Right in the heart of Pine Plains, behind the bank and next to the supermarket, an old house is being restored. It is often referred to as "that old house by the bank parking lot" by people who do not remember the name, Louis Graham/Brush House. I confess that I was, up until Istarted filming this, one of those.
The restoration is being carried out by the Little Nine Partners Historical Society, often misnamed the Pine Plains Historical Society by those who don't know the historical significance of the Little Nine Partners... I confess that, from time to time, I slip and call it the Pine Plains Historical Society.
I knew the mason, Alan Budd, from other work he has done, but this was my first introduction to Bob Hedges. The combination of the restoration of this 1760 house and the two men working on it was compelling. I decided to drop in from time to time and document it for this website. But once I got started filming I realized that I really wanted to explore the project at more depth and make a video diary that would show the progress of the work and allow me explore the history of the community in which I live.
Day 2
I came back to find Alan sorting through the pile of original rock that he had taken out of the old fireplace. He would, of course, have to replace some of the pieces with new, but there was one very special rock that would be retained: phyllite. This was a special stone that was used in the rear of the fireplaces (hence called "firebacks") in that period. There was an old quarry in the woods right near our house on Bean River Road.
Alan started to assemble the rocks he would use from new material and what was left from he original fireplace. Although the techniques and most of the technology was the same as it had been when the house was built, there are now a few modern conveniences for the mason. While basic techniques have remained pretty much the same since before the industrial revoution, the source of power is new.
Day 3
This turned out to be a technical visit. Just when I thought I was understanding the basics of stone-fitting, I saw that a fireplace is a complex blend of different materials and surfaces: the chimney, the firebed and the fireback. We can see Alan selecting the right rocks for each function. Again, I was intrigued by the use of phyllite because it is found in the woods just north of us on Bean River Road and while I had heard about it I had never actually seen it. I am looking forward to finding the deposit and documenting it video.
Day 4
In which we learn what this photo of Philippe Petit, the young Frenchman who crossed between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, has to do with the restoration of the 1760o Louis Graham/Brush house in Pine Plains in 2009.
Day 5
In which we take a tour of the house and hear the fascinating story of the Graham family. Told be Scott Chase.
Day 6
Day 7
Life, and historic building restoration, is full of surprises! "New" things were uncovered.
And then a very strange surprise...
Day 8
I was now seeing this project in a different light. It had transformed from restoring a building with an interesting history to exploring the history of a community. The fireplace might be similar to others in existing buildings. There is a fireplace built with that same phyllite in the nearby Stissing House. It might hold some clues. We'll have to check it out.
The phyllite was becoming a lodestone, leading us on explorations. We wanted to see the source of this rock because it was localized on a hill on Bean River Road on property owned by my next door neighbor and friend, Tom Allen, who agreed to take us up into his woods one evening to find the outcroppings where it might have been mined more than a couple of hundred years ago.
It would be worth a trip in daylight.
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written by Jim Mara , September 25, 2009
Thank you, Stan, for capturing some of the effort underway to preserve this jewel of an historical structure in Pine Plains and also thereby acknowledging the skilled work of craftsmen such as Bob Hedges and Alan Budd.
written by Ann Simmons , September 27, 2009
Stan, As president of the Little Nine Partners Historical Society I can't tell you how happy I am to have someone take an interest in our Brush House and meet the "special" individuals such as Bob & Alan who have the interest in working on our project. We certainly need more exposure like this to help get the word out.We have a dvd of old movies taken in and around Pine Plains that captures rural life as it was that I am sure you would find very interesting. Thanks Ann Simmons
written by Kiersten Williams , September 29, 2009
Thanks for sharing this on your blog! Alan is my dad and I've always thought that he did beautiful and interesting work - it's nice to see that you appreciate what he does.
written by Scott Chase , October 04, 2009
Thank you Stan - preserving our history is so important and unfortunately we don't write enough of it down so these oral and visual tapes are the real answer.
written by Martha Irwin , December 08, 2009
I'm absolutely fascinated with this, Stan. You may or may not know that when they first decided to make the Hermann-Grima House a house museum, they established a cooking program in the kitchen and misinterpreted it for a number of years. The house had a platform for an iron cook stove, which the curators assumed that was the kind of cooking they were doing because the house was built in 1838, after cookstoves had been introduced into LA. But, after the archaeology was done, they found out that it was the configuration of the kitchen they have now, with its potager, open hearth, crane, and bee hive oven. I'm loving seeing how they are dealing with the fireplace in the Graham house. Hope you plan to keep documenting the progress of the house as it goes on.
written by Liz , February 05, 2010
I just found your website. Love it!
I grew up in Pine Plains and left after college. I am really enjoying your video history of some things in the town (especially the old mill).
My grandfather (Frank Bartolomeo) was an excellent stone mason and did a lot of work in Pine Plains and surrounding area. It's been a long term goal of mine to try to find all the work that he did in the area and photograph it.
