This summer I collaborated with the Preservation Carpentry department at Point Reyes National Seashore. The park has more than 300 historic structures that are under constant attack by the elements and the neglect of the lessee ranchers who would like to build new barns. I worked 14 hour days for three months.
After 10 hour days with the Park Service I worked locally around Marin.The National Park Service is the historical preservation authority of the USA. It was good to round out skills and approaches gained in private sector with the sanctioned approaches of the Department of the Interior, and the invaluable personal experience of the specialists I was working with.
I was also honored to design and build a new seed storage facility for the habitat restoration program. The park specified that it had to be made in the vernacular of the local architecture. For the Park Service, this does not mean that it merely looks like the surrounding buildings. The bones cannot be modern crap hidden by mere mimicry of historic building. That would be theater. Features like v-groove siding aren’t a “style” or “look”, and an approach that sees things this way will never endure even as a look, let alone a useful building. These features are technology adapted to a particular use case. Same goes for things like double hung windows, raised foundations, skip sheathing. Even molding and cornices have a utility beyond their appearance.
