The Center for Architectural Conservation

2023-Present

George Nakashima’s Family Home New Hope, PA

The Nakashima complex, located in New Hope PA, consists of 18 buildings, seven of which were originally designed as residences. Of these seven residences, the family home was one of the earliest structures on the property. Originally built be Nakashima for his family, he modified it through the years. A grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant, a program funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allow the Center for Architectural Conservation, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives and Watson Henry Associates, to complete a comprehensive HSR of the family house. In doing so the CAC created a complete set of technical drawings that incorporated a robust historic narrative to provide a more complete understanding of the building's construction techniques and evolution.

2022-2023

Misty Mount and Greentop Camps, Catoctin Mountain National Park, Thurmont, MD

The Catoctin Camp Architectural Survey and Preservation Maintenance Guide project was a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania, the Catoctin Mountain Park

(CATO), and the National Park Service (NPS) National Capitol Area. This project resulted in two innovative reports centered on providing the park with a resource to improve their management methodology. Through field survey and mapping, the CAC created a classification system for the cabins within the camps that allows the park to make better informed decisions about how and with what to treat and replace when necessary.

2020-2024

Midway Barn, Taliesin, Spring Green, WS
In keeping with the ongoing educational legacy of Taliesin, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's mission to preserve and interpret Taliesin, the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design is currently involved in two parallel research and training projects at the Midway Barn at Taliesin. In 2021, Professor of Practice, Pamela Hawkes worked with graduate student, Michele Kolb, to develop a rehabilitation plan for the Midway Barn Machine Shed as part of the requirements for the Master of Science in Design program with a concentration in Historic Preservation. Concurrently, the Center for Architectural Conservation (CAC) completed a second field season at Taliesin to continue recording and documentation of the barn complex from the previous year.

2020-2022

Pennsylvania Hospital Conservation  Management  Plan, Philadelphia,  PA
Pennsylvania Hospital is the first chartered hospital in the nation, founded in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. The Hospital has long been an innovator in patient care, treatment techniques, and medical research. Today, patients are cared for in state-of-the-art facilities, but the heritage of the institution remains a source of ongoing inspiration.  At the request of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer of Pennsylvania Hospital, the Center for Architectural Conservation (CAC) and PennPraxis at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design developed this Conservation Management Plan (CMP) to provide recommendations and guidance for the future conservation and preservation of the historic Pine Building, grounds, and collections of Pennsylvania Hospital. 

2018-Present

Pecos National Historical Park, Church and Convento, Pecos, MN
Pecos National Historical Park is quite complex, consisting of multiple historic and cultural features which include Native American ruins, an 18th century catholic church, the western most battle field of the Civil War, and a historic ranch which was once the home of the movie star Greer Garson.  The largest feature, the mission, was constructed of adobe, a historic material used extensively in the arid climate of the American Southwest, but which has fallen into disfavor in recent decades for a variety of reasons including building code, lack of skilled labor, and cost of construction. This project attempts to identify and describe the modes and mechanisms of deterioration of traditional structures and standing architecture and damage thresholds within the mission and convento of Pecos National Historical Park. Vulnerabilities based on factors such as composition, construction, orientation, exposure, past treatment, and maintenance are the primary focus.

2018-2020

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, AZ
The Mission is an iconic regional focal point, nationally and internationally renowned as one of the most impressive and well-preserved examples of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States. It remains an active Catholic parish, primarily serving the local Tohono O’odham community. Successful management and conservation of a complex site such as San Xavier requires a nuanced understanding of the ways in which the site was and is valued and utilized by different stakeholder groups. This project involves the development of a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) which incorporates the values  these different stakeholders and takes this input into account in the determination of significance, setting out a set of priorities reflective of different user groups that can serve as a principal reference for future decision-making.

2017

Quarters 5 and 6, Mesa Verde National Park, Cortez, CO

Mesa Verde’s Administrative Loop is comprised of 15 buildings, including a sub-group of eight residence quarters located on a service road on the western side of the Spruce Tree House Loop. Two of these structures, Quarters 5 (Q5) and Quarters 6 (Q6), were built in the traditional Pueblo Revival style and are within 50 feet of each other, however, they were not constructed at the same time. Q5 was built in 1926 being part of the original building campaign initiated by park superintendent Jesse Nusbaum and his wife Aileen. The sixth residence, Q6,  was erected by members of the Civil Conservation Corp during the CCC years from 1932 to 1942. These building were the first buildings in the park system to reflect the cultural heritage of a region; a concept that would later become a standard approach for the entire National Park Service.The significance of all of these residential structures, as well as their landscape, cannot be overstated as they are an integral part of Nusbaum’s original vision for the park as a whole, which was based on the research that he and his wife did on the architecture and building techniques of the Pueblo peoples of  Arizona and New Mexico.

2017

John Moulton Homestead, Jackson, WY

Commonly known as “the Pink House,” the John Moulton homestead, located in Garand Teton National Park, stands out among the many vernacular log structures in the park for its principle character-defining feature: a pink-painted cement stucco exterior. The principle goal for the CAC was to determine the cause of the cracking in the exterior stucco, as well as the extent of post construction detachment. The hope was that the findings from three methods of non-invasive investigation, Geographic information system (GIS), infrared radiation thermography (IRT) and Structure from Motion (SfM), could help enhance the understanding of the visible phenomena. The success of this experiment hinged on the degree to which these techniques could clarify the evidence of deterioration conditions beyond traditional documentation, ultimately rendering the analysis more robust.

2017

Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument

The Architectural Conservation Laboratory is actively involved in a unique project examining the feasibility of stabilizing large petrified stumps on the Petrified Forest Loop at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. These petrified stumps constitute one of the major natural resources of the park. This project focuses on developing site-based methods for the conservation of petrified trees to benefit the park’s mission to conserve its fossil forest

2016

Fort Union National Monument, Watrous, NM

Established in 1954, Fort Union National Monument is the largest earthen ruin in North America, and commemorates the United States’ expansion of the American frontier during the age of Manifest Destiny. Long rectangular voids in the adobe walls once served as doors and windows. There are no roofs, there is no shelter, these ruins are exposed to the elements all around them. This research developed and tested a framework for the identification and classification of climate-related risks associated with specific masonry and earthen (adobe) built heritage including their context, exposure, materials, construction, previous treatments, maintenance, monitoring, and other critical attributes that affect durability and weathering. The goal was to describe how different manifestations of climate change (e.g., threats) will affect different types of traditional built heritage, especially masonry and adobe ruins. 

2016

Pit and Quarry, Northampton, PA

The Lehigh Valley’s extractive industries created a much altered landscape with vast and deep quarries, enormous kilns, and mill buildings in a complex landscape that allows for the exploration of architectural, ecological, and socio-cultural considerations. The intent of this project was to produce a well-documented and methodologically driven website that clearly identifies the critical components of this neglected large-scale industrial landscape through one of its principle industries. The Pennsylvania “Slate Belt,” an area of only 22 square miles, lies approximately 50 miles to the northwest of Philadelphia and just south of Blue (Kittanning) Mountain between the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. The first quarries opened in the 1830s, but significant growth followed in the first decade of the twentieth century when Lehigh Valley accounted for approximately half the slate produced in the United States, eventually becoming the greatest slate producing region in the world.

2015

Swan Monument Tiffany Mosaic, Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY

The Swan Monument was designed by Tiffany Studios and installed in Woodlawn Cemetery in 1914. The memorial is unique among the large collection of Tiffany Studios works found in Woodlawn, in that its exterior favrile glass figural mosaic is open-air and readily visible to the public. The exterior exposure contributes to the mosaic’s surface decay

and the loss of many of the glass tesserae over the past century. Some of the tesserae were recovered and replaced in the mosaic during various repair campaigns while many others were lost over the years. Consequently, the mosaic now has significant areas of loss (about 15%) and some of the remaining glass displays corrosion from contact with water and other damaging materials. This Phase 1 conservation study analyzed the materials and fabrication of the monument, determined the deterioration mechanisms, and identify possible conservation methods. The study of this mosaic was made possible by the generous contribution by James Alexandre.

2015

George Nakashima’s Art Building and Cloister, New Hope, PA

The Arts Building and Cloister occupies a privileged position as the most iconic and architecturally significant of Japanese-American woodworker and architect George Nakashima’s built work. Dedicated on May 7, 1967, the building was intended as space of artistic interchange and contemplation. Of paramount importance is its hyperbolic paraboloid roof expressed in plywood.

Mancos Free Press, Mancos, CO

2014

Jackson Lake Lodge, Jackson, WY

Completed in 1955, Jackson Lake Lodge was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. The lodge is an example of the National Park Service’s interpretation of the International Style which became a hallmark of the Mission 66 Program from 1956 to 1966. The lodge combines elements of rustic structures of the earlier decades of the 20th century with a modern design aesthetic that responded to automobile travel.

2014

Tumacácori National Historical Park, Tumacácori, AZ

The Mission San José de Tumacácori is a Spanish Colonial mission now part of the Tumacácori National Historical Park. Federally designated in 1908, Tumacácori was one of the earliest national site dedicated to America's colonial Hispano history. The site is equally important for its long history of preservation and especially its surviving decorative painting on the exterior and interior.

2012

Hovenweep National Monument, Montezuma Creek, UT

Hovenweep National Monument is located in the Four Corners region in a very remote series of canyons on Cajon Mesa. With sweeping horizons and open skies, the large concentrations of freestanding masonry towers are the only interruptions in the southwestern landscape. Holly Tower was constructed around 1200 AD atop a large detached sandstone ledgerock in the center of a deep canyon. It is often considered the most impressive of the Hovenweep structures and one of the best preserved. While the towers have been subjected to multiple stabilization campaigns since the creation of the National Monument in 1923, the condition of the Holly Tower support rock has been largely ignored in previous surveys. Today the support rock’s accelerated erosion threatens the foundation of the tower above, prompting an in-depth study of its decay and treatment.

2011

Bar B C Ranch, Grand Tetons, Jackson, WY

Established in 1912 by Struthers Burt and Horace Carncross, the Bar BC Dude Ranch is the oldest extant dude ranch in Wyoming and possibly in the United States. It is nestled on the flood plain between the Snake River and Teton Park Road. Created by its owners to include cabins, recreational buildings, a pool, corral, and fencing, the site was set up to offer paying customers the opportunity to socialize as well as enjoy the great outdoors.

2010

NAWS, Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain National Parks

Disaster preparation, response, and recovery characterize the methodology that has come to define the protection of heritage sites from natural and human disasters. Events such as earthquakes, wild land fire, flood, hurricanes, and war are understood as threats or indications of impending danger. Despite the knowledge that disasters present a real threat to many cultural resources,  efforts to prevent or mitigate damage, and reduce risk, even if enacted in advance, are often unpredictable in their short- and long-term efficacy. Recent trends in heritage conservation have focused on risk, danger, and threat as a means to draw attention to the neediest monuments and sites.  This has proven to be especially significant in the growing concern about the effects of climate change and extreme weather such as drought on cultural resources. This project, developed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Architectural Conservation, and initiated by the Intermountain Region Archaeology Program through the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, developed a recording methodology for a risk assessment plan for selected Native American wooden structures at Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. The UPenn team sought to develop a system that established predictable indicators of risk that, when applied to each structure, could suggest which sites might be under threat of collapse.

2010

Western Clay Kiln 7, Helena, MT

Brick and tile manufacturing was once ubiquitous throughout much of the United States. Today, however, only a fraction of these industrial complexes survive. Of those standing, few preserve the buildings and machinery, kiln technology, and overall industrial landscape as the Western Clay Manufacturing Company site on the outskirts of Helena, Montana.

2010

Pipespring, Kaibab, AZ

Housing lush springs in the arid Arizona Strip, Pipe Spring has historically been a valuable resource for the Kaibab Paiute Indians and later Mormon pioneers due to its history and location within the evolving Southwest landscape. Since 1923 the site has also served an important role in the National Park Service’s early interpretation of the scenic attractions and historical development of the region.

Durham Castle, Durham England

2009

Farview House, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

Since its excavation and stabilization, Far View House has required significant annual maintenance and intermittent large scale remedial stabilization (1934, 1983 and 2005).  In response to past damage and collapse, a new method of capping was explored to preserve wall integrity and reduce the high maintenance cycles associated with cracked wall tops.  Soft “vegetative” capping, utilizing soil, plants, and geosynthetics was installed on a selected test wall and evaluated for its performance by monitoring moisture content, temperature and lateral movement over a period of one year.  The new intervention method was developed as a way to capture and eliminate water before it enters the exposed sandstone and earthen mortar walls, where subsequent damage from salt crystallization and freeze-thaw has been observed over many years.

2009

Gordion, Yassihoyuk, Turkey

As one of the principal archaeological sites in Central Anatolia, Gordion premieres Phrygian architecture that includes a nearly complete monumental 9th century BCE masonry gate, along with the remains of a once impressive citadel. Few sites in the world offer a glimpse of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in Anatolia.

Wagner Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Whitney Studio, New York, NY

Mt. Edgcumbe, Cornwall, England

2008

Rosario Chapel, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Closed to the public for almost a decade due to structural problems, the 16th century Iglesia San José in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was placed on the World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites in 2004. The church is the oldest surviving masterpiece of Spanish colonial church architecture in Puerto Rico and one of the earliest extant examples of Gothic architecture in the New World began in 1523. Within its walls is the 17th century Capilla del Nuestra Virgen de Rosario, containing the most extensive and possibly earliest murals in Puerto Rico which were once in a serious state of deterioration.

Sprucetree House, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

Southampton Burial Ground, Southampton, NY

El Morro, Ramah, NM

2004 and 2007

Merchants Exchange, Philadelphia, PA

William Strickland’s Philadelphia Merchants’ Exchange Building in Independence National Historical Park is notable for its innovative architectural design including colossal order colonnades with fluted shafts of Pennsylvania marble surmounted by Italian Carrara marble capitals of the Composite order. Ornately carved and signed by their Italian craftsmen, the capitals represent some of the most exceptionally sculpted architectural elements in Philadelphia and the country.

Mt. Edgcumbe, Cornwall, England

New York State Pavilion, Queens, NY

San Antonio Missions, San Antonio, TX

Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA

Wagner Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Deschler Morris House, Germantown, PA

Longhouse, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

Rosario Chapel, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, ENgland

Chiripa-Bolivia

Longhouse, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

Strawberry Hill, Twickenham,  England

Burial Ground, Southampton, NY

Frijoles Canyon, Bandelier NM, Los Alamos, NM

1999 and 2003-2004

Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia, PA

The easily accessible Pennsylvania marble quarried just north of Philadelphia was an important regional building stone for public and domestic structures in the nation’s largest colonial city. During the first half of the nineteenth century, William Strickland’s Second Bank of the United States and Merchant’s Exchange were among the first monumental stone structures to showcase the area’s famous marble.

Victoria Mansion, Portland, ME

Orto Botanico, Rome, Italy

San Juan Forts Grafitti, San Juan Puerto Rico

Sprucetree House, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

Tiwanaku, Bolivia

2003

Vizcaya, Miami, FL

Vizcaya, built for industrialist James Deering, has survived remarkably intact since its completion in 1922, but unlike the house the gardens have undergone significant changes since their completion the following year. The periodic impact of tropical storms and hurricanes has created ongoing conservation concerns that continue to impact the plantings and the architecture of the gardens.

Capilla Del Santa Cristo, San Juan, Puerto Rico

 Orto Botanico, Rome, Italy

 Bandelier, Los Alamos NM

 Civilian Conservation Corps Buildings

 Indian Key, Islamorada, FL

 Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, Cortez CO

 Indian Key, Islamorada FL

 St Louis 1, New Orleans LA

 Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh PA

 Ayyubid City Wall, Cairo Egypt

 Casa Grande, Coolidge, AZ

 Catalhoyuk, Turkey

 Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, Cortez CO

1991 and 1999

Drayton Hall, Charleston SC

Drayton Hall is well known as one of the earliest and certainly one of the finest examples of Georgian Palladian architecture in the United States. From the time of its construction until the period of the American Civil War, it served as the principle residence and symbolic seat of the descendants of John Drayton, a family of major influence and achievement in the history of the colony and state of South Carolina.

Casa Grande, Coolidge AZ

Catalhoyuk, Turkey

Chief Tomokie Monument,Tomoka State Park, Daytona Beach FL

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, Cortez CO

Coronado State Monument, Albuquerque NM

HABS-Historic American Building Survey

Tsankawi, Bandelier, Los Alamos NM

Casa Grande, Coolidge AZ

Catalhoyuk, Turkey

El Morro, Ramah NM

San Antonio Missions, San Antonio TX

Tsankawi, Bandelier, Los Alamos NM

Adobe Ruins Monitoring, Mesa Verde, Cortez CO

El Morro, Ramah, NM

Mug House, Mesa Verde, Cortez CO

Belmont Mansion, Philadelphia, PA

Casa Grande, Coolidge, AZ

Fort Brockhurst, Gosport, England

Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, CA

Mug House, Mesa Verde, Cortez, CO

National Historic Landmarks Database

Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia, PA

Convent Plaster

Convent Column San Antonio, TX

El Morro, Ramah NM

Ferrara Italy

Ruins/Finishes stabilization

Guggenheim Museum, New York NY

Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn NY

Drayton Hall, Charleston SC

Protestant Cemetery, Rome Italy

Castello Sermonetta, Italy

Center Church Burial Ground, New Haven, CT

Ohio State House, Columbus, OH

Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA