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$ 800,000 + freight

This 1904 Richardson Romanesque Schoolhouse located in Southwest Pennsylvania is available to move.  A 5,600 sqft structure built from fine, hand cut, random ashlar Cussewago Sandstone.

 

ResErections, Inc. documents, markets, and disassembles architecturally unique 19th century stone buildings that can be reconstructed on sites where the investment results in the creation of new real estate wealth.  We laser scan the building (accurate to 1/7th inch), number every stone, and package and ship all building materials worth saving.

 

 

   

 

 

 

The school has 4 large 37'x28-25' classrooms with 12' ceilings with  interesting antique light fixtures and 'old time' quality slate  blackboards.   Cussewago sandstone weighs 150 lbs/sqft.   The 8,000 sqft of fine rock faced sandstone laid in a random ashlar patterned Romanesque style contains 5,300 cuft, or 400 tons of 8" thick hand-carved stone.   Shipping would require 20 truckloads.

 

 

Greensboro, Pennsylvania was an important Monongahela River port community.  Some of the earliest glass manufacturing facilities in the region were located in the New Geneva/Greensboro/Glass Works area, and the glass industry led to the establishment in Greensboro of important pottery manufacturing facilities in the Mississippi Valley.

The Greensboro Public SchooI Building is an architectural monument to public education. Built in 1904, it was an elementary school for 57 years until 1961. An example of the legendary skills of Italian immigrant masons, it and two other notable stone structures in Greensboro was built by James Parreco. The schooI is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but is outside the formal Greensboro Historic District and is not constrained by civic regulations.  Externally intact, it is endangered by internal deterioration.  It is a beautifully constructed, 120 year old stone school building that can be disassembled, relocated, and reconstructed for apartments, offices, a school, or other venues.

 

An excellent example of school design from the early 1900s, it is a striking presentation of a national design trend of the gilded age ... the Richardson-Romanesque style.  The building’s premier feature is its exterior walls, constructed from locally quarried Cussewago sandstone.  The exterior stone gives the building durability and symbolizes permanence. The exterior is attractive and reflects the determination of the Italian immigrant community to build a noble building showing the importance of education for their youngest children.

Sandstone, a sedimentary stone, is stable over a long time when the individual stones are laid horizontally.  It is even-grained, of grey or brownish hue, does not develop iron streaks or stains, and wears well. The facade of the building is rock-faced random ashlar with thin mortar joints, Each stone is sawn to a straight edge on four sides while the face is left rough. Three different thicknesses of ashlar stones allow the pattern to appear random.  No more than two stones share the same mortar joint.  Walls are very strong and will not separate.

 

The emphasis of the design is on mass and uniform, rock-faced articulation of the walls, creating a bold heaviness deemphasizing details. A projecting water table course of rock-faced stone at the level of the first floor separates the partially exposed basement from the walls above.  This course sheds water away from the foundation and keeps moisture from rising in the walls.  Rock-faced lintels and sills project with slightly sIoped depressions on the top surface to shed water. Other notable stone details are the wedge-shaped voussoirs forming the entry arches, and a datestone that reads GREENSBORO / PUBLIC SCHOOL / 1904.

 

The stone was cut and shaped consistent with the dominant architectural trend of the era, the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival.  The Romanesque style is characterized by heavy masonry walls with roughly textured surfaces with a limited number of openings. Entrances were a combination of half-round arches and small, vertically oriented windows. The depth of the Richardson window arrangement allowed angled reveals on the interior side refracting ambient light into the rooms.  Wavy glass windows with transoms adorn all sides of the structure. Wavy glass is cylinder glass - blown in cylinder shapes, cut down one side, and flattened to create panes. Creating glass lightweight enough to be lifted yet strong enough to resist wind, the glass grain developed while molten.  In the early 1900s, Western Pennsylvania was the center of America’s glass industry.

The building's interior plaster is lime based from local materials. Lime plaster was given a sand-textured finish to make it appear like stone, complementing the rougher geometry of Romanesque buildings.  The lime based mortar between stones is thin, and flakes off easily as individual stones are removed.

Southern yellow pine used for trim and flooring is a very hard wood that has the grain, coIor, and appearance of pine.  In the early 1900s, the wood would be 200 years old when harvested and is fine-grained with far more growth rings per inch than today’s forestry products.

The attractive ceiling was finished with pressed metal. Pressed metal cielings were common at the beginning of the twentieth century for stores, schooIs, and retail facilities resembling expensive decorative plaster.

 

 

 

ResErections collaborates with local architects and tradesmen at both the source and destination of the buildings. We do not rebuild because we have no control over what the new owner and architect want to do. We build the supply chain between the seller and the buyer of reputable professional architecture and construction firms. We document the structure, supervise on-site work, and package and ship the recovered components. We are experts in material handling and logistics. We recover everything that will not crumble when touched. The data from Fero Laser scanning imports directly into AutoCad and other architectural software.  Data and detailed digital images will be hosted on the Internet in a private Microsoft's Azure Database.  Pallets and individual stones and components will be RFID trackable.   Imaging and Data and the right stone ... will be available in real time on the mason's smart phone during reconstruction.  We make it easy to rebuild.

 

ResErections does not rebuild.  Prices quoted herein are for the work ResErections actually performs ... acquisition, documentation, disassembly, preparation of shipping, creation and maintenance of the information structure, and our perception of the value of the rebuilt structure.  Freight costs would depend on distance.  The buyer will need to employ local architectural trade professionals to rebuild.  

 

This building is free from oversight by authorities other than the future site's municipal building department.  The owner and his architect/engineering staff are free to redesign to the owner's desires.  We hope that the external character is retained and enhanced, and expect the interiors to be modern.

 

It can be successfully rebuilt on a new sites with the participation of local architect/construction firm employed by the buyer.  Local firms have expertise, and most importantly, connections with local building departments and local craft trades resources.  With local participation in planning, it is possible to secure bank mortgages.

 

ResErections will not tie the buyer's reconstruction efforts to  bureaucratic qualifications for government tax credits or require the employment of certified historic craftsmen and archivists or seek protective covenants and expensive finicky rehabilitation agreements ensuring that the buildings will be protected from changes. We do not offer cultural resource management, historic preservation planning, historical research, litigation encouragement and support, and academic grantsmanship.   We will not solicit government - taxpayer - dollars to do the work.   You Buy It ... We Ship it ... You ReBuild It ... You Own It.

 

We are only interested in completely moving majestic buildings.  We create a great deal for the buyers, the sellers, the doers, and the public, turning American wealth into Americans at work.

 


 

We have several Gilded Age mansions for private sale and relocation.  Two Romanesque, a Victorian, a Queen Anne, a Georgian Revival, an English Tudor, and 4 pre-revolution Colonials.  

  

    

      1777

 


 

Telephone    (800) 392-2421
Office   (513) 376-6235
Cell       (513) 212-8496
Office Hours ... 3 to 8 pm daily  
We would enjoy hearing from you by phone or email.   Please leave messages if we miss you.   Email is best.
Electronic mail             nlm@ResErections.com
 

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HOMERomanesque IQueen AnneRomanesque IVElsinaes16881740 Saltbox1755 -77Beaux ArtsAmerican FolkCotswoldKemperSchoolhouseBroken GreekHeartpineQuestionsReConstructionTerms of SaleDemolishedWorld Builder

 

                           

 

 

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