Coach Barn Rehabilitation: Update 3

We're far from making "finishing touches" on the Coach Barn, but most of the major system upgrades are complete, allowing for more cosmetic projects to begin. Take a walk through the main rooms, and start to imagine how this building will feel as an historic, year-round, sustainably designed and operated space for learning and convening.

The Stalls
The stable area will be used for informal breakout meeting spaces and storage (in the box stalls). The floor cobbles have been patched and an arched doorway repaired. The box stalls have been repainted to match the exterior trim, and the tie stall ironwork has been carefully treated to stabilize the rust into a dark, textured surface. Overhead, the original beadboard ceiling has been sanded, and new lighting is on its way.

The Kitchen
A dark boiler room is getting closer to being an amazing, bright kitchen to serve events and workshops. It’s a complete makeover. The floor has been leveled, new walls and floor tiling installed, new venting systems set up (the stove hood has been mounted), and more. Appliances should be arriving soon! The arched door to the courtyard is being painstakingly replicated and will be installed after the courtyard is fully paved (more on that later).

Meeting Room
This room received some specific wood TLC because of water damage over the years due to poor exterior drainage. Here you can see the paint tests for the original (nonfunctional) wall radiators, which are being kept as signature building elements. But you won’t see the sound suppression material being mounted behind the radiators (here and throughout the halls): a visually unobtrusive way to dampen the noise and echoes in these expansive rooms. Thanks to the geothermal system, this room will be a year-round space.

East Hall
The lighting fixtures are perhaps the most visually new element, both here in the West Hall and Meeting Room. They’re energy efficient and brighten the wood-paneled spaces. (We’re also testing black squares of sound suppression boards above them.) But when the room needs to be darkened, unobtrusive blinds sit above each window. Black speakers now hang throughout the four major rooms. They can be used synchronously–to broadcast one speech or workshop throughout the building, or asynchronously, confined to one room. 

Elevator Room
Perhaps more than other rooms, this space saw farm activity long after the estate’s heyday, and it showed. The cobble floor was repaired, as were many holes drilled at various times into the cobbled walls. This involved careful color matching to the stone and mortar. The ceiling had been more frequently stained over the years so it is a slightly darker color than the adjoining halls.  Here, as throughout the building, we repaired many windows and preserved original paned glass wherever possible. And the lift is receiving new mechanics so it can still move heavy items between floors (but not people!).

West Hall
The newly sanded floors look beautiful here and in the other halls, though they’re currently back under heavy-duty paper to protect them from the scuffle of ongoing work. The West Hall will be a three-season space, with many of the same features as the East Hall. 

Brick Room
Most recently used as a workshop breakout space or staging area, the brick room has received significant upgrades. A new door, carefully designed to be compatible with the style of others, was installed to allow access to the side lawn. We’re also preserving a floor area where cobble was removed to create a mechanic’s pit for servicing cars in the early 1910s, then later filled with cement. At the far end, new walls were built to create rooms for sprinkler infrastructure and storage. Wherever we built or repaired interior walls, we repurposed existing beadboard or had it milled to the specs of the originals.

Courtyard
The courtyard is being resurfaced with granite pavers, set above a gravel base with improved drainage. Once completed, we can hang the exterior doors to be flush with the granite, and accessible to all. Surrounding the courtyard, we’ve repaired all the eyebrow windows so favored by architect Robert H. Robertson, made small repairs to the slate roof, and we’ve just restored the freshly gold painted hands to the face of the clock!

The Systems
The rehabilitated Coach Barn will be refreshed and beautiful and honor its past. But much of its transformation—a massive scope of work—will be invisible! The fire suppression system, the electrical upgrades, the water system that now services both ends of the building, and the renewable geothermal system—from pipes deep in the ground to extensive ductwork in the rafters. And still to come: the internet system, allowing us to host robust workshops, and monitor the performance of all the other systems! 

The People
Thank you to the electricians, painters, drillers, masons, site workers, carpenters, plumbers, tile setters, historic preservationists, roofers, and other service professionals of all persuasions, and on and on. While we often write things like, “the flooring was installed,” we know who did the installing, and we honor and deeply thank all of those people who have contributed their skills to the transformation of the Coach Barn.