Demolished Historic Stone Architecture
ResErections has been working to save historic stone buildings for 14 years. We have identified scores of endangered structures, but as time has passed, six that we offered over the past years have met their fate in landfills.
Planned demolition sneaks up on buildings, as desirable redevelopment efforts
function privately until the demolition permit is issued. Then, the window
for saving the building is a matter of weeks and can only be changed with cash
in hand or lawyers. Developers do not want fights with preservation advocates
(some of them are unrealistic) before the axe is already falling. The
buildings are going to be removed for good reasons by seasoned construction and
development firms with institutional and government support.
Yet, there are many marvelous gilded age stone mansions and building facades
located in the path of development or in impoverished urban areas that could be
saved by relocation. We have identified scores of these structures from
New York to Oklahoma.
“The problem is national in scope. But in historic centers such as Philadelphia, it's particularly acute—prompting the Living Legacy Alternative Stewardship Project, sponsored by the William Penn Foundation and Pew. In 2000, Pew's Heritage Philadelphia Program discovered more than 300 historic house museums in the Philadelphia region alone. Fewer than 10 percent of those have endowments of any size, and more than 80 percent are facing preservation and maintenance costs of about $1 million each, while their operating budgets average only $100,000. If nothing changes within the next decade, the research suggests, dozens will be left with no caretakers, no money and no plans for rescue.”
In America,
preservation and restoration is a very profitable billion dollar industry.
Maintenance of public and historic structures is high art, with many
professional practitioners. There is no shortage of work to do, and
the majority of the work is paid for institutionally, by government,
taxpayers, or other cultural organizations. It is by no means a
non-profit business. Professional preservationists are obligated
to selectively and responsibly put limited talents and money where the best
of heritage is preserved rather than telling others what their limited
resources and public tax money
should be spent on. Revenue motivated advocates
often whip up well meaning public hysteria and rely on legal obstructionism
to preserve old structures under the guise of "non-profit" - but salary
paying organizations. Good solutions to reclaiming and using historic
structures are criticized as not good enough, resulting in decay and loss,
and worthy structures are demolished because enough money could not be found
to do a better thing. Many structures are located in areas where it is
impractical to renovate on site. Reproachful jewels left in a ruined
landscape. Moving endangered structures is a
far better result than scavenging for individual components and ultimate
demolition.
The only way to save these great stone buildings
is to get the funds to properly disassemble and relocate them. It is not
inexpensive and requires the collaboration of professional architecture,
engineering, construction, and logistics personnel. It takes planning, expertise, and extensive computing technologies.
Each structure must have architectural merit, and yield a new property that is
worth more than its cost. We specialize in majestic stone buildings from
the Amercan Gilded Age ... 1830's to 1910, offering modern, efficient, estate
quality homes, with fast ROI's above 100%.
The process of demolition may recover material for recycling as construction
waste, but the time pressures of job completion force fast removal and disposal
of the material, so little effort is expended to recover material in reusable
form. Irreplacable stone is lost ... wood us usually burned. The
value of what can be recovered is trivial compared to the value of the
architectural art lost.
These are the houses we lost. Click on image for story.
In January, 2020, the 1890 Burton house was demoed. We marketed it for 9 years for about $ 2 million.
In February, 2020, a nature preserve and environmental education center demolished this 1914 Tudor style mansion built from pieces of centuries’ old English manor houses. “The New York Herald described the house as “probably the first completely antique Tudor house which was ever been constructed in America… Every particle of material used in the structure once formed a part of some ancient English dwelling.”“
In 2021, the Sawyer Tavern, an 1843 Georgian structure was demolished to make way for a grocery.
In 2017, an 1846 Pioneer Inn was demolished to clear reservoir land
Wonderful gilded age 1900 Prairie Style - American FourSquare home. Authentic details, a true classic design, this white rockfaced limestone house was located in a fine neighborhood and demolished in 2018 to make way for a hospital expansion. The epitome of the post-Victorian "comfortable house", the FourSquare is about dignified self-containment. Massive, embellished, conservative. Boxey shaped, with hipped roof, wide porch, large windows, and quiet style. This big - 2 1/2 story - 6,300 sqft house was a beautiful white rock-faced limestone structure with wide eaves, large central dormers, pedimented porch roof, ornate wood trim, dental molding, a red Mission style tile roof, and a large bay window dining room. Built to last for generations.
In 2014, the historic 1843 'Scarecrow'Tennesee Inn was demolished to make room for development.
It was beautiful two days ago !
Telephone (800) 392-2421 Office (513) 376-6235 Cell (513) 212-8496 We would enjoy hearing from you by phone or email. Please leave messages if we miss you. Email is best.
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This Site has been active for 14 years.