Historic New England has secured a $29,780 grant from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission’s State Preservation Grants Program for the 1691 Clemence-Irons House.
The grant will support a $91,000 preservation project that includes roof replacement with hand-split, re-sawn shakes; in-kind repair of the rear sill; replacement of deteriorated clapboarding; and mortar analysis and spot re-pointing of the stone end, including repair of the decorative corbeling at the top of the chimney.
Clemence-Irons House is a rare surviving example of a “stone-ender,” and one of the oldest houses in Rhode Island. The building is also an important record of 20th-century restoration ideas and methods. Originally the one-and-a-half-story house had four rooms on the ground floor, a massive stone chimney at the western end, and a steep gable roof that extended over the rear lean-to. By 1938 the house had grown to 13 rooms and Norman Isham, a noted preservation architect and authority on colonial Rhode Island dwellings, was commissioned to remove later alterations so the house could be presented as an authentic example of a late 17th-century home.
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission is the state agency for historical preservation and heritage programs. The Commission operates a statewide historical preservation program that identifies and protects historic buildings, districts, structures, and archaeological sites.
The commission also develops and carries out programs to document and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Rhode Island’s people.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here