Excellence Award Spotlight: Restoration of the Yaddo Mansion
The restoration of the Yaddo Mansion in Saratoga Springs is one of this year’s Excellence in Historic Preservation Award winners. This post is part of an in depth series exploring all of the 2020 Award winners.
A view of the mansion’s exterior, including the porte-cochere, which required extensive repairs during the restoration process.
The Queen Anne Revival Yaddo mansion is a federally-designated National Historic Landmark. Built in the 1890s as the summer home of Spencer and Katrina Trask, the mansion sits on a sprawling 400-acre estate. The couple bequeathed the entire estate, as well as their fortune, to the establishment of an artist residency in 1900. The Corporation of Yaddo welcomed its first group of artists in 1926, and has been fostering creativity ever since. Today this world-renowned residency program hosts about 220 artists a year from all over the world. They have a commitment to aesthetic daring, social egalitarianism, internationalism, and the support of artists at political risk. Collectively, Yaddo artists have won 77 Pulitzer Prizes, 31 MacArthur Fellowships, 69 National Book Awards, and a Nobel Prize.
Clockwise from top left: A collage of photos showing the detailed restoration process of the roof, windows, and other decorative elements (Credit: Stephen Reilly, LTRW); A wide shot of the building’s exterior east side after restoration (Credit: Elizabeth Haynes Photography); a photo of “Katrina’s Room” featuring beautifully restored stained and leaded glass windows (Credit: Elizabeth Haynes Photography); the restored roofscape (Credit: Stephen Reilly, LTRW); the restored porte-cochere (Credit: Elizabeth Haynes Photography); exterior window detail after restoration (Credit: Elizabeth Haynes Photography).
Repairs and general upkeep of the mansion were done piece by piece over the years, causing many deferred maintenance needs to build up. A major rehabilitation began several years ago focused on restoring the building envelope and the replacement of certain mechanical systems. Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson was brought on in 2016 to tackle the project. The Albany-based firm spent three years meticulously rehabilitating the building envelope, including: removing, restoring, and reinstalling more than 500 window sashes and frames and 20 exterior doors; replacing the entire copper and slate roof on 104 separate roof planes, four original skylights, all gutters and downspouts and new lightning protection; repointing all of the masonry on the building; restoring all of the exterior woodwork, cement stucco, and decorative ironwork; rebuilding the intricately detailed stone support wall of the porte-cochere; providing new concrete foundations at the porte-cochere and another stone porch; and providing new subsurface drainage systems.
All of these meticulous improvements to stonework, masonry, and building engineering marked an incredibly detailed restoration, ensuring that Yaddo will nurture creativity for ages to come. Yaddo is not just a local treasure – it has national and international importance. The League was happy to see the investment made here to preserve this historic space and steward it well into the future.
The project team included: Elaina Richardson, President, The Corporation of Yaddo | Owner; Stephen F. Reilly, AIA, LEED AP, Partner-In-Charge, Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture & Preservation, LLP | Architect; Michael Mucci, President, Louis C. Allegrone, Inc. | General Contractor; Spectrum Environmental Associates | Environmental Engineering; Peter Rohlf, Project Manager, Rohlf's Stained & Leaded Glass Studio, Inc. | Stained Glass Restoration; The LA Group | Landscape Architecture; James Diamantopoulos, Danda Inc. | Cost Estimating; Dennis Crowley, Project Manager, Crowley Lightning Protection, Inc. | Lightning Protection; M/E Engineering | M/E/P Engineering; Susan McClymonds, Architect | Specifications; Werner Horst, Project Manager/Fabricator, Horst Around the House | Metal (decorative) Restoration; MJ Engineering and Land Surveying | Site/Civil Surveying; Julie L. Sloan, LLC | Stained glass consulting; Victoria Eastman, Project Manager/Painter, Victoria Eastman Painting | Paint; Silman Associates | Structural Engineer; Michael Jenkins, Project Manager, Classic Environmental, Inc. | Asbestos Abatement; Dente Engineering | Geotechnical; B. J. Kozlowski, Project Manager, B&B Plumbing & Heating, Inc. | HVAC; Scott Stroffoleno, Project Manager, J.A. Bradley & Sons, Inc. | Electrical; Canvas Works Designs | Floor cloth; Matthew Wooliver, Project Manager, Douglas J. Woolvier & Sons, Inc. | Roofing; James Slovack, Project Manager, Split Line Construction & Excavation, Inc. | Site Work; Harry Judge, Project Manager/Fabricator, Distinctive Cabinetry | Wood Restoration (Windows); Peter Seward, Project Manager, Conserve Architecture | Wood Restoration (Exterior and Trim)