Window Restoration & Conservation Project

About the Project

The project consisted of conserving forty-eight windows and the corresponding window trim, sills, headers, jambs, pediments, and interior casing on the Moffatt-Ladd House and its Ell. (Three windows were treated prior to January 1, 2012; one first-floor transom light and the basement windows have not been treated.). We were fortunate to receive funding for the project from private donations, New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Prior to treatment, many of these windows and their trim were in extremely poor condition; the best were in fair condition. The windows were, in many cases, so seriously askew, and the openings so structurally compromised, that the work needed to re-install the conserved windows was extensive.

During the grant period, paint evidence from the windows was carefully preserved. The windows were taken out, façade by façade, and conserved by Jade Mortimer of Heartwood Window Restoration in her studio which was then in Hawley, Massachusetts. The window openings and trim were conserved by Preservation Timber Framing of Berwick, Maine. Periodic inspection and consultation regarding the treatment involved James L. Garvin, Brian Powell of Building Conservation Associates, Arron Sturgis of Preservation Timber Framing, Jade Mortimer, and project staff Barbara Ward and Brielly Allen.

Tours of the work were offered to special groups and to the general public throughout the project. Jade Mortimer also was a featured presenter at the museum’s “Our Old House” Festivals which took place on the first Saturday of June, in 2012 and 2013. In October 2013, the Moffatt-Ladd House & Garden joined with the NH Preservation Alliance to co-sponsor and host a window restoration workshop by Jade Mortimer.