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The Marston House's Small Restoration with Big Impact
By Bobbie Bagel
Small room, big project. The second-floor Marston House bathroom at the end of the north wing corridor is roughly just 6' x 8'. But it required a huge effort to restore the walls to their earlier condition, and any homeowner knows how costly renovation and repairs to even a small room can be.
First remodeled in the 1920s, the room had been repainted numerous times. Over the decades, the original scored tile pattern that covered the bottom half of the walls was almost obliterated by five to seven layers of paint. "The tile effect had been scored in Keene's cement, a hard, smooth plaster commonly used when the house was built," said Erik Hanson, SOHO board member and Gill expert.
The project was timed to coincide with the opening of the exhibition Irving Gill: Progress and Poetry in Architecture and the debut of our new tour called The Marston House: Architectural Details of Master Architects Hebbard & Gill. "Certain details in the bathroom highlight Gill's trademark innovations, like the flush molding around the door, window, and medicine cabinet, as well as the signature magnesite surround for the bathtub," said Hanson, who worked on both the exhibition and the tour. (Magnesite is a lightweight mix of cement with wood dust added as the aggregate; Gill favored its use in kitchens and baths.)
When working on a historic building, the rule is to expect the unexpected. "You just never know what you will run into," Hanson said.
Randy Ables can attest to that. He is the restoration finish specialist who did the work. It took three weeks and was all done by hand. The work was too delicate for power tools.
The first stage was stripping off the many layers of latex paint to get down to the original oil base paint. Then came careful sanding with three different grades of sandpaper. "Next, the scoring lines in the plaster had to be redefined," Ables said. "After that, a layer of primer was added. And finally, a new coat of an oil hybrid paint similar to the original" provided the topcoat. Ables felt the effort was well worth it: "There is great satisfaction in setting things right."
Certain features of the room were removed long ago, like the miniature hot water heater and the flush tank above the toilet. But now, thanks to the hard work and expertise of the restoration team, the bathroom looks much more like it did in the old days. We think Irving Gill would approve.
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