On Sunday, May 16th, Gable Building Corp. was excited to accept an award from the Chatham Historical Commission. This program honors the efforts of the homeowners, builders and designers that preserve Chatham’s historical residences. This will be our second consecutive year to receive this award. This years recipient was Sandra Goldman of 820 Main Street. The goal was to preserve and restore the historical importance of the home, and provide a habitable residence functional to the needs of the modern family.
This home is strongly believed to be a 1920’s Sears and Roebuck, bungalow-style, catalog home. This style home is very uncommon of the area and is one of only two remaining in Chatham. In 1895 Sears had created a “Modern Homes” division catalog. From this catalog you could conveniently order a whole house for around $2,000! After a style was selected, Sears would crate and palletized the entire house with numbered building materials, detailed plans and instruction manuals, paint and fasteners, then ship by railroad to anywhere in the United States. For more information on the history of the Sears kit home see:http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/sears/
The new home addition was designed by Zibrat and McCarthy in a manner that best preserved the streetscape elevation and interiors. The rear section of the original house had two additions built at an unknown date. It was determined to be of no historical significance by the Historic Business District Commission. Sandra Goldman was granted the permission for the demolition of the rear section of the home, detached garage and shed. With the expansion confined to the back of the property, and rooflines lower than the front elevation ridge, the proposed additions were deemed “architecturally compatible with the existing dwelling” by HBDC. Additional historical research and deeds of the property was provided by Nancy Barr, of Chatham.
Throughout the demolition and construction of this project, Gable Building Corp. matched or restored many of the historical elements. Samples were requested, and submitted for approval, to the Historic Business District Commission.
Main areas of focus included:
Exterior
· All original windows and doors were replaced with a matching Anderson unit.
· Cedar shingle sidewall matched
· Exterior trim detail and paint colors matched
· Exterior light fixtures replace to match
Interior
· Kept existing floor plan and layout
· Sand and refinish trim in existing areas to include the columns, built-ins, interior doors, hardware, casings and baseboard.
· Preserve, repair and expose the original chimney
· Match and refinish heartwood pine flooring
· Original iron 4 x 4 register was salvaged from floor. It was later fabricated by a local Metal Smith, Rusty Griffin, into a custom coffee table to be displayed in the home. See picture below.
We understand the importance of preserving the dynamic history and culture of Chatham.Clearly, the history of this home was the priority in this restoration. All parties involved appreciated the historical significance of this project and approached it in a sensitive manner.
If interested in preserving and restoring your historical project, give Gable Building a call.
Written by April Pond
