J.M. Kelley Ltd. - Hudson Valley History Restored

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Hudson Valley History Restored
The Metropolitan Museum of Art takes in Albany's circa 1750 Winne House
By Tom Calarco
for Northeast
June 2005

In the days of futures past, art and technology are collaborating to bring things back. Preservationists of history like Michael Kelley, of Niskayuna, NY, are not merely preserving but restoring it with the help of the latest technologies.

Kelley, who was selected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to deconstruct the circa 1750 Dutch-style Daniel Peter Winne House in Albany County for installment in the renovation of its American Wing, and whose work on the house was described in the April 2003 issue of Northeast, is currently reconstructing the house at the Met. I had a chance to visit the first week in May, and masonry on the walls was in progress. Only the groote or grand room of the house will be exhibited. It will, however, be the entire section of the house, both inside and outside, which distinguishes it from the other architectural exhibits in the wing's Decorative Arts and Interiors section that show only interiors.

On the third floor, where the Winne house is being installed, these interiors include the Meetinghouse Gallery, a high ceiling, open-timbered, reduced-scale adaptation of the Old Ship Meetinghouse built in 1681 that still serves a congregation in Hingham, Massachusetts; the Hart Room, the actual interior living room of the former Thomas Hart house built in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1674; and the Wentworth Room, the actual interior of the John Wentworth house, built circa 1700 in Portsmouth, NH.

In contrast to these structures, the Winne house is Dutch style, which is why the building was so coveted by the museum. It's also a nice complement to the opulent 40-foot by 18-foot hall of the Van Rensselaer mansion, now a major exhibit on the second floor of the American Wing, which was the home of Stephen Van Rensselaer, Daniel Peter Winne's patron, to whom he owed certain obligations according to the Dutch patron system.

While the deconstruction phase, which was covered in Northeast's earlier article, was for the most part under Kelley's direction, the reconstruction is a totally cooperative venture with the Met and other experts. It has provided Kelley with access to some of the world's leading authorities in art and historic preservation as well as to the latest cutting edge technologies.
Kelley is Very Appreciative

"The people at the Met have been unbelievably cooperative," he said.

After the Winne house was dismantled two years ago, it was loaded into a steel trailer and put into stroage at the Rotterdam Industrial Park in Schenectady. This required periodic checks to ensure that no moisture - the enemy of preservation - was building up, Kelley said.

In the meantime, the Met prepared the third floor. Among the necessary renovations was removal of abestos that had been used when the American Wing was constructed during the 1920s. In addition, a number of missing components were needed for the Winne house. These needed to be researched so that their re-creation would be as close as possible to the original.

Searches were required to match the missing front door, staircase, jambless fireplace, and the shutters. Probable matches were located for the front door at the 1762 Theunis Slingerland house in Feura Bush, only a few miles from the Winne house; a match for the missing staircase and jambless fireplace was found at the Mabee Farm, a 1670 farmhouse in Rotterdam, NY, which is now a museum; and matching shutters were uncovered at a house in nearby North Greenbush, now at the NYS Museum. The creation of these components was put in the hands o fmaster craftsman and historic preservationist Bill McMillen, who had directed the restoration of Richmond Town, the living history village, in Staten Island.

Additionally, hearth tiles from the original fireplace also needed to be created based on the one surviving tile found in the house. Commissioned for this was Don Carpentier of Eastfield, who also is providing the crown glass for the casement windows.

Houses during this period came from out of the earth, and materials from nearby were used because builders weren't able to transport the heavy materials needed to construct houses, Kelley explained.

For example, the house needed to be near a clay bed and a stream to make bricks, and near a forest area to obtain the timber. The only materials brought in by the pioneers were the glass for the windows and the Delft hearth tiles, if they could afford them, used to insulate the fireplace.

To learn as much as possible about the Winnes, a thorough genealogical search was done of Winne progenitor Peter Winne, the great grandfater of Daniel Peter Winne.

"We commissioned a local historian, Peter Christoph, a former employee of NYS archives," said Peter Kenny, curator of th eMet's Decorative Arts section in the American wing.

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Articles Hudson Valley History Restored The Metropolitan Museum of Art takes in Albany's circa 1750 Winne House By Tom Calarco for Northeast June 2005
In the days of futures past, art and technology are collaborating to bring things back. Preservationists of history like Michael Kelley, of Niskayuna, NY, are not merely preserving but restoring it with the help of the latest technologies.
Kelley, who was selected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to deconstruct the circa 1750 Dutch-style Daniel Peter Winne House in Albany County for installment in the renovation of its American Wing, and whose work on the house was described in the April 2003 issue of Northeast, is currently reconstructing the house at the Met. I had a chance to visit the first week in May, and masonry on the walls was in progress. Only the groote or grand room of the house will be exhibited. It will, however, be the entire section of the house, both inside and outside, which distinguishes it from the other architectural exhibits in the wing's Decorative Arts and Interiors section that show only interiors. On the third floor, where the Winne house is being installed, these interiors include the Meetinghouse Gallery, a high ceiling, open-timbered, reduced-scale adaptation of the Old Ship Meetinghouse built in 1681 that still serves a congregation in Hingham, Massachusetts; the Hart Room, the actual interior living room of the former Thomas Hart house built in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1674; and the Wentworth Room, the actual interior of the John Wentworth house, built circa 1700 in Portsmouth, NH. In contrast to these structures, the Winne house is Dutch style, which is why the building was so coveted by the museum. It's also a nice complement to the opulent 40-foot by 18-foot hall of the Van Rensselaer mansion, now a major exhibit on the second floor of the American Wing, which was the home of Stephen Van Rensselaer, Daniel Peter Winne's patron, to whom he owed certain obligations according to the Dutch patron system.
	While the deconstruction phase, which was covered in Northeast's earlier article, was for the most part under Kelley's direction, the reconstruction is a totally cooperative venture with the Met and other experts. It has provided Kelley with access to some of the world's leading authorities in art and historic preservation as well as to the latest cutting edge technologies. Kelley is Very Appreciative
"The people at the Met have been unbelievably cooperative," he said. After the Winne house was dismantled two years ago, it was loaded into a steel trailer and put into stroage at the Rotterdam Industrial Park in Schenectady. This required periodic checks to ensure that no moisture - the enemy of preservation - was building up, Kelley said. In the meantime, the Met prepared the third floor. Among the necessary renovations was removal of abestos that had been used when the American Wing was constructed during the 1920s. In addition, a number of missing components were needed for the Winne house. These needed to be researched so that their re-creation would be as close as possible to the original. Searches were required to match the missing front door, staircase, jambless fireplace, and the shutters. Probable matches were located for the front door at the 1762 Theunis Slingerland house in Feura Bush, only a few miles from the Winne house; a match for the missing staircase and jambless fireplace was found at the Mabee Farm, a 1670 farmhouse in Rotterdam, NY, which is now a museum; and matching shutters were uncovered at a house in nearby North Greenbush, now at the NYS Museum. The creation of these components was put in the hands o fmaster craftsman and historic preservationist Bill McMillen, who had directed the restoration of Richmond Town, the living history village, in Staten Island.