历史睡眠：在华盛顿的总部接收过去

I have the deepest respect and admiration for people who undertake the restoration of historic houses. Our first home as newlyweds was an 1870s Victorian. Although it was a lovely structure with great potential, we quickly determined that we did not possess the skills, tools, funds or time necessary to rehabilitate the place. Today’s intrepid restorers can garner inspiration and motivation from the work done on a variety of historic restorations and national sites around the country, including Hasbrouck House in Newburgh, NY.

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Built in 1750, the Hasbrouck House served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War from April 1782 until August 1783, which was the longest time the general spent at any wartime location. The oldest house in Newburgh, the property was acquired by New York State in 1850 and became the first publicly operated historic site in the country.

Hasbrouck House上的第一个实质性恢复努力在1912年开始，全年持续，随着新信息和技术可用。“Hasbrouck House被解释为尽可能准确地反映在他的纽堡留在纽堡期间的华盛顿军队，”Elyse B. Goldberg历史遗迹遗址经理解释道。“研究，主要是华盛顿论文和Hasbrouck家庭清单和对其他华盛顿总部的比较研究，为Hasbrouck House的房间的功能使用提供了理由和背景。”

In order to recreate the authentic appearance of the building, walls, bricks and ceilings were removed to expose the original stonework and hand-hewn beams. Narrow floorboards were removed to reveal the original wide plank floors and hand-wrought nails. And the paint, whitewash, and varnish were restored to original historical formulations, with the the interior woodwork being repainted Prussian blue, Indian red, and cream.

Correct paint colors were determined by actually taking samples of the doors, mouldings, window frames, baseboards and wall surfaces, cutting into the areas with a knife, and sanding to reveal the various layers. A ‘bull’s-eye’ outside of Washington’s bedroom (below) shows this process.

“普鲁士蓝色油漆被手工复制，磨粒，使用白铅，”斯卡兰E.史密斯，文化资源和开发和历史遗址恢复协调员局长，斯特拉德州际公园委员会运营该网站。

“From my samples, I could determine the percentage of Prussian blue pigment to white lead. From there, it was trial and error to get just the right mix to match the original colors at Hasbrouck House—a little bit of this, a little bit of that! The whitewash was also made by hand, slaking the lime and using specific mixes of lime paste, water, and glue.”

Other renovations included re-pointing and cleaning the original “Dutch Jambless” fireplaces, and removing bricks that had been placed over the stones. The carved wood mantelpiece and mouldings in the parlor were cleaned and repainted, and an English-style mantelpiece in Washington’s bedroom was reconstructed.

“I could see from using directed light just where the mantle was in this room–its gross size–but of course we didn’t have the details for the mouldings,” Smith remarks. “So, I designed a stylized version of an 18th century mantelpiece using the dimensions of the original.”

Historians also have furnished the house with as much original and period furniture as possible, including Washington’s writing desk from a different headquarters, a chair used by the General, and an original chair belonging to Jonathan Hasbrouck. “Every effort was made to utilize as much furniture as possible from the existing collections at the site,” Goldberg notes.

The end result is an extraordinary example of preservation, offering an enthralling glimpse backward into our nation’s rich past and offering hope and encouragement to anyone with an interest in conserving historic homes.

For more on preservation and restoration, consider:

Buying a Historic Home
A Farm Grows in Brooklyn
Victorian Restoration(VIDEO)