Historic HomeWorks Forum

[johnleeke]

The meeting is 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday, January 26. The snow date is the following Saturday, February 2, 2008.

Location: Augusta City Hall, 16 Cony Street, Augusta.
There are two parking lots. The front door and front parking area, Cony Street side, would be the best bet.

Suggested donation to cover venue costs: $10


Agenda.

9:00 am Jim Derby- welcome

Houston Dodge

John Leeke- traditional and epoxy repairs to a plank house.

Ed Somers- barn repairs

Mike Alderson- Waldoboro barn

12:00 pm Lunch (BYO) and building tour

2:00 pm Otis Carrol and/or Nate Clark

Amy Cole Ives- Joiners and there Price Books

Arron Sturgis- Maine Steeples Project

4:00 pm Jim Derby- Some details of the James Andrews House in Warren if there is time. Closing discussion, planning the next meeting including time of year, region, and topics for discussion.

5:00 pm adjourn


Hello;

This is an invitation to attend a meeting to discuss the traditional building techniques used in Maine's 17th, 18th and 19th century buildings from the carpenter's point of view. This meeting is based on the Traditional Timber Frame Research and Advisory Group (TTRAG) of the Timber Framers Guild. I am calling the group the Maine Traditional Building Research Group.

I am a relatively new member of TTRAG and while driving home from the members meeting in November I thought it would be interesting to start a local (statewide) organization to discuss Maine building techniques.

Here are some things we can talk about: Did you know that there are roof systems in the mid-coast with five-sided ridge beams with both common rafters and rafter/ purlins? How about those passing braces in the Bridgeton area? There are several ways to build plank-on-frame buildings. How many piece-sur-piece buildings are there in Northern Maine? There is still a hewn log structure in Nobleboro, a stone school house in Bristol, a horizontal plank (on edge) house in Rockland, a water powered grist mill still in operation in Union, and there are hipped roof barns around. Are the timber frame braces all pinned in your area? There is too much to discuss in one day, but we are just getting started!

Most of the historic buildings in Maine are timber framed so that is the emphasis of the group, but the ways of working with stone, brick, lime, logs, planks, wrought iron, etc. are certainly of interest, and there is no way to separate the history of buildings from the history of the people who built them and used them.

Several knowledgeable craftsmen and historians will be present to help discuss the presentations. This is an audience participation event so you will be able to ask questions and give information during the presentations. Please bring some photographs or measured sketches or drawings of the structural aspects of an old building you are familiar with (documented, of course) and can donate as a price of admission!

There are some expenses with the building so I suggest a donation of two dollars would be appreciated by the building owners. The meeting room capacity is around 20 to 30 people. Please bring your own lunch. There is a kitchen available. Coffee and tea will be on hand.

The meeting is 9:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday, January 26 at the Richmond Historical Society building, 164 Pleasant Street in Richmond. (Find route 197 and look for Pleasant Street near the railroad tracks, the building looks like a residence, four blocks on the left). The snow date is the following Saturday, February 2, 2008.


I would appreciate an email reply if you plan to attend so I can have some idea how many people will show up. Feel free to call me at 832-0635 or 542-0115 with any questions. If you are familiar with an interesting building and want to share it with the group call me to get on the schedule.

Jim Derby
Waldoboro, Maine

[johnleeke]

This just in from Jim:

Hello;

This email is being sent to most of the people scheduled to speak at the upcoming Maine Traditional Building Research Group meeting.

I am encouraged with the response from people about setting up a group like MTBRG. People in the history and building restoration/preservation community have frequently used the word "exciting" about the concept of the group. The public I have mentioned it to ask "why would you want to do something like that?"....What a disparity! Jim Garvan, the New Hampshire Architectural Historian, replied with a lengthy email of advice and information and he forwarded the meeting information to several other people...just the kind of response I was hoping for!

The capacity of the meeting room at the Richmond Historical Society building is 30 to 35 and we already have 40 people signed up to attend so I have decided to change the location for the meeting to the Augusta City Hall which has a capacity of around 50 or 80 depending which room we use. Directions are attached. The tour is still the Pownelborough Courthouse.

John Leeke has requested permission to videotape the meeting. If anyone has any objection to being videotaped let me know. We would certainly honor your wishes and shut the camera off. I am not comfortable as a public speaker and I am sure I will be terrified speaking to the group. I am still planning on "putting it all out there" and allow myself to be videotaped shaking in my boots!

Here is an agenda. The order of speakers is flexible if you have any preference as to what time you speak.

9:00 am Jim Derby- welcome, I will briefly discuss the origin and purpose of the group, discuss projects I would like to see happen like mapping building techniques statewide and creating a superlative record book such as the longest beam, smallest timber frame, biggest barn, oldest barn, etc.

Houston Dodge

John Leeke- epoxy repairs to a plank house.

Ed Somers- barn repairs

Mike Alderson- Waldoboro barn

12:00 pm Lunch and building tour...I do not have a specific plan for lunch!

2:00 pm Otis Carrol and/or Nate Clark

Amy Cole Ives- Joiners and there Price Books

Arron Sturgis- Maine Steeples Project

4:00 pm Jim Derby- Some details of the James Andrews House in Warren if there is time. Closing discussion, planning the next meeting including time of year, region, and topics for discussion.

5:00 pm adjourn

It will be hard to fit all of this into 8 hours. Please plan to be concise. I have told some people there will be a lcd projector with a camera on it so you can bring a photo or drawing and it will easily be projected onto the screen for all to see, however, this tool is new to the user and in his own words "there will be a steep learning curve". If you were planning on bringing a photo we may need to take a digital photo of it to get it up on the screen. You can bring your photos and drawings on a CD, DVD, laptop, or memory stick. We will have a 18" x 24" pad of paper if we need to draw something out. I also have a slide projector so let me know if you want to use it.

We will address the question of when and where to meet again so bring your calendars. I will be looking for a volunteer to host the next meeting which means finding a meeting place and a building to tour. I think a general rule of thumb for the meeting locations is that meetings from one to the next should be more than an hour away from the site of the previous meeting.

At the meeting there will be:
Books for sale.
Wayne Perry from Burlington, Mass. will have "a box full" of his barn drawings available to look through.
A sign up sheet where you can write down your background and interests to be shared with everyone else on the list as a method of networking.
I will provide written material about some goals and projects for the group.

Bring your list of questions like when did square rule layout develop, what is the origin of the 5-sided ridge beam, what are raising holes for, what is Rosendale cement, etc. I have more questions than answers!

Pray for good weather;

Jim

[johnleeke]

more from Jim:

The MTBRG meeting is approaching on January 26th. Due to a larger response than expected, the meeting location has been changed to Augusta City Hall which is at 16 Cony Street, Augusta. Here is a mapquest link to Cony Street.

There are two parking lots in which to park. The front door and front parking area would be the best bet. (On the Cony Street side) I do not have time to arrange carpooling but there are many benefits to traveling together.

There is a fee involved with the new facility and I am sure a donation would be appreciated by Lincoln County Historical Association for the courthouse tour so I suggest a $10 donation.

Anyone interested in providing snacks and drinks at Augusta City Hall, please let me know.

I am encouraged with the response from people about setting up a group like MTBRG. People in the history and building restoration/preservation community have frequently used the word "exciting" about the concept of the group.

The building tour will still be the Pownalborough Courthouse. Our tour guide, Jay Robbins, suggested the following "please remind folks that they can get a jump on their visit by going to the Library of Congress website. Easily find the records of the Historic American Buildings Survey. Under Maine, Lincoln County, look up Cedar Grove (2). Here you'll find drawings and photographs of the building and of the Bowman-Carney House nearby. You can also locate other Gershom Flagg buildings under Kennebec-Augusta and Kennebec-Winslow where you'll find the 1754 Forts Western and Halifax" and "everyone should bring an extra sweater and their favorite flashlight for peaking into places."

I do not have a specific plan for lunch! You can bring one or eat out. Patti Violettte, our host at City Hall, gave these suggestions for restaurants: "Downtown, on Water Street, THE RIVERFRONT GRILL (Louisiana type BBQ). Then, just up over the hill on Bangor Street, is Lisa's Restaurant - (American and Mexican). If you continued down Bangor Street, you'll run into MacDonalds, Quizno's, Tim Horton's, Dunkin Donuts. Directly across from City Hall is Hannaford's - within walking distance. Pizza delivery is available in town as well."

Keep in mind that the format of the meeting is more like we are all at a pub than a symposium. Bring your list of questions like when did square rule layout develop, what is the origin of the 5-sided ridge beam, what are raising holes for, what is Rosendale cement, etc. I will be asking you questions like the locations of plank houses, log buildings and hip roof barns in Maine.

9:00 am Jim Derby- welcome, I will briefly discuss the origin and purpose of the group, discuss projects I would like to see happen like mapping building techniques statewide and creating a superlative record book such as the longest beam, smallest timber frame, biggest barn, oldest barn, etc.

Agenda:
Houston Dodge

John Leeke- epoxy repairs to a plank house.

Ed Somers

Jay Robbins- Pownalborough Courthouse and more

12:00 pm Lunch and building tour

2:30 pm Otis Carrol and/or Nate Clark

Amy Cole Ives- Joiners and There Price Books

Arron Sturgis- Maine Steeples Project

4:00 pm Jim Derby- Some details of the James Andrews House in Warren (if there is time). Closing discussion, planning the next meeting including time of year, region, and topics for future discussion.

5:00 pm adjourn

We will address the question of when and where to meet again so bring your calendars. I will be looking for a volunteer to host the next meeting which means finding a meeting place and a building to tour. I think a general rule of thumb for the meeting locations is that meetings from one to the next should be more than an hour away from the site of the previous meeting.

At the meeting there will be:
Books for sale.
Wayne Perry from Burlington, Mass. will have "a box full" of his barn drawings available to look through.
A sign up sheet where you can write down your background and interests to be shared with everyone else on the list as a method of networking.
I will provide written material about some goals and projects for the group and research resources.

John Leeke's website has a forum which is avaible not only for text messages but audio chat and video conferencing. Check it out: http://historichomeworks.com/forum/index.php

The weather looks good for traveling on Saturday, but it will be cold. There is no need to reply to this emial, just come if you can.

Jim