Building Blocks

A column devoted to charting the progress of the renovation and construction plans at the Goy-Hoyt House. We hope Building Blocks will be an informative and enjoyable part of the expansion process.

Summer, 2001

Building expansion at the Gay-Hoyt House, which will almost double space for the museum’s burgeoning collections, is expected to get underway with the preliminary phases this summer.

The Society’s building committee has been working on plans with Robert E. Hatch, AIA, of Fairfield, Connecticut, an architect well-known for his restoration and sensitive alteration of historic buildings. Renovations involved in the expansion will be in keeping with the architectural heritage of the eighteenth century Sharon Green. The plan, as approved in its first stages by the Board of Trustees, calls for a two-story addition directly behind the brick house with a small, single story wing to the south.

 

Besides the additional room for our collections, the expansion will provide patron-accessible archives, a library, a Hands-On children’s room, gift shop and a bigger office area.

 

The present work schedule requires the museum’s public space to be closed during the construction period, with a tentative grand opening date of December, 2002.

Due to uncertainties associated with construction dates, the museum will be open this summer for limited hours, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for July and August.

"Before" pictures of the exterior of the Sharon Historical Society. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger version of the pictures.

Fall, 2001

After receiving approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission the Society's Board of Trustees sent the building project out to bid in early August. The renovation, which ceremonially started on June 29th at the Great Attic Ground Break!, will actually begin the second week of October. The bid was awarded to D.C. Alien Customized Service, of Sharon, who hope to have the project completed by late next spring or early summer. The plan is to have the foundation of the new area poured before the ground freezes, after which the construction can proceed through the winter.

Initial intentions to move office activities to temporary space outside the building have been shelved, and a plan to set up phones, computers and files in the Hart Room is underway.  This will make it easier to keep an eye on construction, as well as to save rental costs.

Fund raising for the project is actively continuing Volunteers have been helping to pack and move the contents of the rear portion of the building which will be removed as soon as construction begins. The general moving plan involves clearing articles in the back rooms of the old house - both upstairs and down - into the front rooms, away from the construction activity. Among the contents of the Governor Smith Room and the Gay Room are a number of fragile items that will require special handling and care.

In addition, the entire contents of the soon-to-be-demolished back wing of the house will have to be moved into the original part of the house as well. The Gift Shop, the Hands On Room and all the office supplies will be moved westward to safety.

Marge McAvoy, who has taken over office duties during Liz Shapiro’s year sabbatical, says the formidable logistics of this job is going to need the help of volunteers.  “The start of the expansion work imposes a deadline for getting things moved, so the more hands we can put to it the better.”  If you have time to help, please call Marge (860-364-5688) at the Museum on Thursdays or Fridays. 

Winter, 2001

In preparation for the renovation of the SHS building, Marge McAvoy and her energetic group of volunteers spent several weeks cataloging, packing and moving items from the east clapboard addition into the original 1775 Gay-Hoyt brick structure.

Following the approval of plans by the Sharon Historic District Commission, the state conducted an examination to determine the presence of hazardous materials on site. While the study revealed only minimal asbestos, the old clapboards revealed layers of lead paint. The disposal of lead paint requires special treatment, so a hazardous waste dumpster was ordered.

Ground preparation by the contractor, D. C. Allen Customized Services, began with removal of trees and topsoil. In the process of soil removal, it became obvious that with 226 years of use, a complex system of pipes and drains had been installed at various times. Adjacent to the southeast corner of the brick building, a cistern of considerable size was uncovered. Pipes leading to the cistern transported runoff water from the roof and ground. A framed section on top indicated the location of a hand pump. Extending nine feet east to west, the oval cistern had a depth ranging from six to eight feet, providing an estimated volume of 1500 gallons of water.

Thirty-three feet south of the house another chamber was uncovered, this one oval and brick-lined. Measuring five feet by five feet four inches, and about four feet in depth, this area may have once served as a deposit for waste materials from the house. Nearby, to the southwest, a rock-lined opening covered by large rock slabs was uncovered. This chamber measured fourteen feet in length, four feet in width and about four feet in depth.

Pictures taken in mid-November: click on a thumbnail to see a larger version:

 

While further excavation has revealed more underground pipe systems, the most interesting features were found when David Allen, using his “New Holland” tractor fork lift, removed the rock slab covering the well in front of the smoke house. This well, thirty feet deep, even in this exceptionally dry autumn, contains six feet of water. Its structure consists of five feet of a dry laid rock wall at the soil level, then a hand dug section of twenty-five feet through solid bedrock. Wide enough for one person, this well was laboriously dug through Stockbridge Marble. Today, one must wonder about this remarkable bit of history. How did they even expect to find water and why did they attempt to chisel and dig through solid bedrock?  Whatever the answers, the SHS well presents one more bit of evidence concerning the resourceful early citizens of Sharon.

All the above sites have been measured and photographed. During construction the cistern and adjoining chamber will be filled though the structures will remain. The third chamber to the south will be tied into the general drainage plan for the museum addition. Plans to highlight the well in front of the smoke house have also been discussed. The dry laid walls could be extended vertically, perhaps some two feet, and covered with a plexiglas top to enhance interpretation of the site as a federal period home.

During the two weeks previous, subcontractor Dale DeVries operating his power shovel, carefully picked apart the wood structure, separating hazardous waste materials from the materials scheduled for general deposition. Most recently, the foundation area for the new museum has been undergoing excavation. As expected, bedrock removal presents a problem in terms of establishing a level for work space below. The latest excavation efforts include lowering the bedrock level to a “knee” space (about four feet), developing a drainage system and preparing for the museum foundation. 

Pictures taken in January, 2002. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture. The larger pictures have the architect's model inserted, with a"hot spot" to indicate the portion of the renovation pictured.

February, 2002: The interior begins to take shape. The exterior now has the roof framed and will soon have a roof over it.

March, 2002: The roof is almost shingled, and the new shape of the Gay-Hoyt House is apparent. Exterior views are attempting to match the layout of the model. Click on a thumbnail to see an enlarged picture.

 

Spring, 2002: A history as told in the Spring Newsletter

The Sharon Historical Society museum closed on August 17th, 2001 at 4PM. Though construction was not slated to begin until late September, there was much to be done. All the contents of the old Victorian addition, which housed the offices, gift shop, and Hands-On Room, as well as an upstairs apartment, were carefully boxed, labeled and stored in the front rooms of the Gay Hoyt House. The addition was dismantled and removed from the site, with the exception of Liz’s old office, which has been turned into a storage shed. The excavation began, under the supervision of David Allen of D.C. Allen Customized Services, the contractor for the entire project. In order to make space for the climate control equipment underneath the addition, several areas of ledge had to be removed. Instead of blasting, a procedure no one was anxious to undertake so close to our historic house, a drilling and rupturing process was used. Holes were drilled in the rock and a substance called betomonite (an expandable concrete) was injected into the holes. This caused the rock to crack and break into manageable pieces. As the chunks of rock were removed and carted off site, the space for the foundation slowly took shape.


Preparation of the foundation hole was excruciatingly slow. David asked that no one cross the orange plastic construction fence around the work site, so those of us in the office watched restlessly from the perimeter as the work progressed inch by inch. Ed Kirby and Harry Rubicam patiently documented every step of the process — Ed with two cameras slung around his neck (one for slides and one for photos) and Harry with his video camera.


Meanwhile, the newly exposed rear (east) wall of the Gay-Hoyt House offered some intriguing mysteries. Ed Kirby speculates that at least one earlier addition may have existed in the same place our Victorian structure recently occupied.


When the area had been successfully excavated, the pre-built custom-made foundations were brought on site, put in place, and the cement floor was poured. At this point the pace increased dramatically. One day there was nothing but the flat foundation. Two days later the first and second floor walls, exterior and interior — windows and sheathing included — were in place! The speed of this part of the project was due to Mr. Allen’s pre-fabricated construction system. The stick-built walls were manufactured elsewhere and brought onto the site on four large tractor trailers, each equipped with a crane to lift the huge walls into position.


Each section of the prefabricated wall was numbered so that when it was lifted off the flatbed the workmen knew exactly where to put it. Because of the prefabrication and preplanning, the actual construction of the building proceeded at lightening pace. What might normally have taken weeks to complete was done in a couple of days. From the second floor window of the Gay-Hoyt House, we could see the layout of our new area take shape in one day! A large office, the children’s Hands-On Room, the library and archives, a kitchen, bathroom and storage area all appeared at virtually the same time. Then, just as quickly, they were covered over and the second floor and attic areas appeared. Finally the large sections of roof rafters were lifted into place and the progress of the project slowed to a more normal pace.


Throughout the process, Mr. Allen and his crew have had to maneuver carefully around the old smokehouse and the newly exposed hand-dug well. These original structures will be featured in the landscape design being developed by Cynthia Rice of Beardsley Gardens. Their presence has undoubtedly made working with large equipment in the area more difficult, but Mr. Allen and his workers are extremely careful and not a scratch has been made.


At the time of this writing, the wooden shingles have been installed on the north half of the roof, and the eventual final appearance of the new addition has become obvious. Architect Bob Hatch has managed to give us a very modern working space cloaked in a traditional New England style exterior. As was typical of many early additions to Colonial houses, the siding will not match the main house. Instead of brick it will be white clapboard. The style and placement of the windows are consistent with earlier American architecture, as are the cedar shingles on the roof. It is hoped that when the original part of the Gay-Hoyt House next needs a new roof it will be done with cedar shingles, bringing the old house back to a more authentic appearance. Mr. Hatch has also laid out and situated the addition so that it has very little visual impact on the Green. The ttwo-story section of the addition, which houses the office, gift shop, Hands-On Room and the textiles work area, goes straight back from the main house. The one-story section, housing the kitchen, bathroom, library and archives, extends to the south and is hidden from view by shrubbery.


Outside the addition, on both the east and west sides, there will be small patios with plantings around them.The west patio is where the commemorative bricks will be laid (see related story on our upcoming fund raiser — The Great Sharon Mix for Bricks). Many Colonial houses had surprisingly formal gardens around them, vestiges of our early settlers’ roots in England and Europe where garden design at the time could be quite intricate. Our grounds around the Gay-Hoyt house will reflect this interest as the landscaping plans evolve.


Though the time for the actual museum opening is a long way off, it is becoming easy to imagine this entire project as it will eventually appear.
We are already planning the first exhibits in the new space (Hint: we’re leaning heavily on Ed Kirby’s book Echoes of Iron), and are looking forward to our re-opening day when we can welcome you all back to the Gay-Hoyt House Museum!

 

 

  

May 21, 2002. The roof is shingled and the siding is almost finished. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture

With the addition of the Gay-Hoyt House nearing completion, plans and blue prints have become a concrete – wood, windows and wall board – reality.

It was just last August that the museum was closed and a month later construction got underway. Now, a year later, Liz Shapiro, returned from a year’s leave, and Marge McAvoy will be leading an energetic corps of volunteers in the Big Move into the new space of an additional 2900 square feet.

Besides adding sorely needed storage room for the museum’s collections, the expansion will provide a modern efficient office area, the new children’s Hands-On work room, a gift shop and kitchen facilities. A good sized library and research room adjoining the museum’s archives can also be used as a meeting room by the Society and other community groups. A feature of this bright, well-windowed assembly room is the graceful bow window moved from the old addition on the 1775 Gay-Hoyt House.

The old brick façade of the rear of the original building will be left uncovered as one interior wall of the new addition.

In the course of construction, rain water cisterns and an old well were discovered at the back of the house. When the well cover was taken off, water was found at the bottom of the shaft that had been hand-chiseled through 28 feet of rock ledge. The pointed-up, stone-rimmed well will be one of the focal points in the landscape plans donated by Cynthia Rice of Beardsley Gardens.

A good start has been made on the patio of memorial paving bricks being laid in a court yard formed by the new addition. With a third of the planned 600 inscribed bricks already set in the patio, many familiar names and snippets of personal memory from Sharon’s past are set in stone.

Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture of this final phase of the Gay-Hoyt House Renovation and Expansion.

But what does the inside of the Gay Hoyt House look like, now that walls are in place and trim painted? Click on the thumbnails to see....

As you enter the main entry, this is what you'll see Here's the Gift shop and the Office When the new meets the old -- the brick is the original exterior wall of the Gay-Hoyt House.
the Gift Shop is next to the Office. And the kitchen is definitely 21st century! The new Library
The Library's view is courtesy of the Bow window from the old addition. . And the view includes the Smokehouse. Storage room for the archives
This is the Art Gallery hallway And if you look behind you from the Art Gallery hallway....