This is the beginning point.  A house rich in history and muddled by a century and a half of "adding on" and "modernization".  It had only been owned by a handful of families, that last of which was a world renown heart surgeon.  The new owners made the not so easy decision to restore "Mary's House" to the best and highest of standards.  The process is underway to seek  National Register of Historic Places designation.

The discovery of arches spanning the dogtrot or center hall was a game changer.  Something I had never seen the likes of or ever heard about in this region, made it important to consider a true restoration and not just a reutilization of the house.  The decision was made to go with a more faithful restoration tot he period.

Most all of the structure of the original stone part of the house uses some form joinery and not nails or any other form of mechanical connection.  

A preservation and restoration plan is put into place that also provides for the "new" that the current day and owners now require.

Essentially, the front part of the house is stone construction and was built first.  We feel like the South "pen" or room was built a little before the North, as there are slight differences in the construction. Again, this was a carpenter building a stone structure, so there was a learning curve.

The wood frame, rear portion of the house "tees" into the stone part approximately in the middle aligning with the center hall. Materials and methods used in this portion of the house construction indicate it was built in the late 1900's. Additional changes made by subsequent owners in the middle part of the 20th century that were ill built or were in such poor condition that the decision was made to remove them and get back to a simpler version of the building.

The stone part of the house had a small cellar on the north end that took advantage of the slope of the hill on which the house was built.

The new bathrooms in the original part of the house will be a bit innovative to try an make an indoor shower look as if it could have been there all along.

This image shows the new living and dining room.  The casework at the end of the room was a much later addition to the center hall and it will be relocated to the end wall with a grand picture window in the middle.

The stone construction of the house is unusual if not marginal in method. Almost every wall had structural issues that in some case needed to be entirely rebuilt.  One of the best restoration masons in the region Ken Schultz of Schultz's Stone & Steel was brought in to accomplish the task. 

The entirety of the north end wall and portions of the west and east walls at that end--everything but the chimney--had to be brought down and rebuilt.

Where possible and practical, materials in need of repair will be, parts needing replacement will be with like materials and the methods originally used in the construction.

Even the origianl window sashes showed certain particular details that indicated Mr. Heller's expertise as a cabinetmaker.  While a mortised and pegged frame is usual in this region, that tiny sliver of a wedge, to stiffen the joint, is not.

In preparation for the masonry work we discovered that the exterior of the stonework had various types of coatings for protection.  From "lime paint" to full stucco and at for a time, nothing but exposed rock.  The restoration will incorporate most of these on one wall or another in finish form.  the more protected porch will leave the stone exposed, while the exposed north and south end-walls will have full stucco finishes. The same will be for the interior plaster finishes. This picture shows some of the interior plaster that will be saved and repaired.

This slide shows the top of the 14"x14" oak beam with the beautifully carved underside shown in slide five. The most unusual feature of the construction of the structure is this wood framing above the stone walls.  Normally the horizontal joists and rafters would be let in to the stone wall for support. Mr Heller, still being the woodworker, put this system of beam "plates" to support those members, with minimal connection or "tie down" to the stone. Obvious changes and repairs to the roof framing indicate that this original construction decision was constantly problematic for the family.