Hiraeth Restorations, LLC

Hiraeth Restorations, LLC Facebook home for Hiraeth Restorations, recreating the past one piece at a time. Working in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and, soon, Maryland.

11/05/2025

Life could be so much easier. Alas, it is no one except only me. Long day finishing up the pointing ahead.

When I trace almost all my ancestry to the Mid-Atlantic colonies(excepting the odd Quebecois great grandfather), I guess...
10/19/2025

When I trace almost all my ancestry to the Mid-Atlantic colonies(excepting the odd Quebecois great grandfather), I guess I couldn’t expect anything different. Funny that my German Mennonite ancestors don’t show up.

WARNING!!!! This will be a long post.Several months ago, I was requested to give an estimate for removing the paint from...
10/16/2025

WARNING!!!! This will be a long post.

Several months ago, I was requested to give an estimate for removing the paint from the 1860’s-era metal plates at a local, formerly Methodist, church. Before stepping foot on the site, I did a bit of research on the history of the building. That, of course, is my standard practice with every project.

In my personal collection, I have a small book published in 1860, written by a former Methodist preacher about his grandfathers. I picked it up on eBay for twenty or thirty bucks five years ago, never thinking it would ever be of any significance. I bought it mostly because one of my own ancestors, an elder in the local Presbyterian church in the first decade of the 1800’s, was briefly mentioned. It sat half forgotten on my shelf until now.

I read it more carefully and found a much deeper connection to the book than I ever imagined.

First of all, the subject of the book, the Reverend Thomas Miller and a former resident of Cherry Hill, was obviously a close associate of my family. My own 4th great grandfather was the first treasurer and builder of the original Methodist church in Cherry Hill. The Union Church, the burial site of Miller and deeply connected to his descendants, was just a few miles down the road.

The connection goes far beyond the printed pages.

The original owner of this particular copy was John W. Simpers, a grandson of the Reverend Miller. Simpers was also a lieutenant in Company A of the 8th Maryland Infantry. Under his direct command were two brothers, related to me both as uncles(through marriage) and as cousins(they were grandsons of my ancestor, the former treasurer mentioned earlier. One of these cousins/uncles was wounded and captured at Spottsylvania in 1864, losing a leg. His mother was born where I live now.

The final connection that comes to mind is the second owner of the book, Altha Simpers Summerill. She was the niece of the first owner, John Simpers. Simpers had no surviving children upon his death, making it easy to see how his niece ended up with this book.

She married a prosperous lawyer from Woodbury, New Jersey and spent her adult life in that area. Anyone familiar with me personally knows that my son has lived near Woodbury with his mother and grandmother for ten years now. In that time, I’ve become very familiar with the area and I was surprised to find this native Cecilian woman buried within sight of a road I travel so frequently. Her home in Woodbury is still there today. Altha Summerill was instrumental in the er****on of a monument to the local Gloucester County boys who served their country in the First World War. That monument is still there today, almost as much a monument to this civic-minded lady as to the veterans themselves. Incidentally, and I feel bad for this, but I was almost about to remove her ownership plate from the book to see what signatures May be hidden beneath it. Fortunately, I stopped myself and researched the poor woman. She and her uncle are now both part of the history.

The church is not quite ready for the work so that’s definitely off the table for awhile. I can’t complain. I’ve got more than enough to do with the continuing Salem work keeping me busy for another six months and the Pike Creek springhouse about to restart in the next two weeks. I ought to be pretty busy until at least early next summer.

There’s always plenty to do for a small one man operation. Between field work and the YouTube channel, I’m constantly moving. This little side quest into some local history and its connection to my own people was a brief moment of relaxation.

The book is now at the Union Church. I have permanently loaned it to their collection and am free to retrieve it at any time. I’ll never donate something outright to any organization. Ever since I learned that my ancestor’s Revolutionary War musket “disappeared” from the collection of a state historical society, I don’t trust organizations to protect, in the long term, what rightfully belongs to my own descendants. However, I trust the good folks of the Union Church to appreciate something so deeply connected to their history.

Nearly finished removing the Portland cement from this almost three hundred year old brick office building. It’s been a ...
09/06/2025

Nearly finished removing the Portland cement from this almost three hundred year old brick office building. It’s been a slow and tedious process in order to minimize the damage to the surviving bricks.

The Portland was applied liberally, often plastered over the faces of the bricks to cover wear and other imperfections. This, of course, made the removal that much more onerous.

There were pleasant surprises, however. In one small area, evidence of possible 18th of 19th Century stucco(which was simply the same lime and sand mixture as the mortar and interior plaster, often added as an effective extra layer of protection or insulation over a brick or stone base) peeped through in the form of a lime and sand mortar mixed, imperfectly, with what appears to be cattle hair. “Dead mice”, I’ve heard them called: clumps of hair that were not properly teased into the mortar mix.

Whenever conducting work of this nature, documenting every step is absolutely essential. By the end of next week, this documentation will be published as three related YouTube videos. Can’t wait!

Tedious work. Removing the Portland mortar from the oldest law office(1735) in the United States without destroying the ...
07/08/2025

Tedious work. Removing the Portland mortar from the oldest law office(1735) in the United States without destroying the fragile bricks is going to take time and a delicate touch. We pointed a small area two weeks ago to see how our new lime mortar will do. It’s surprisingly hard and durable. However, the colour isn’t quite to my liking. Will probably add a touch more lime and use a lighter coloured sand to brighten up the joints a bit. The darker sand gives it a natural look that, for this particular building, doesn’t seem quite right to me.

I kind of suspect that this little building may have been stuccoed when it was first built. If it was a field stone building, I’d be willing to bet that it was. Colonial era brickwork, however, could easily go either way. The stucco would add an extra layer of protection to the underlying materials and, honestly, it’s much faster and easier to stucco a surface than to fill in each individual mortar joint. With no clear evidence otherwise, we will simply point the joints.

Another wet and weary day. Despite the weather, it’s been an exciting morning. The first plate went on with no real stru...
05/22/2025

Another wet and weary day. Despite the weather, it’s been an exciting morning. The first plate went on with no real struggle. That’s relative, of course. If you consider wrestling a 250 lbs white oak timber up a pair of ladders and having it win a couple of rounds to be not a struggle, then it’s an uneventful morning.

The second plate, the subject of this post, is going to be the real challenge. It is a couple feet higher than the first due to the grade of the ground. It’s longer to span an opening, naturally making it heavier. However, I won’t complain about that. I’m happy to be challenged. Once I hit forty, I came to the conclusion that when a white oak six by six could whip me, I’d be ready to go to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Until then, I’ll give a good old “ooorrah” reminiscent of my old man’s Marine Corps exclamation and do what needs done.

However, that isn’t the point of this post either.

It’s rather more exciting than that. In removing the old top plate, I was pleasantly surprised to find clear evidence that the attic joists were tied into the plates on one half of the building with mortise and tenon joints. I even found the fragile remains of the broken peg!

This complicates things a bit but, in another way, simplifies the work. It’s a complex little building we have here, altered from a springhouse to an office building in, I believe, the 1830’s. These alterations are clearly evident in the subtle construction details between the original springhouse and office. This simple mortise and tenon joint is one such piece of evidence.

Almost ready for installation! The roof framing for the springhouse is roughed out. Two more rafters and the first secti...
05/19/2025

Almost ready for installation! The roof framing for the springhouse is roughed out. Two more rafters and the first section will be ready to go by the end of the day tomorrow. Just my luck, they’re calling for rain Wednesday so we’ll likely be soaked to the skin when we slide them into place.

The joints are a bit loose at the moment. This is by design. In most old buildings, stone outbuildings in particular, perfect measurements are hard to get and there is so much variation that all but rough measurements would be almost meaningless anyway. When these rafters are slid into position, there will be a bit of chisel work to be done to make each joint as close to perfect, both for aesthetic and structural reasons, as possible. When the wooden pegs are driven home, every joint should be almost a work of art if you think along those lines. I don’t really. It’s just practical work using methods that take the most advantage of the natural strengths and durability of wood.

At least the shingles are ready. Just need the lath and we’ll be ready to finish the first half of the roof. Once the buzzard moves out later this year, we’ll tackle the other half.

We finally finished the rafter seats in the top plates for the Newark springhouse! It went moderately well despite spora...
05/18/2025

We finally finished the rafter seats in the top plates for the Newark springhouse! It went moderately well despite sporadic rain over the past week. In these slots will sit the new rafters, each carefully notched to fit firmly and safely.

As far as tools, a couple of chisels, a mortising axe, a simple mallet, a couple of squares, and a 120 year old saw were all the was needed. Actually, the mortising axe was never needed. Too bad. I love using it.

The most essential step in the entire process was producing a simple pattern. When making complex joints by hand, identical pieces are almost impossible to produce. Instead, there will invariably be some slight variation. The pattern is simply to serve as a rough guide. When the rafters are cut and shaped to fit, each will be made for a specific rafter seat.

Tomorrow morning, plates and rafters and tools will be taken across the crick for final fitting. With almost no level spaces in my own yard, I’ll have to do the rafter fitting at my dad’s shop. Tomorrow is not going to be especially difficult. Stressful, yes. One bad cut and a rafter will be ruined. It’ll require a great deal of patience and precision to bring it all together without serious loss.

If tomorrow goes well, these rafters should be firmly installed in the springhouse and ready for shingles by the middle of the week.

A video covering the production of the rafters is now on my YouTube channel. Preparing the plates and fitting the rafters will be a presentation released this Thursday.

Found this fellow trying to cross the road in front of my house. He’s not very shy. Guess he and I will take a walk deep...
05/12/2025

Found this fellow trying to cross the road in front of my house. He’s not very shy. Guess he and I will take a walk deeper into the woods in a bit.

The first new rafter for the springhouse roof is just about finished. A bit of tweaking to get the right pitch, then dri...
04/30/2025

The first new rafter for the springhouse roof is just about finished. A bit of tweaking to get the right pitch, then drill out the holes for the pins, and they’ll be ready. Just six more to go!

Yesterday, in the pouring rain, I carefully examined what is purported to be the oldest law office in the United States....
04/12/2025

Yesterday, in the pouring rain, I carefully examined what is purported to be the oldest law office in the United States. This will be the subject of my next YouTube video, covering any issues that need addressed and how I propose to resolve them.

In my research, I learned that the county courthouse was built the same year(1735) practically across the street from this office.

Before the advent of formal brickyards, bricks would often be produced on or close to the proposed building site. Due to the high probability of losing bricks in the firing due to breakage, underbaking, etc, many extras would be produced.

My theory is that the bricks were produced in the same firing, a massive clamp being built using the dried but unfired bricks. The extra, less desirable bricks, would be used on something like this small octagonal building. This would explain why such a high proportion of the bricks used in the construction are so much softer than others.

The real question I have that would resolve the matter: were cupolas in early 18th century buildings typically supported by any masonry? The courthouse cupola is an octagon. If any sort of stack was built in the center of the structure using specially molded corner bricks, it may explain why this office building is also octagonal. Corner bricks would be more liable to damage and failure in firing, meaning that a higher proportion than normal of these as extras would be made for the courthouse. Their unique shape and size would make them more difficult to work and fire than typical rectangular bricks.

Just a theory. All 18th Century buildings I’ve studied have been too modest to include a cupola so it’s simply a theory. Reckon I’ll find out eventually.

Another day on the springhouse. It’s tough working alone. Six by six white oak timbers are heavy. Once they’re over abou...
04/09/2025

Another day on the springhouse. It’s tough working alone. Six by six white oak timbers are heavy. Once they’re over about twelve feet in length, they become downright ornery.

In 1924, one of my uncles(Eli, my Grandmom Birney’s older brother) was killed when a timber fell on his head while working on a barn in Newark, Delaware. With that always in the back of my mind, I’m careful to an almost nonsensical level. I never place myself directly under a timber. It makes for slow work. I could easily(relatively speaking) simply lift these timbers up and onto the stone work, it would put me in a bad situation if something slipped or if the stone ledge wasn’t quite large enough. The ladders were my best friends today.

The original timbers were locked into position by iron brackets. It appears that these were only installed on the two ends. I’m going to do a bit of overkill and install new ones with two on each timber. This will support the roof far better.

The mortise and tenon are a bit loose. Once I drive in the wooden pins when I install the trusses, these joints will tighten up dramatically.

Deep in the foundation, I could just catch a glimpse of a crude set of steps. This was probably the genesis for this particular springhouse. Just a limestone-lined pool of fresh spring water on the roadside, later converted to a springhouse. I can almost picture a British grenadier filling his canteen in this exact spot while Howe was on the march to the Brandywine. The army passed within a quarter mile of this spot so it’s entirely possible.

The other half of the building has not flooded despite the recent heavy rain. Any moisture comes through the leaky roof above. I’m thrilled to see that my conclusion about the source of the stagnant pool of water formerly in the foundation has proven correct.

Alright, one final question: I grew up dealing with hardwoods. Identifying the differences between pine species and hemlock has always been tough for me. The timbers in the last two photos, do you think they’re hemlock or white pine? I’ve got more samples at home and I’m willing to bet they’re hemlock. The separation of the wood along the rings gives me that impression.

Barring any further evidence to the contrary, I’ll probably use hemlock throughout this reconstruction except where white oak would be more effective. The top plates just installed for instance. Solid white oaks that should last out the century.

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New Castle County, DE

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