Malcolm Schweizer
10-12-2019, 8:09 AM
I want to share this with everyone, because I think it's an important development in the hand tool community, and I am both excited and proud to be a part of it. Through my volunteer work as President of the St. Thomas Historical Trust, I have made some connections in regards to historic West Indian furniture, its preservation, and passing on the skills that are being lost in regards to building West Indian furniture. I have been working with Phillp Sturm, author of this book: https://www.amazon.com/West-Indian-Antique-Furniture-Lesser-Antilles/dp/1851495371 to create a hand tool woodworking shop in the historic home of painter Camille Pissarro, which is here in St. Thomas. Phillip is THE expert on West Indian furniture, and is dedicated to preservation of the art. I have partnered with Mark Kragel of Perserverance Woodworking, and we are renovating a space in the Pissarro home to create a hand tool woodworking shop. The goal is to eventually have classes in hand tool woodworking, focusing on West Indian furniture, and to build and restore West Indian furnishings with local mahogany.
I went up into the attic to survey the condition, as well as to determine if a wall that was added in the 1970's is structural. (Often in these old homes, walls were added to support sagging beams, so even if not original to the home, it doesn't mean you can just pull it out willy-nilly.) I was amazed that the beams were in absolutely perfect shape. Not a single bit of termite damage, and no "termite poop" to be found anywhere. The attic was so clean it looked like it was freshly vacuumed. Most interesting, however, is that the beams were all numbered, and by each number was an arrow to show orientation and where the adjoining beam met. It's really cool to see this from 1814 construction, still there today.
We pulled up some funky carpet, under which was some 1950's linoleum, under which was a layer of 1/4" ply, under which was the original heart pine hardwood floors. They are painted gray, which is common here and probably they were painted from day 1. We will sand them, but most likely will refinish painted because getting the paint out of all the seams for varnishing is almost an impossible task. (I know, because I did it in my 1830's home, and it's no fun.) The 1/4" ply actually served as a sacrificial layer, as the termites prefer it to the heart pine. They will eat the soft parts of the pine, but typically they don't bother it. They did enjoy parts of the plywood, however, but all damage found there was old damage and no existing termites were found. The building was previously professionally treated, and it seems they did the job well.
The home has some very cool dentil moulding, part of which was, sadly, cut out for the installation of the wall, but we plan to recreate it. The ceilings are roughly 15' tall, and the doors are around 9' tall. It's an impressive space. One wall has had the stucco removed to expose the original brick, granite, and coral (yes, coral) construction. That wall will remain exposed to show the construction of the home. The small "New Orleans" style balcony overlooks historic Main Street.
Guys (and gals) I CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!!! It's literally my dream come true to be working in this amazing space and preserving this important piece of history. This is not a gloat, but rather just sharing the joy, and the whole idea of this project is sharing knowledge, so I will keep ya posted on the light renovation work and also the furniture collection. Phillip had a number of pieces damaged during hurricanes Irma and Maria ("Irmaria"), and we will be taking those pieces and making templates for recreations, and in some cases restoring the originals. One piece I will be doing veneer work on is a late 1700's sideboard with deep drawers for storing wine bottles. It has some marquetry work, and that's my specialty. The top is pine, and was veneered with mahogany to match the rest of the piece. The termites enjoyed the pine, so that will be replaced and the veneer replicated.
I'm going to post this, then edit with photos because they are on my phone.
edit- adding photos
here is the main room, formerly a great room, which will be the hand tool shop.
417573
See if you can spot the large piece of brain coral next to the right window.
here is a drawer from the piece I will be restoring showing dovetails:
417574
Dentil Moulding
417575
Markings on timbers in attic
417576
Pegged joinery in the rafters
417577
Beautiful mouldings. Notice the size of that door opening which was retrofitted with a smaller modern door. The rest of the home has the original doors. We found two doors hidden in walls and will open up those walls and restore the doors.
417578
found a hidden door. (Actually it was hidden on only one side. We knew it was there in the other room).
417579
I went up into the attic to survey the condition, as well as to determine if a wall that was added in the 1970's is structural. (Often in these old homes, walls were added to support sagging beams, so even if not original to the home, it doesn't mean you can just pull it out willy-nilly.) I was amazed that the beams were in absolutely perfect shape. Not a single bit of termite damage, and no "termite poop" to be found anywhere. The attic was so clean it looked like it was freshly vacuumed. Most interesting, however, is that the beams were all numbered, and by each number was an arrow to show orientation and where the adjoining beam met. It's really cool to see this from 1814 construction, still there today.
We pulled up some funky carpet, under which was some 1950's linoleum, under which was a layer of 1/4" ply, under which was the original heart pine hardwood floors. They are painted gray, which is common here and probably they were painted from day 1. We will sand them, but most likely will refinish painted because getting the paint out of all the seams for varnishing is almost an impossible task. (I know, because I did it in my 1830's home, and it's no fun.) The 1/4" ply actually served as a sacrificial layer, as the termites prefer it to the heart pine. They will eat the soft parts of the pine, but typically they don't bother it. They did enjoy parts of the plywood, however, but all damage found there was old damage and no existing termites were found. The building was previously professionally treated, and it seems they did the job well.
The home has some very cool dentil moulding, part of which was, sadly, cut out for the installation of the wall, but we plan to recreate it. The ceilings are roughly 15' tall, and the doors are around 9' tall. It's an impressive space. One wall has had the stucco removed to expose the original brick, granite, and coral (yes, coral) construction. That wall will remain exposed to show the construction of the home. The small "New Orleans" style balcony overlooks historic Main Street.
Guys (and gals) I CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!!! It's literally my dream come true to be working in this amazing space and preserving this important piece of history. This is not a gloat, but rather just sharing the joy, and the whole idea of this project is sharing knowledge, so I will keep ya posted on the light renovation work and also the furniture collection. Phillip had a number of pieces damaged during hurricanes Irma and Maria ("Irmaria"), and we will be taking those pieces and making templates for recreations, and in some cases restoring the originals. One piece I will be doing veneer work on is a late 1700's sideboard with deep drawers for storing wine bottles. It has some marquetry work, and that's my specialty. The top is pine, and was veneered with mahogany to match the rest of the piece. The termites enjoyed the pine, so that will be replaced and the veneer replicated.
I'm going to post this, then edit with photos because they are on my phone.
edit- adding photos
here is the main room, formerly a great room, which will be the hand tool shop.
417573
See if you can spot the large piece of brain coral next to the right window.
here is a drawer from the piece I will be restoring showing dovetails:
417574
Dentil Moulding
417575
Markings on timbers in attic
417576
Pegged joinery in the rafters
417577
Beautiful mouldings. Notice the size of that door opening which was retrofitted with a smaller modern door. The rest of the home has the original doors. We found two doors hidden in walls and will open up those walls and restore the doors.
417578
found a hidden door. (Actually it was hidden on only one side. We knew it was there in the other room).
417579