Riversdale Restoration

October 1, 2010

2010-09-30T19:48:00.015-04:00

See the pilasters in detail, the pilasters back in place, and the room itself. The ceiling and cornice are painted. Thanks to Brandon Thompson, our salon restoration is entering the homestretch.

Brickwork Restoration in the Salon, July 2010

2010-07-24T21:08:00.013-04:00

The brick originally used in the interior walls was inferior in quality to the brick used in the exterior walls. The interior bricks were therefore more susceptible to rising damp, causing them to "sugar" or dissolve. Removing the pilasters and baseboards for restoration exposed a great deal of this brick erosion, (approximately 60 linear feet).

Worcester-Eisenbrandt, the firm that did the conservation and restoration of the columns last fall (2009), was hired to repair the masonry by replacing damaged brick and repointing with mortar. We did use as much of the unreticulated brick recovered from the archaeology survey in the fall of 2009, recycling as much as was available in the masonry repairs. We did not incorporate the recovered brick into our collections, as they were just a small portion of the debris field that resulted from the demolished garden wall.

West Wall of the Salon

2010-03-16T20:50:00.002-04:00

March 16, 2010 - Here is an image of the west wall of the salon taken on March 8, 2010.

Mold, Cast of Grape Detail from Salon Pilasters

2010-03-16T20:48:00.004-04:00

March 16, 2010 - This image shows a mold and cast of a grape detail from a pilaster in the salon. There are some areas of significant loss to the decorative elements on the pilasters, which is why Brandon is having to completely replace them.

Molds, Casts for Restoring the Pilasters in the Salon

2010-03-16T20:45:00.003-04:00

March 16, 2010 - This image shows a collection of molds and casts made by Brandon Thompson for use in the restoration of the pilasters in the salon.

North Wall Crown Molding/Cornice

2010-03-16T20:41:00.003-04:00

March 16, 2010 - Image of the north wall crown molding/cornice. The green/yellow square has been left untouched as part of the history of the house (for future research and investigations).

Salon Restoration

2009-08-16T14:31:00.003-04:00

Riversdale is also getting ready to restore the pilasters in the Mansion's Salon. Over the years, paint has become built up on the pilasters, hiding the finely detailed grape vine decoration.

Column Restoration

2009-08-16T14:18:00.005-04:00

Riversdale will soon be restoring the exterior sandstone columns on the mansion's front and back porticoes.