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Final Tour of the Federal-Style Home
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" -This grey color on the facade, would this have been an authentic federal style color?"
" -Many. Yes. I mean we think many federal houses were grey. Grays and whites were common."
" -Yes. Well I tell, it really highlights the, the, the detailing on the house. All of the clapboard is pretty much original."
" -Right. This beaded clapboard is, except the areas that we had to repair where the old piazza was."
" -And you can't tell where the repair was. Tell me something, what do you do about that window up there, the shutter, the bracket. It looks a little bit odd."
" -Well, it's a difficult thing to deal with because the bracket was original and we know the house had shutters. But, in the federal period and as in most of colonial era, they used the shutters to control light and also protect from the weather. So, often the shutters will probably close partially to keep the sunlight from coming in the house."
" -Yes. Were used to seeing shutters on a colonial and they're always open."
" -Right."
" -Period. But in real life back then, they would've been open and shut and some would've been totally shut and others not."
" -Right. So we probably [unk] them a little bit in."
" -Yes."
" -Permanently."
" -What's going on down here with the, with the stucco in this tan color?"
" -Well stucco in Charleston, as in most areas was always made to look like sand stone."
" -Yes."
" -So, we've come up with a lime wash that's replicating a sand stone from the period. And after it's been washed, now were coming back and scouring in where the motor joints would be."
" -Yes."
" -And that's what Bobby's working on now. Were actually laying out stone blocks. And we'll probably have to come back with some more washes."
" -Yes."
" -But this would have been probably what was here."
" -Now you said this is a lime wash that you put on the stucco? "
" -Right. It's simply just like a white wash with coloring added to it. There's lime and then a pigment such as okra or one of the iron oxides to give it the color."
" -So it's something that's easily done today."
" -That's all you, that's all you put in it?"
" -That's right."
" -I tell you, I love this graceful Charleston staircase. This double staircase. It really sets off the house."
" -Yes."
" -Now, designing the portico was a challenge wasn't it?"
" -Yes it was. We tried to get the scale right and we, we tried to look at old pattern books and different designs of buildings in this period to get the parapets right and get the height and the depth."
" -Yes. The scale is the most important thing. But here on the inside, you created a ceiling that's very decorative."
" -Right. Well this is a federal period house and we looked back to the Adams brothers in England to get designs such as this. This was actually in a pattern book on Adam's English pattern book and------"
" -You've made it all out of ply wood boards, molding and then of course you had to mill that round piece."
" -Yes but pretty simple elements put all together really make a nice design."
" -Very elegant. Now what are these round things here on the deck?"
" -Well, these columns we had, but unfortunately we were missing the bases."
" -These are solid pine original columns from the property."
" -Right. And some of the bases were destroyed so we had to replicate them and that can be done in several ways. For us, the easiest way to do it was to make a profile of the actual base and then build a form that the profile could swing in."
" -Hoe did you get the form?"
" -Well, actually just took a 5-gallon bucket and cut a section out of it and took a simple hinge and attached it to this profile. So this will swing and you can see it cuts the arc."
" -Yes."
" -And then by using------"
" -So that's creating the mould basically. The negative."
" -Right. Creates the negative of the base and then we just simply pour auto body filler and you can see some of it here in the mould and it makes the perfect piece and it fit, you know, right in this area around the column."
" -Now you can really see the difference between the grey and the white on the facade and how it perks up all the detailing back here where there's still work in progress right."
" -A lot more depth."
" -Yes. Tell me about all this brick. Is this from the site?"
" -We've, we took this from the front porch piers------"
" -Yes."
" -that we dismantled and------"
" -Yes."
" -and we're, we've cleaned them and were reusing them for the back elevation for the foundation."
" -A really big brick. This is a typical Charleston brick?"
" -Right. Often, these are called old English brick in Charleston------"
" -Yes."
" -coz they were the English size."
" -Yes. And so this entire wall where we see all the black in there which is just felt paper will be filled in with that brick."
" -Right. It's getting bricked up now."
" -Very nice. Now the back facade of the house is all new construction because hurricane Hugo had destroyed what was here."
" -Right."
" -And we, we know that it dated from a later part in the century right?"
" -But we've given it kind of a real traditional look that could be [unk]settle period, it could be later------"
" -Yes."
" -with the same number of windows that you see on the front with the central doorway."
" -Yes."
" -And it follows to the central hall all the way through the house."
" -Yes."
" -And then this arched windows up to the top, gives it a nice centerpiece for the back."
" -Is that an off the shelf window?"
" -No. We made the jam here on site------"
" -Yes."
" -and we had Withers Industries, the [unk] from make the sash in their shop."
" -Right."
" -And then here you see were, were putting in the back staircase which will------"
" -Which will be a wooden stairs."
" -It will be a wooden staircase. But were gonna flair it at the bottom so that it has a nice little federal detail."
" -Yes."
" -And it'll keep the same railings coming on down."
" -That'll be real pretty."
" -Yes."
" -And then of course, the porch itself will all be screened."
" -Screens that'll serve as really a, a, a room on the back of the house."
" -Right off the kitchen. Great place to take lunch."