Category: Winchester Historic District

As we saw in the last update to the Samuel Noakes House project, the work on the house is nearly complete. PHW and the owner are partnering to show off the finished project on March 9. Keep a sharp eye out for more details and ticket sale information in the next two weeks!

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours. The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, and part 19.

For those who were able to tour the Noakes house during the Holiday House Tour, you may have heard the docent in the Cork Street side explaining about the future flooring plans for this area. During the tours, only the subflooring visible in the Cork Street apartment. Now the promised finished floor of cork and bamboo have been installed.

One item that had many people curious on the tour was how the access door to the basement in the Cork Street side would be handled. Instead of the open hole as we saw on the tour, the new door has been installed, creating an access hatch to the water heaters. As you can see, the cork flooring was installed on the hatch door to help it blend seamlessly into the rest of the flooring. A different shade of cork flooring was used in the rear bedroom, and bamboo finishes out the upper kitchen and dining area on Cork Street. Several nee built ins have also been installed in the Cork Street dining/living area since the Holiday House Tour.

There is also a huge change in the appearance of the floors in the Braddock Street side. The downstairs floors and stair treads have been sanded down to prepare for the finish coat. In several places, such as the hall and laundry room, you can see where the new flooring has been installed where the existing flooring had been too damaged or altered to retain. One question that came up several times on the tour was why did a circa 1810 home have such narrow floorboards. The original floor was of wide planks, but over the years new flooring was laid atop the old — as well as new ceilings installed dropped down! In the stripping process, the owner decided to stop at this layer of flooring due to its relatively good condition, as the sanding has revealed.

At this point, you may want to take a moment to remind yourself of the Noakes house flooring at the start of the project. It might be hard to believe the worn floors in the Braddock Street space could be salvaged!

Flooring installed at Cork Street, with the basement hatch door and several built ins installed as well

Flooring sanded and installed on the Braddock Street side

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours. The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, and part 18.

This week at the Noakes house, we will catch up with some of the exterior progress, mainly on the Cork Street side. With the final shade of green chosen, the shutters were installed on the building. The majority of the work took place in the rear yard with the limestone retaining wall. The existing wall was carefully dismantled and rebuilt to accommodate the new drainage lines as well as a new access point to the yard on Cork Street. To reassemble the wall, the mason John Delre marked each piece of limestone so that it could be reinstalled correctly.

Subsequently, the rear yard was graded, but actual landscaping will wait until spring. At the former location of the Braddock Street porch stairs, a small pad for trash cans and a planter box have been installed. The Barbershop area received its exterior lighting and was festively lit for the holidays.

Join us next week as we survey some of the interior changes that have taken place since PHW toured the building during the Holiday House Tour.

Shutters are installed on Cork Street
Masonry work in the garden area
Grading the rear yard
Exterior lights installed at the Barbershop
The Noakes house dusted with snow

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours. The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, and part 17.

Although it has been a while since we last visited the Noakes house and the building was open for in-person tours during the 2012 Holiday House Tour, our virtual tours of the building are not quite complete. We will jump backwards in time a bit to show some of the progress shortly before the Holiday House Tour. Before you saw the nearly finished product on December 8 and 9, drywall and built-in shelving went in to hide the insulation and mechanical systems. Electrical systems also were installed and made functional. While the changes have been less dramatic, the apartments are becoming two clearly defined, separate living areas.

During this time, more behind the scenes work took place with the Barbershop, including another trip to the Board of Architectural Review to discuss the door replacement and an inspection to provide fire separation between the commercial space and living space above. The bottoms of the structural timbers in the ceiling of the Barbershop will remain exposed between the drywall to preserve a historic feel. The BAR also approved the Braddock Street apartment and Barbershop door colors in Evening Sky blue, the same color as the Cork Street apartment. A small railing outside the Barbershop entrance was also approved, along with replacing the original Barbershop door with a replica retaining the mullion pattern of the existing door.

Interior walls and ceilings go up at Braddock Street
Electrical and lighting systems are installed
Cork Street steel railings and floor joists are painted
The built-ins take shape in the Braddock Street space

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours. The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, and part 16.

Last time at the Noakes house, we saw some interior work. This time, we take a look at some of the exterior changes to the building. The Braddock Street side has a new cornice and new paint scheme. There are other exterior changes taking place as well. The porch facing Cork Street has had the access stairs removed from the east side, and new tread installed to the west. The wall has been patched from where the old meter stack was removed, and drainage has been worked on at the entrance to the former barbershop. You can tell the exterior looks almost complete now.

The new red paint scheme on Braddock Street
The replicated cornice goes up
Additional exterior details, including the porch stairs, patio, walkway, and other minor touches.

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, and part 15.

Although it has been a while since we last checked into the Noakes project, work is ongoing at the house. The project is starting to wind down to the cosmetic touches, but we’ll have a few more updates on the house before the work is completely finished. This time, enjoy some images of the new meter stack installation, some concrete work, and interior wiring installations.

The meter stack is moved to its new location
Concrete work continues around to the side and underneath the house
Interior wiring for networking is installed
Electrical wiring goes in too
Another look at some of the new wiring installations in the Cork Street side

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, and part 14.

Today’s blog will shift back to the work in the basement area. A hatch door to the basement received some attention to make it useable and secure. The stairs to this area will be reversed for easier access, a larger concrete pad poured for the floor, and both water heaters for the Braddock and Cork apartments moved to one location.

Perhaps the most interesting discoveries are in the artifacts uncovered in this portion of the cleanup. The items include a Winchester-labelled Coca-Cola bottle, milk bottles from Sanitary Dairy and Winchester Creamery, matches from Duff’s Restaurant, and medication bottles from the dentist Dr. Fuller and druggists Berry(?) & Manning. The items give a glimpse into the lives of the previous occupants and bring a sense of immediacy to the past.

Reworking the basement layout
The concrete pad was also extended in the former barbershop area
Artifacts uncovered in the basement
Even more artifacts in the basement

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, and part 13.

Exterior details are the focus of today’s blog. Some sample test swatches of color were added to the Cork Street side of the building to mimic the appearance of the four various color combinations. While working on the exterior, a number of the sills were found to be in very deteriorated condition. Two have been removed, and more are likely to need repair. If you have ever wondered how some rot can be repaired with epoxy, watch this video from the Kansas Historical Society:

Click for the Youtube link.

On the Braddock Street side, the scaffolding is in place to work on the cornice. Photographs indicated there were 13 brackets with a band of egg and dart molding beneath. The photographs were very unclear and the exact style of both were unable to be determined, so fairly simple brackets and molding will be used as replacements. The simplicity is in keeping with Winchester’s generally less ornate approach to architectural ornamentation.

In the rear, more excavation work took place for a patio area. The limestone outcropping encountered previously extends across most of the yard, so to keep the excavation costs in hand, the outcropping will be used as the base for the retaining wall.

Next time, we will take a look in the basement, along with some additional artifacts discovered during this latest phase of the construction. We’ll see you next Tuesday!

Test color swatches
Exterior window sills are removed
Yard excavation
The bracket style
The egg and dart molding style

We continue our journey through the renovation process at the Samuel Noakes House at 101 West Cork Street/201 South Braddock Street. Updates are posted each Tuesday through the PHW blog, following the progress with virtual hardhat tours.

The previous entries may be found at the PHW blog at part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, and part 12.

Interior work is progressing on the plumbing, HVAC, and windows. Flooring options and lighting fixtures are also being discussed. Most of the flooring in the Braddock Street side can be restored, but the Cork Street side will need some replacement flooring. One option is to use reclaimed lumber from a supplier like Mountain Lumber Company. Using reclaimed wood is an especially good option for historic preservation projects. Not only is the reclaimed wood a closer visual match to existing historic flooring, it is also a green building practice and eco-friendly. As an added bonus, these reclaimed timbers are generally stronger and more durable than their contemporary counterparts. Another option for the replaced flooring could be bamboo, another hard, durable, and renewable source of flooring.

More finish decisions await the Noakes house, inside and out. We’ll see you again on the 11th for a look at some outside detailing.

Plumbing on the Cork Street side
Windows and skylights go in
More of the HVAC system is installed
Some sample lighting fixtures for the interior