sleeper, his friends, and staff.  Light refreshments are included.  ($15 Members/ $22 Nonmembers)

Eastern Point Walking Tour(September 19, 10am-1pm): Enjoy this engaging tour of the Eastern Point neighborhood surrounding Beauport.  In the early years of the twentieth century, Eastern Point became a summer playground for Boston elite, specifically Henry Davis Sleeper and his social circle.  Learn about this neighborhood’s rich history and the colorful denizens of the “Dabsville” community while enjoying breathtaking views of the harbor.  Tour is followed by light refreshments and a tour of Beauport. ($15 Members/ $25 Nonmembers)

Please join us before the tour season ends on October 15!

Become a member: http://www.historicnewengland.org/member/

More Paint Analysis Funded!

Historic New England was awarded a $5,000 grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation from its Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors. This grant will fund a professional analysis to identify elements and materials used by well-known interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper at his early twentieth-century home, Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House.

 Recognized for his research and creation of a palette of paint colors generally found in historic homes, Henry Davis Sleeper’s interior colors at Beauport remain mostly intact, though faded or bleached due to age. As Sleeper was often influenced by historic paints, this project will assist in determining which paint colors were taken from reused materials and which were an original Sleeper color and help reveal the vibrancy of the original interior colors.

 “These funds provide the foundation for important preservation projects across the nation,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “These grants go toward protecting the places that tell our story and they often trigger other preservation projects, further bolstering efforts to protect America’s heritage.”

 In 1997, a generous gift from George P. Mitchell established the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors in honor of his wife. The fund provides assistance in the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic interiors. Once a year, Mitchell Fund grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 are awarded to non-profit groups and public agencies. Over $100,000 was awarded in 2009. Grants must be matched at least dollar for dollar with public or private funds. This grant award will assist Historic New England in meeting the match required by the prestigious National Park Service Save America’s Treasures grant awarded for extensive preservation efforts at Beauport.

For more information on the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors, visit www.PreservationNation.org/resources/find-funding-grants.

 Historic New England is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation. It offers unique opportunities to experience the stories of New Englanders through their homes and possessions. For more information, visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

 The National Trust for Historic Preservation (www.PreservationNation.org) is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance, and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., nine regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to a national network of people, organizations, and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history, and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories.

Window Project Phase I Complete!

Planning for the window conservation project began in 2006 with a conditions survey and initial needs assessments of the property funded by the Getty Foundation.  The survey, by Integrated Conservation Resources, was first conducted during the sub-freezing temperature days in February, immediately following a severe snowfall that blanketed the New England area.  The climatic conditions produced snow deposits in the house on the survey days, allowing an unexpected visual aid to locate points of moisture entry.  The findings of the assessment and survey clearly showed the vulnerabilities in the Beauport armor and solving the moisture penetration issues through the exterior envelope became the primary focus of the conservation project. 

With funding from the Save America’s Treasures program and a grant specifically for the conservation of windows from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund (Massachusetts Historical Commission), Historic New England was able to start the first of several ongoing projects to mitigate points of water penetration, repair structural abnormalities and tighten the overall exterior envelope.  However, due to the complexity of the structure and the vast number of sash units at the house (249 sash units), the funds could not cover the full conservation of every window at Beauport.  Therefore, a detailed scope of work was required to identify the most deteriorated windows and determine project phases.       

Following a survey from the Historic New England Carpentry Crew, a detailed list was identified of window units that required advanced care due to deterioration.  Many window components were defective including the wood joinery at the bottom rail and side stiles.  The glazing putty had lost is elasticity, resulting in chipped and cracked glazing that allowed water to penetrate between the interface of the wood and glass.  The majority of the severely deteriorated windows were located on the harbor elevation of the house as well as such iconic windows as the Gothic sash in the Chapel Chamber (Paul Revere Room) and the pseudo-Palladian window of the Shelley Room.  Many of the remaining windows were noted in the assessment as requiring care in the form of minor conservation work, glazing, sill repairs, and a finish coat of paint.

The work began in November 2008 and involved the in-house Carpentry Crew and two additional contractors: Heartwood Building and Restoration and Cousins Contracting.  Approximately 95 individual sash units were removed from the building and completely restored in a workshop by trained carpenters.  An additonal 41 sash units were surface glazed and repainted in place.  Now we only have 113 more to go…

Come and visit us!  http://www.historicnewengland.org/

If you would like to make a matching contribution so that we can continue the much needed work at the house, please contact Development@HistoricNewEngland.org or call 617-227-3957, ext. 247.

Preserving the Hooked Rugs

The conservation team at Historic New England has been working on a project to preserve the hooked rugs at Beauport, and at the same time correct problems in the locations of rugs which have crept into the collection over time.  The team initiated the project due to the window work funded by the Save America’s Treasures program.  As many of the windows were completely removed for conservation services, the collections team was required to move or remove a number of objects in front of the openings, thus providing a good opportunity to work on a number of different things at the house.

 With respect to the rugs, the collections team wanted to install a new conservation pad beneath each rug, using a technique developed by textile conservator Deirdre Windsor of Windsor Conservation. The rug pads use conservation approved materials, provide protection for the rugs and prevent slippage.  Since the rugs needed to be taken to the conservation lab in Haverhill in order to make the pads, the team also decided to carry out minor treatments, including a thorough vacuuming and mending of small losses and tears.

 There are over a hundred rugs at Beauport, and as the funds did not allow producing pads for each rug, a detailed survey was needed to determine which rugs were in the direct path of public tours.  Before retiring, the Senior Curator performed an exhaustive survey of the entire collection and determined that a number of rugs had ended up in different locations than originally chosen by Henry Davis Sleeper.  In some cases, the second owners of the house, the McCann family, had moved or replaced rugs, and in other cases, rugs had been moved out of concern for condition, or for other, unidentified reasons.

Over the years, a number of the most interesting rugs at Beauport have been reproduced by chapters of the American Traditional Hooked-Rug Association (ATHA), and in some cases, both the original and the reproduction were on view.  The staff had identified a number of photographs in one of the Beauport photo albums in Historic New England’s Album Collection in the Library and Archives as having been taken in the 1930’s, near the time of Sleeper’s death.  Using these pictures, as well as the inventories made at that time, and later McCann pictures, the conservation team began the painstaking task of determining which rug was where in which room. This involved photographing and measuring each rug at Beauport, including those in storage, and recording the information as well as current location.  Contemporary images were then compared with early photographs to determine where each rug should be placed in the house.  A few of the Sleeper rugs no longer exist at the house and a number of others are in such poor condition that they can no longer be placed on view but will be replaced with reproductions when funds become available.

 The rugs have been returned to: the Pine Kitchen; the South Gallery; the Strawberry Hill Room; the Central Hall; the Mariner’s Room; the Pineapple Room; and the Indian Bedroom. Some of the rugs that have not been returned to these rooms yet are awaiting repair or reproduction. The next rooms we will work on are the Octagon Room; the Belfry Chamber; the Byron Room; and the Nelson Room.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to John Childs, Historic New England Conservator, for the content in this post!

The Landscape Is Planted

Beauport is not only a building but an incredible example of how a building and garden can be integrated into one concept.  Henry Davis Sleeper took great care in his approach to spatial arrangement, materials, and colors of the interiors of the house but also designed a complimentary landscape.  This is most apparent on the water side terraces where Sleeper designed a series of exterior rooms, or terraces, to extend the use and the feeling of the structure from the inside to the outside.  Unfortunately certain components of this aesthetic were lost over the last seventy years.

While work continues on the building, Historic New England, supported by the Winfield Foundation, has been trying to restore these water side terraces or outdoor rooms.  The work involved two phases and months of research. 

The first phase was the restoration of the masonry elements to the late 1920s early 1930s.  Over time two specific features had been lost.  The first was a brick half-wall that separated the Walled Garden from the Lower Terrace, which was partially removed due to structural reasons in the 1990s.  The second feature was the stairway leading from the Brick Terrace to the Lower Terrace.  The stairway – an original feature of the garden – was bricked over in the late 1930s in an effort to expand the surface area of the brick terrace.  When the project began it was uncertain whether the stairs—or an outline of the stairs—would be discovered once the brick flooring was removed.  Everyone involved in the project celebrated when the stairway was found, albeit in poor shape.  The project was now to preserve the existing stairway as opposed to building a new conjectural stairway.

The second phase involved working with the firm Reed Hilderbrand (Watertown, MA) to develop a planting plan for the terraces.  The planting plan is mainly conjectural. Sleeper took great care in documenting his work on the building but no records have been found revealing his planting palettes or concepts for the landscape.  What is known is that Sleeper was very moved by color and was clearly making connections between the indoor and outdoor spaces.  Reed Hilderbrand took this in consideration and created plantings that were based on plants identified from period photographs as well as following a traditional Arts & Crafts palette.  Significantly there were several plantings that do not appear in period photographs that had grown tremendously out of scale for the garden.  These items were documented as having been installed after Historic New England acquired the property in the 1940s and were removed. 

Beauport was one of 10 gardens featured on a house and garden tour program during the 10^th Annual Cape Ann Garden Festival on Saturday, June 20.  To kick off the weekend, Property Care Team Leader Benjamin K. Haavik led a lecture “An Evening in Sleeper’s Garden” on Friday, June 19 to 27 people outlining the recent landscape work.  The festival was organized by the Sargent House Museum located on Middle Street in Gloucester.

 Historic New England is currently looking for funding to continue the restoration for the interior portions of the landscape (or the non-water side) as the completion to the Save America’s Treasures grant.  If you would like to make a matching contribution so that we can continue the much needed work at the house, please contact Development@HistoricNewEngland.org or call 617-227-3957, ext. 247.

Beauport Officially Re-Opens for the Season!

This week Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House officially re-opened it’s doors for the public tour season.  Although the window conservation project continues, all 28 rooms that were regularly seen on a tour are open for view.  Come out and see some newly restored windows as well as the newly restored terrace landscape! 

Beauport is open to the public from June 2 through October 15.  Tours are Tuesday through Saturday on the hour from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  (Open until 7:00 PM on Thursdays in July and August).  Admission: $10   

BECOME A MEMBER AND ADMISSION IS FREE!  http://www.historicnewengland.org/member/

 

Beauport, 1907-34
A National Historic Landmark
The Sleeper-McCann House
75 Eastern Point Blvd.
Gloucester, Mass. 01930
(978) 283-0800
Beauport@HistoricNewEngland.org

Directions: Take Route I-95/128 north to the end. At second set of lights after the second rotary, take East Main Street 1.5 miles to stone gates at the entrance to Eastern Point Boulevard. Follow Eastern Point Boulevard .5 mile to Beauport.

To Repair or Replace …

Phase I of the Beauport Window Conservation project has presented numerous opportunities to perform minimally invasive repairs or fully replace certain elements associated with the various windows.

While none of the windows have been replaced, the condition of some elements has mandated sensitive repairs by using wood splice repairs – commonly referred to as “Dutchman Repairs”.  Earlier posts regarding the Strawberry Hill and Master Mariner’s Rooms have touched on these repairs briefly.  The following images show wood splice repairs at different areas of various sash.  All repairs were performed with Eastern White Pine (new, although selected for heartwood and tightest grain available) and secured with epoxy adhesive.  (click on any image for a zoomed in explanation)

Rail RepairsStile End Repairs  

Mid-stile Repairs Muntin repairs  

Returning to the field for installation, it is inevitable that just as the lower parts of the sash experienced deterioration their associated sills were also found to be deteriorated.  In some cases, deterioration was small enough or a part of a structural framing element such that a splice could be implemented.  In other cases, sills were found to be so deteriorated that total replacement was necessary.   The following images detail some of those repair and replace options.   (click on any image for a zoomed in explanation)

Sill Replacement     

Window Frame Repairs  Miscellaneous Trim Repairs  

While all these repairs are done in a conservative preservation environment, none of the damage nor the repairs are unique to this particular environment.  These same problems can be seen in many window installations.  The nice thing about these problems is that they can be fixed relatively easily.  There is rarely a need to fully replace the windows; proper repairs will continue to add years to the service life.

If you would like to make a matching contribution to the Save America’s Treasures grant so that we can continue the much needed work at the house, please contact Development@HistoricNewEngland.org or call 617-227-3957, ext. 247.