Projects Archives - Practical Preservation

Preservation in Progress: Historic Window Replacement at the United Arab Emirates

Projects, Uncategorized / By Danielle Keperling

We are currently working on a window replacement project at the United Arab Emirates building in Washington D.C. Built in 1912 in the Beaux-Arts style, the embassy is part of the former grounds of the National Bureau of Standards in Cleveland Park that became a high-security enclave just outside of Embassy Row. This enclave houses …

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Preservation in Progress: Wilmington Public Library

Community Preservation, Historic Preservation Projects, Historic Restoration, Local Preservation, Preservation in Progress, Projects, Wood Restoration / By Danielle Keperling

We recently completed a restoration project of some truly massive doors at the Wilmington Public Library in Delaware. The library was built in 1922 with the bold shapes and lavish ornaments of the Art Deco style of architecture popular at that time. We restored a pair 22’6’ tall, 10-panel White Oak and Mahogany pocket doors. …

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Wood Window Restoration Project at Anselma Mill

Colonial Architecture, Historic Preservation Projects, Historic Restoration, Historic Wood Windows, Historical Architecture, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Preservation and Restoration Case Studies, Projects / By Danielle Keperling

We recently completed a historic wood window restoration project at the Mill at Anselma. Those who are into vintage and historic architecture can check this out as this mill is a gem of historic architecture in our country – the most complete example of a functioning historic grist mill in the entire country. History …

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Preservation in Progress: Historic Porch Restoration at the Harris-Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg, PA

Colonial Architecture, Community Preservation, Historic Restoration, Historical Architecture, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Preservation in Progress, Projects / By Danielle Keperling

History of the Harris-Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg, PA In the early 1700′s, Harrisburg’s founder John Harris Sr. immigrated to the area from Yorkshire, England after receiving a land grant. When he first arrived, Harris Sr. built a homestead on the bank of the Susquehanna River and established a trading post, and then a successful ferry business …

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How Complete Restorations Happen: A Case Study of the Mylin House

Colonial Architecture, Community Preservation, Historic Preservation, Historic Preservation Projects, Historic Restoration, Historic Wood Windows, Historical Architectural Styles, Historical Architecture, Late Victorian Period, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Preservation in Progress, Products Materials and Methods, Projects, Uncategorized / By Danielle Keperling

The Mylin House project was a complete interior restoration project that we had been very much looking forward to doing. The Willow Valley Retirement Community hired Historic Restorations to restore the first floor of both the original farmhouse and the addition to use as a community center in keeping with their preservation of the original …

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How to Put a Maintenance Plan in Place, A Case Study of the Trinity Church Oxford in Philadelphia

Architectural & Building Character, Historic Preservation, Historic Preservation Projects, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Projects, Resources for Historic Restorations / By Danielle Keperling

Maintenance Plans for Historic Home & Buildings Recently we completed a maintenance appraisal for the Trinity Church Oxford in Philadelphia. The church purchased the appraisal to evaluate several key areas they knew needed immediate attention and ended up with not only our recommendations for remediating the emergent needs on their buildings – but a …

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How Complete Restorations Happen: A Case Study of the John Maddox Denn House

Colonial Architecture, Historic Preservation, Historic Restoration, Historical Architectural Styles, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Preservation and Economics, Products Materials and Methods, Projects, Resources for Historic Restorations / By Danielle Keperling

A number of years ago, we had the very fortunate luck to be given the opportunity to completely restore the Denn House in southern New Jersey. Below is the story of how that restoration happened, excerpted from Lois Groshong’s book, “2001 Restoration of a Southern New Jersey Colonial”. Be sure to check out the …

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Historic Preservation in Progress at the Wilmington Library

Architectural & Building Character, Community Preservation, Historic Preservation, Historic Restoration, Historical Architecture, Local Preservation, Preservation Education, Preservation in Progress, Projects, Uncategorized, Wood Restoration / By Danielle Keperling

Historic Preservation in Progress is a series of our posts where we show you how historic preservation happens, as it’s happening. Historic Preservation in Progress The Wilmington Public Library The Wilmington Library was built in 1922 and has remained a landmark on Rodney Square for ninety years. Especially in recent years, due to heavy use by …

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Customizing a kitchen in Old Town, Lancaster

Architectural & Building Character, Colonial Architecture, Community Preservation, Historic Preservation, Historical Architecture, Local Preservation, Projects, Uncategorized, Wood & Millwork / By Danielle Keperling

Sometimes preservation takes you on new, surprising paths… Yes, we have kitchens on the brain thanks to a recent custom kitchen project (that turned out to be good fodder for some really cool pictures of our millwork process, so you get to ogle them). The traditional approach to creating a custom kitchen is one we …

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Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

Maintaining Historic Buildings, Projects / By Danielle Keperling

What the house looked like before theNational Park Service preserved itas a memorial to Thaddeus Kousciuszko We recently completed a restoration project at the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial at Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia. Kosciuszko was a Polish freedom fighter who played an integral role in our Revolutionary War by engineering forts and defense …

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