Alicia Campbell & Steve Jordan, "Two Talks on the Restoration of the Mark Twain Study"

Presented on May 14, 2025 in the Quarry Farm Barn as part of the 2025 Spring Trouble Begins Lecture Series.

The CMTS Trouble Begins and Park Church Summer Lecture Series are made possible through the support of the Mark Twain Foundation.

"Restoration of the Mark Twain Study Windows" by Steve Jordan

The goal of the restoration of the Mark Twain Study windows was to return them to their original condition, to the degree possible, while respecting and saving the original materials—wood, glass, and hardware. The windows are “slip head” meaning the sashes move up into the wall cavity. Most of the sashes were stuck from careless painting and the sash cords that balanced the sashes were broken. Several broken panes had been replaced with plexiglass. We removed the sashes and boarded up the openings using the HUD do-no-harm method – no fasteners were inserted into the structure. Once in my workshop, we softened the putty and paint in a professional steambox and removed the glass. Any assumed original glass was labeled by location so it could be returned to the original light. The sashes were repaired as necessary, lightly sanded, primed with exterior oil primer, and painted with acrylic-urethane non-blocking paint. Some of the original three-strand twisted cord was still attached to the weights. We purchased a similar twisted hemp cord from a rope manufacturer in California. All of the original hardware remained with the Study but some of it was broken or badly rusted. We cleaned up the rusted pulleys in a chemical bath and painted hardware in a crockpot of boiling water and detergent. There were redundant hardware closures, and the dates when the various pieces were installed is unknown. The sash locks were original but need repairs; we don’t know when the spring pins and slide bolts were installed. We cleaned and reinstalled all of the hardware since photographic and paint layer evidence indicated all of it was early.

Steve Jordan graduated from Memphis State University (BA History) and Cornell University’s graduate program in Historic Preservation. He was the rehab advisor for the Landmark Society of Western New York for six years, an architectural conservator for Bero Architecture for four years, a contributing editor for Old-House Journal from 1998 through 2015, and operated a window restoration business for twenty years. He is the author of several books, including THE WINDOW SASH BIBLE; STORM WINDOWS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO WOOD, WOOD COMBINATION, ALUMINUM, AND INTERIOR STORM WINDOWS; and WINDOW GLAZING: PUTTYING AND REPLACING GLASS IN TRADITIONAL WOOD WINDOWS. Steve travels extensively to teach restoration skills.

Alicia Campbell, "Mark Twain Study: Analysis of Original Interior and Exterior Finishes"

As part of the restoration of the Mark Twain Study, an investigation was performed to determine the original finishes used on the building when it was constructed in 1874. This talk will share the overall findings and methods utilized to uncover the materials and colors used on the interior and exterior building surfaces. Given that the exterior originally had a “sanded finish” popular in the latter part of the 19th century, the Elmira College faculty and students’ sand research will also be shared.

Alicia Campbell, of Campbell Restoration and Consulting, has been passionately working on historic preservation projects since 1993. She studied paint analysis at the Frank S. Welsh Co. in the late 1990s and has since performed independent paint analysis work in the Rochester, NY area. During her 30 year corporate career, she continued her training in the building preservation crafts, and with her husband worked on restoring their five historic properties - receiving the “Historic Home Award” and the “Blood, Sweat, and Tears Award” from the Landmark Society of Western NY. She is now dedicated to building restoration work full-time.