Let's Shout it from the Rooftop: The Roof is Done!

Can I get a huzzah? Just over six weeks after they began, the two man crew from Ressler Construction, Brownsville, PA, finished up the roof and dormers on the Keith House earlier this week. We've been following the progress since the project began on August 24, so for the entire process from the beginning, see our previous posts here, here, here, here, and here. And now, because there isn't much more to say, the pictures:

Two-thirds Done

And yes, it took some mad math skillz to figure out exactly how far along we were in the process - basically 8 of the 12 roof divisions (north side/south side x upper slope/lower slope x left of chimney/between chimneys/right of chimey=good thing I'm not an engineer) are now complete and we've been told they should be close to finished in another week or so.

I kind of like the mossy finish on the old shingles....

By the time the crew from Ressler Construction out of Brownsville was finishing up today, they'd completed the central section of the lower slope of the north side, which was just about another 1/12th of the roof, considering when they started they were only up to the second dormer.

As you can see pretty clearly in the above photo, they're also removing the siding from the dormers as they go. This will be replaced and painted the "new" shade of blue that will eventually grace all of the window frames and doors (review of the paint analysis done previously revealed the current color is just a shade off) and new crown moulding is being fabricated by the PHMC's Architectural and Preservation staff.

To see the roof project as it progressed, view the beginning of the project here, the continuation of the project here, and a comparison of the 1960s roofing project to the current one here. 

Hearth and Home: Seasonal Cooking in the Colonial Kitchen

Experience first hand the emergence of our unique American appetite, as the period leading up to the Revolutionary War brings together elements of English, German, French, and Native recipes! Distinctively taught in the intimate Summer kitchen at Graeme Park, the Hearth and Home cooking series will give participants the opportunity to prepare a full colonial meal over an open wood fire, as would have been enjoyed by the Graeme family during their time in the Keith House.

Each class is taught by experienced site interpreter Erin Agnew, and will focus on the seasonal availibility of foods in Southeastern Pennsylvania . Each class includes a hands-on lesson in open hearth cooking and the opportunity to enjoy your authentic meal in our equally historic setting.

Classes will take place on: September 29, December 8, March 9, May 11, beginning at 10:30 am and ending between 2:00 and 3:00 pm. Participation Cost is $55.00 per class, or $200.00 for the series of four classes. Pre-registration and payment in advance is required. Registration will remain open until two days before each class
To register, or for more information: 215-343-0965 or visit www.graemepark.org

A New Roof

Well, after much anticipation, and an official state bidding process, the new roof project has begun on the Keith House.

The existing oak shingle roof was put on in 1989 (to replace the first roof the state put on the house back in the 1960s) and was really starting to show its age - both in the warped, curling shingles and in the fact that we had numerous leaks up on the third floor. Back at the very beginning of January a temporary rubber roof was installed to help protect the interior plaster from additional water damage through the winter and spring and we were told that the temporary roof could actually last for several years - we're very glad we don't have to test that out and the project is moving forward as planned.

Using a lift truck, Ressler Construction, out of Brownstown, Pennsylvania, is replacing the existing oak shingles with cedar, a material that will be longer lasting and is also most likely closer to the historic original. Rather than tearing off all of the old material before beginning the replacement, they're working a little at a time to remove and replace shingles. Each tapered shingle is individually nailed to the purlins, which span the rafters, and the shingles overlap so that only about 1/4-1/3 of the 24" length is revealed. The two man crew began work on Tuesday, August 21 and by Friday morning were about a third of the way done with the lower slope on the south side of the house, as seen above. By lunch, they had progressed to the point below:

What can't be conveyed via the internet is the wonderful smell of the new material - if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Graeme Park, stop in and see the progress and take a deep breath while standing in front of the house. We may have white-faced hornets, imperial moth caterpillars, hummingbird moths and walnut twig beetles on the property, but we certainly shouldn't have moths in the attic of the Keith House.

Reparations

Last weekend and yesterday Graeme Park and the HPHA hosted a student film crew from Drexel University working on a short film called Reparations, which is set in the south just after the Civil War. They shot their exteriors around the Penrose-Strawbridge House and used the dining room in the Keith House for an interior scene. In the film, former Confederate Colonel Henry Gibbs must deal with the repercussions of his actions during the war when his ex-lover and former slave Amos arrives at his doorstep demanding that Henry keep his promise to him in order to spare the lives of his wife and son.



Editor and Script Supervisor Lauren Ott putting the finishing touches on the actor playing Amos.



Director Gerard Nocco with the actors playing Henry and his wife.

The interior scene was shot in the Dining Room of the Keith House.

While filming was taking place in the Dining Room, the Director and crew could keep an eye on the action via a laptop set up in the Keith House Office.

Of course we had one of our busiest tour days in awhile on Saturday, with volunteer Jack Washington taking three tour groups of seven, five, and eight people through the house and around all of the equipment. Perhaps they saw the action going on at the house and thought they'd see Mel Gibson or Harrison Ford and quickly signed up to take the tour, but most likely it was just Murphy's Law at work. Despite the interuptions they were able to wrap up their interior filming in just one day and have now moved on to the editing process.We'll keep you updated if they share the finished product with us.

More information.

Before and Afters: Pre-Restoration Photos of the Keith House

Everyone loves a good home improvement project with lots of before and after photos right? In cleaning out some computer files, I came across some old photos of the Keith House at Graeme Park from before the restoration work was done and thought they might be of interest to our readers.

First up is an exterior shot of the south side of the house taken in 1903. This was during the time of the Penrose ownership of the property. You'll notice there are three dormers on this side of the roof, rather than the current one, and the makeshift "transom" over the center door was a 12-light window sash nailed to the outside of the frame. While you can't see the upper slope of the roof, according to the Historic Structures Report (HSR), Abel Penrose installed a new roof on the house in 1879 which consisted of shingles on the lower slope and metal on the upper - this would be the roof pictured here.

A more recent view of the south side of the house. The current roof, all oak shingles, was put on the house in 1989 and is slated for replacement again in the near future. Two of the dormers were removed in the 1960s because it was not felt that the framing was original and that they may have been added by the Penroses. There is uncertainty as to whether or not this was actually the case and also on whether all the dormer windows were originally 6-over-6 as they appear on the south side or 6-over-9 as they are on the north side. The blue paint on the trim was determined through paint analysis done in 1986 and was the color of the trim during the later part of Dr. Graeme's residency. The analysis also revealed that for a time the window trim and doors were unpainted and the center door below was also painted red (frame), white (stiles and rails) and green (panels) in one of its early incarnations.

Perhaps the more dramatic changes took place inside. This 1964 view of Dr. Graeme's office shows the marks on the wall to the right of the fireplace which indicated a closet had once been present. If you look closely you can see where the 4 shelves had been and the board partition that formed the front of the closet wall. This was the only room in the house missing its original paneling.

The closet and paneling were reconstructed and the fireplace stucco restored. Supposedly the profile of the crown moulding was determined by the shadow marks left behind on the ceiling and a "typical" paneling that would go with that style moulding was used.

Below is the dining room looking towards the north wall and closet and a sample of the wallpaper. I do not have a date for the photo, but the envelope that holds the sample is marked "Keith House Dining Room Wallpaper 1975(?) - July, 1983", so it would appear to be sometime between 1975 and mid-1983. It is a black and white photo so obviously colors are impossible to pinpoint, but it does appear as if the paneling on the fireplace wall was lighter than the chair rail and baseboard. The paint analysis wasn't done until 1986, which determined that the paneling and chair rail should be Spanish brown/red as they are currently.

And here is a slightly wider angle shot of that corner of the dining room as it appears today.

These two 1964 shots of the 3rd floor dormitory are probably the most stunning. Extensive plaster damage from the leaky roof reveals the joists and rafters above and the rafters, remaining lathe, and shingles or sheathing on the side slopes of the gambrel roof. The dormer in the photo below is one of the ones on the south side that was removed because it wasn't felt to be original.

This shows the opposite corner of the room, again, you can see the skeleton of the roof through the extensive plaster damage. The dormer in this photo overlooks what were once the formal gardens of the house. The 6-over-6 window was replaced with a 6-over-9 - I'm unsure as to whether or not the dormers were altered to accomodate the larger window sash - the sills appear to be lower.

The below photos show the same two corners of the room after the plaster was redone and the south side dormer removed.

This 1921 photo by Frank Cousins (NYPL Digital Collection) shows the ceiling in the parlor apparently being supported by a tree trunk. It is unclear what the pile of wood on the left is.

And the parlor, with all of its original paint, as it appears today, really not too much different other than some plaster restoration in the fireplace:

This photo of Elizabeth's bedroom appeared in the 1930 book Colonial Houses by Philip B. Wallace and is marked HLD on the back. It is believed to have been photographed by Herman Louis Duhring, Jr. who was an architect from the 1890s - 1950s with an interest in Pennsylvania farm houses and restoration of historic structures. Notice the hole in the paneling where a stove pipe went through, lack of tiling on the fireplace, lathe showing through the plaster ceiling, and the door appears too short for the frame, which has been rigged with extra trim to fill in the space. The fireback however appears to be the same that is still in place today.

Elizabeth's room as it appears today. Reproduction tiles have been installed, holes patched, the excess trim and too short door removed.

Since we started with the exterior of the house, we'll end there too. This final shot of the west end, also attributed to Herman Louis Duhring, Jr., shows the end wall covered in vines, so much so that the window believed to have been stoned in during Dr. Graeme's tenure, is not even visible.

And again, as it appears today after the overgrowth was removed, trim painted blue as per the paint analysis, and dormers possibly altered to accomodate the 6-over-9 window sash.