Chesterwood: The Studio Rehabilitation Project
October 9, 2013
Allegrone is proud to be part of the team working on the Studio Rehabilitation Project at Chesterwood in Lenox MA. The team includes The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, Baker Architects.
Chesterwood was the home and studio and gardens of famed sculpture Daniel Chester French, one of the most acclaimed American sculptors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his statue of Abraham Lincoln which is the central focus of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Chesterwood studio was built in 1898 was a collaboration between French and architect Henry Bacon. The two used a new and popular stucco technique, which involved applying the stucco to a wooden balloon frame instead of the traditional method of applying it onto a masonry wall. However as stated on the Chesterfield site: “As with any new construction material or process, time reveals unintended problems and consequences. Failures to the stucco system on these buildings first became noticeable within a few years of construction and are culminating in today’s rehabilitation project. The Portland cement turned out to be too rigid to absorb movement or allow water to escape. Also, the outer layer of the stucco system was Portland cement/sand, while the internal base coats were made with soft lime-based stucco, and these layers had trouble staying connected. The balloon frame structure shrinks inconsistently, and the metal lath corrodes due to trapped moisture. The weakest part of the stucco system is between the lath and the structure, so as the stucco continues to deteriorate, it could eventually detach from the building.”
Because of these problems, the entire building will have the stucco removed and reinstalled. The current challenge is to create a mixture of stucco that matches the buildings historical integrity, but which will also stand the test of time.
To learn more about this project watch the video below, made by Ellen Gorman, or click here to the Chesterfield site.