Diagnostic help for buildings.(Design notes)(Building Conservation Associates)(Organization overview)

In his article in this issue about Royalston, Massachusetts, William Nathaniel Banks mentions the stenciled walls in several houses in the town. Although stenciling was a simple and colorful way of decorating rooms in the nineteenth century, the fact that so many examples survive in Royalston is remarkable. Understandably, some remained in a better state of preservation than others, and Banks notes that those in at least one house in Royalston were restored by Brian Powell while he was a conservator at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) in Boston. Impressed by his work, Banks followed the trail and located Powell, who had joined the Boston office of Building Conservation Associates when the conservation department at Historic New England closed. We are delighted that Banks passed this information along to us and are pleased to be able to give a brief outline of the myriad services offered by Building Conservation Associates, which we hope will prove to be yet another resource for our readers.

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The restoration of many American buildings, particularly those erected after the middle of the nineteenth century, calls for an experienced team of scientists, historians, and specialists in a range of materials such as stone, painted finishes, plaster, bronze, cast iron, and terra-cotta. In 1985 Raymond M. Pepi founded Building Conservation Associates in New York City with an eye toward assessing all the facets of historic preservation--from the actual work of conservation to completing the necessary paperwork for obtaining a tax ...