Hauck Mansion gets another chance

The Hauck Mansion has lived many different lives since its construction in 1904. At first it was used as a residence and farm for Louis Hauck of the John Hauck Brewing Co. There, draft horses could catch some rest and recover before being sent back downtown to pull wagons for the Dayton Street Brewery. Most recently it was used as a music school. But more than one hundred years later, it has fallen into disrepair and found itself up for sale in a Sheriff’s auction last summer. That’s when Andy Thul stepped in.

Mr. Thul, who spent the majority of his career in residential building, purchased the house at last summer’s auction and is restoring it back to its former beauty. "I couldn’t stand the thought of tearing it down," he said. "You just can’t rebuild that kind of craftsmanship."

And so the work begins. Mr. Thul started with the most important element of any house, the roof. After the chimney repairs were completed, he called The Durable Slate Company to repair the red flat slab shingle tile. The Durable Slate Company was recommended to Mr. Thul by a consultant from his local preservation society because of its commitment to historic preservation and reputation of excellent craftsmanship.

While the roofers from The Durable Slate Company are busy making their meticulous repairs on the red flat slab shingle roof, Mr. Thul is already thinking about the next thing on the repair list. Masonry and other external elements of the structure will be tackled before anything else.

Once the mansion is returned to its former state of beauty and usefulness, Mr. Thul envisions it being used for commercial purposes. Possibilities include another music hall, banquet facility or offices among others. Mr. Thul is even considering putting an addition on the back of the house if necessary. Paperwork is also underway to designate the property on the National Register of Historic Places.

Updated pictures of the house will follow as work progresses. What do you hope to see it used for?

Glynn Academy gets a lift

As the Glynn Academy project is coming to an end, I thought it was appropriate to reflect upon how far it's come. Watch Shawn Beckwith describe the restoration project in THIS VIDEO.

Enjoy!

Background information about the project:

The Durable Restoration Company, along with T&T House Moving and Heavy Rigging Inc. from Green Cove Springs, Fl., was contracted by The Glynn County School Board in Brunswick, Ga. to transport the circa 1840’s Old Glynn Academy School house back to the school campus in Brunswick Ga. In the Early 1900’s, the community of Sterling, Ga. provided a piece of land and the Glynn Academy donated this building to them for a school. It was dismantled and moved and re-erected in Sterling and served as an African American School until the 1950’s. DRC removed the roof, gable ends and cupola. We labeled and numbered the roof trusses for reuse, labeled and numbered exterior siding and interior T&G material for the insertion of the steel beams and cross beams to lift the second story off the first. This facilitated the 11 mile securitious journey due to road construction back to Glynn academy in downtown Brunswick Ga.

The second story was cut free from the first and two cranes lifted the second story by the steel beams then inserted and placed it upon two dollies to allow the second floor to be transported to the new site. Steel beams and dollies were placed under the first floor and the bricks of the piers were saved for reuse.

At Glynn Academy, new concrete footers and pads for internal support piers were constructed. The first floor was driven into location and shored up so the new concrete block support wall could be built to hold the structure. After the wall was built, modern steel connectors, rods and tie downs were installed in the foundation and traversed through the first floor. Next, the second story was lifted by two cranes and placed gently and squarely onto the first floor. The structural rods were connected, traversed and concealed to the roof then straps were installed to attach the first and second floors. A new truss structure was designed for modern building codes by John A. Tuten Architects. This was installed and the original trusses were re-erected and attached along side the new for historical references as directed by Robin Williams, the preservation consultant from the Savannah College of Art and Design. The roof was sheeted per modern codes. Former modern drywall partitions were removed. Interior T&G materials were removed from the front and back walls and from one side of the two interior walls that were labeled and numbered. Then, a layer of plywood was installed to add structural stability and the selectively removed material was reinstalled. While this was occurring, the selectively removed, labeled siding, interior trim and stairs were reinstalled to the original locations with new material to match the existing that was sacrificed during the move. Additionally, the salvage brick was reused on the foundation to simulate that the building was placed on brick piers. Finally, the remaining block foundation wall was painted a dark color to accent the piers.