Monday, December 20, 1999
Old homes a specialty
Treasures of the past are rebuilt with care
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Andy Stewart uses scaffolding to work on a wooden box gutter on this 1840 home in Lebanon.
(Michael Snyder photo)
| ZOOM |
|
LEBANON — In these abundant times, it's easier to throw away than to restore.
It's cheaper to build new than to renovate.
Yet a Franklin family has carved a niche catering to people uninterested in an easy way out and to an audience willing to spend a few more dollars to maintain history and cultivate tradition.
“We've always felt you should use stuff over instead of developing new land and using new materials,” said Bruce Stewart, who owns Architectural Reclamation with his brother, Andy, and sister-in-law, Susan.
“This county is experiencing a population boom, but it would be nice to use wisely what we've already developed.”
Demand is there
Projects for Architectural Reclamation, founded in 1976, range from salvaging barns and restoring old homes to recreating a historic summer kitchen in Sharon Woods from a letter describing what it looked like.
The business' bread-and-butter is the more mundane tasks: fixing gutters, trim and molding on older facilities.
For the past three months, Andy Stewart has worked on an 1840 Italianate-style house in Lebanon.
He pulled rotten wood from some of the box gutters and milled replacement trim, cutting it to match the existing wood.
The process isn't cheap. Trashing the wooden gutters and putting up metal might have been easier.
“It would be easier to skip Christmas, too,” Andy Stewart said.
Architectural Reclama tion has a specific audience: people who like the beauty of the old stuff.
“The inexpensive thing is to build new,” Bruce Stewart said.
Gesturing at stacks of old doors, wood and trimsalvaged from buildings slated for demolition, he said their business targets people who “want to surround themselves with history and nice lines.”
Right tool for the job
In addition to old materials, the Stewarts often use older tools and techniques appropriate to the project.
For instance, to shape metal sheet work, the Stewarts rely on early 1900s tools such as a chop or brake.
“If you're trying to maintain an old house so it retains its old style, you have to be proficient in old techniques and use old tools,” Bruce Stewart said.
The Stewarts aren't opposed to new technology. They use the Internet to search for spare parts and computer programs for designing.
Battery-powered screw guns, air nailers, backhoes and cranes all are a part of their toolbox.
“I can draw up a set of stairs on a computer, then use hand tools to build it,” Andy Stewart said. “You've got your feet in both worlds.”
Shooting cars a dangerous tactic
Missed shots
Are teen drivers getting better?
High air fares getting attention
Toyota sets expansion at Princeton truck plant
1,000 help prelate mark anniversary
Senior center needs $23,000
Donors come through for Tristate's needy
Fireworks to usher in 2000 with bang
City floats water ideas
Handling grief at holidays
Meeting to clear air on Lemon annexation
Old homes a specialty
Tobacco farmers worried
Head Start to weigh report on contract
Lebanon might cut city jobs
No arrest in shooting of two men
Towns hope to share Butler Co. growth
GET TO IT
TRISTATE DIGEST
