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Building Conservation Associates

Research

Century Club

Century Club Location: New York, NYOriginal Architect: Stanford WhiteYear Built: 1889 The Century Association, located in Midtown Manhattan, was designed by Stanford White with the assistance of Joseph Wells and was built in 1891. The building serves as a clubhouse and meeting point for members of the Century Association, which includes New York’s most prominent families and several world-renowned artists. The building’s delicate façade is reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance consisting of a rusticated base, a central balcony, pilasters, and many other Italian-style flourishes. The Clubhouse...

Ca’D'Zan

Ca’D'Zan Location: Sarasota, FloridaOriginal Architect: Dwight James BaumYear Built: 1926 Located in Sarasota, Florida, Ca’d’Zan is the former winter residence of John and Mabel Ringling. Designed by Dwight James Baum, the mansion and estate were constructed from 1924-1926. Ca’ d’Zan, which means House of John in Venetian, is a contributing element in the Caples’-Ringlings' Estates Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. John Ringling was one of five brothers internationally known for their ownership of "The Greatest Show on Earth", the Ringling Brothers and Barnum...

Fairbanks House

Fairbanks House Location: Dedham, MassachusettsOriginal Architect: Jonathan Fairbanks (settler)Year Built: 1636 The Fairbanks House, built around 1636, is the oldest extant timber frame structure in the northeastern United States. The house was built by settler Jonathan Fairbanks for his family when they moved to Dedham, Massachusetts. The family grew and the house was passed from generation to generation until it was turned into a museum in 1905. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and was deemed a National Historic Landmark in 1960. BCA conducted...

Fort Kent

Fort Kent Location: Fort Kent, MaineYear Built: 1839 Fort Kent sits along Fish River in Northern Maine. This iconic blockhouse of hand-hewn cedar timbers with overhanging second story was built circa 1838 and was named after Governor Edward Kent. Fort Kent is the last that remains of several forts built along the Saint John River by the state of Maine. BCA developed measured drawings adhering to the Historic American Building Survey standards. Traditional manual measurement techniques were employed to capture all elements of the building detailing dimensions, joinery, profiles, loopholes,...

Frederick C. Robie House

Frederick C. Robie House Location: Chicago, IllinoisOriginal Architect: Frank Lloyd WrightYear Built: 1909 The Frederick C. Robie House, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1908-09, a period of time in Wright’s career that is considered by many to have been the most creative and productive of his life. Since its completion in 1909, the Robie House has stood as emblematic of Wright’s Prairie School of Architecture and is often characterized as a defining moment in the architect’s varied career. The Robie House is currently...

Hingham Historical Society

Hingham Historical Society Location: Hingham, MassachusettsYear Built: 1686 The Hingham Historical Society, started in 1914, works to preserve and document the history of Hingham, Massachusetts. BCA has worked on Historic Structure Reports for two historic buildings owned and operated by the Hingham Historical Society, Old Derby and Old Ordinary. Old Derby was built in 1818 as the school building for Derby Academy. It is a three-story, wood frame, Federal style building. BCA completed an Historic Structure Report for Old Derby documenting the architectural history of the building, its...

Mayflower House Museum

Mayflower House Museum Plymouth, MassachusettsOriginal Architect: Edward WinslowYear Built: 1754 The Mayflower Society House, owned by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants since 1941, is a two-story, high-style Georgian / Colonial Revival period home, built by Edward Winslow in 1754. In 1835 Ralph Waldo Emerson was married in this historic building. The property is located within the local Plymouth Historic District and the Plymouth Village National Register Historic District. BCA’s Historic Structure Report for the property included documenting the architectural history of the building...

Miller House & Garden

Miller House & Garden Location: Columbus, Indiana Original Architect: Eero SaarinenYear Built: 1957 The Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana, is one of the country’s most highly regarded examples of mid-century Modernist residences. It was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard and landscape design by Daniel Urban Kiley. The Miller House and Garden was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000. BCA is part of a multi-disciplinary team that is preparing a Conservation Master Plan of the Miller House and Garden with the goals to articulate an overarching...

Newark Museum

Newark Museum Location: Newark, New Jersey Year Built: 1784 (Lyons Farm School House), 1861 (Polhemus House), 1885 (Ballantine House), 1870 (Ward Carriage House), 1929 (51 Central Avenue) BCA served as the historic preservation consultant to the Newark Museum during its proposed Signature Project campaign for strategic expansion. The Museum campus is located in the James Street Commons Historic District, listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. The Museum campus is a multi-property resource of urban buildings and landscapes from various periods that reflect the growth...

Newark Museum, Ballantine House

Newark Museum, Ballantine House Location: Newark, New Jersey Original Architect: George Edward HarneyYear Built: 1884 The Ballantine House is a red brick mansion with Wyoming Grey sandstone trim designed by George Edward Harney and constructed in 1885 for Jeannette and John Holme Ballantine of the celebrated Newark beer-brewing family. Located on the campus of The Newark Museum of Art (NMOA) in Newark, New Jersey, it is a major object in the collections of the NMOA and houses its period rooms and Decorative Arts galleries. The Ballantine House is a National Historic Landmark, a contributing...

Nichols House Museum

Nichols House Museum Location: Boston, Massachusetts Original Architect: Charles Bulfinch Year Built: 1804 The Nichols House, located on 55 Mount Vernon Street, is a Federal style row house built by Jonathan Mason in 1805. Its design is attributed to Charles Bulfinch. Arthur Nichols purchased the house in 1885, and his eldest daughter Rose Nichols left the house to be a museum upon her death in 1960. Listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Beacon Hill Historic District. The House is shown with the furnishings of the Nichols family and...

Park Avenue Armory

Park Avenue Armory Location: New York, New York Original Architect: Charles Clinton Year Built: 1880 BCA was part of the project team developing a preservation approach for the adaptive reuse of Park Avenue Armory, historically known as the Seventh Regiment Armory. Built as both a military facility and a social club, the reception rooms on the first floor and the company rooms on the second floor were designed by the most prominent designers and artists of the day, including Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, Herter Brothers, and Pottier & Stymus. As the historic preservation consultant...

Second Bank of the U.S.

Second Bank of the U.S. Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Original Architect: William Strickland Year Built: 1818-1824 The Second Bank of the United States was designed in 1818 by William Strickland and constructed between 1819 and 1824. The building represents the federal government’s second attempt to establish a national banking institution and signified Philadelphia’s importance as the financial center of the country. The National Park Service acquired this building in 1939 and it now serves as a gallery museum open to the public within the Independence National Historical Park. BCA...

Smithsonian Castle

Smithsonian Castle Location: Washington, D.C. Original Architect: Cluss and Schulze Year Built: 1881 BCA’s materials conservations services at two Smithsonian Institution buildings, The Arts and Industries Building (AIB) and Smithsonian Institution Building (SIB), began in 2021 as part of the Institution’s major Revitalize Historic Core project. The Renaissance Revival style Arts and Industries Building, completed in 1881, was designed by Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze. The Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as The Castle, is the home to Smithsonian’s administrative offices and information...

Vanderbilt Mansion

Vanderbilt Mansion Location: Hyde Park, New York Original Architect: McKim, Mead & WhiteYear Built: 1896-1899 Vanderbilt Mansion, designed by McKim, Mead, and White and built from 1896 to 1899, was used as a vacation home for Frederick Vanderbilt and is now a National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service (NPS). The grand Beaux-Arts estate has 54 rooms and is constructed of of Indiana Limestone. BCA was retained by the National Park Service to perform an on-site examination of the ceiling of the Dining Room. The ceiling was brought from Italy by Stanford White and installed...

Wicks House

Wicks House Location: Falmouth, Maine Year Built: 1790 The Dr. Francis Wicks House is a two-story residence constructed circa 1790. The Falmouth Historical Society was gifted the house in 1932 and through research and renovations uses the house to help interpret the history of Falmouth and its people. BCA completed an Historic Structure Report that included documenting the architectural history of the building through available archival research, analysis of existing building conditions, paint analysis, treatment recommendations, a prioritization timeline for anticipated work, and projection...

30th Street Station

30th Street Station Location: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaYear Built: 1929-1933Original Architect: Graham, Anderson, Probst & White Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, successor to D.H. Burnham & Company, and was constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1927 and 1933. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, 30th Street Station is notable for its streamlined Neoclassical design and Art Deco interior. BCA provided a range of historic preservation services to help guide the making...

66 Allen Street

66 Allen Street Location: New York, New York Year Built: 1886 Original Architect: Paul F. Schoen  Designated as a New York City Historic Landmark in 2012 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, 66 Allen Street was part of the structure that was the former Edward Ridley & Son Department Store. The store, built in 1886, was designed in the art deco style by Paul F. Schoen and was once the largest department store in Manhattan's Lower East Side BCA was the restoration consultant for the exterior restoration of the structure. BCA conducted a hands-on conditions assessment of...

Avenues: The World School

Avenues: The World School Location: New York, New YorkYear Built: 1927-1928Original Architect: Cass Gilbert The R.C. Williams Warehouse, designed by Cass Gilbert and constructed in 1928, is located within the New York City West Chelsea Historic District and is a NYC Landmark. It is also individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project involved the adaptive re-use of this building from a warehouse to a world-class educational facility for Avenues: The World School, an international private school opened in the fall of 2012. BCA was the historic preservation consultant...

Bach House

Bach House Location: Chicago, IllinoisYear Built: 1915Original Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright The Bach House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Emil Bach, owner of the Bach Brick Company, and built in 1915. The house is one of Wright’s last small urban commissions and is one of only a few Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the City of Chicago. The simple and compact house is “semi-cubist” in design. The geometry of the design is accentuated by the placement of specific materials as well as colors on the exterior, making the material choice and color palette an important part of Wright’s original...