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Federal-Style Home > Episode 8: Building the Portico and Restoring the Fireplaces

Mantelpiece Work

Project: Federal-Style Home, Episode 8, Part 3

The new portico is under construction on the front of the house. Next door, Bob takes a peek into the elegantly appointed Guillard-Bennett House, one of the jewels in Charleston's crown. Back at the project house, Richard Marks puts the finishing touches on the restoration of the house's fireplaces.

Part 1: Salvaged Brick Hearth
Part 2: Interior Paint Selection
Part 3: Mantelpiece Work: Bob joins restoration contractor Richard Marks in the library of the Federal-Style home to review the restoration of the mantel.

Bob Vila tackles the revitalization of an exquisite Federal-style home, built in the early 1800s, which survived the Civil War but barely survived Hurricane Hugo in 1989. A major aspect of the project is the painstaking process of restoring the original plaster ornamentation and woodwork to their original detail.

Also from Federal-Style Home

Episode 1 - Selecting the Site
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Description:
Bob sets out on a carriage tour of historic Charleston, SC to get a feel for the elegant and well-preserved architecture of one of the most beautiful cities in the South. Richard Marks, the restoration contractor who's responsible for much of the expert work being done in and around Charleston, gives Bob a tour of the elegant, though quite run-down, Federal style house whose revival this project chronicles.
Episode 2 - Discussing the New Addition
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Description:
Bob gets a look at how the newly framed addition will blend gracefully into the back of the old house, adding a considerable amount of expanded living space. Restoration contractor Richard Marks explains how they're reproducing damaged sections of the elaborate, early 19th-century plaster cornice in the dining room. And Bob takes a tour of the spectacular home of Nathaniel Russell, one of Charleston's wealthiest merchants of the Colonial period.
Episode 3 - Installing Windows and Repairing the Roof
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Description:
The new addition receives Federal-style windows that were made on-site. The siding is also cut and detailed to match the Federal Style, which the existing portion of the home exemplifies.<br> <br> Bob takes a tour of Charleston's elegant William Gibbes House. And back at the site, the roofers are using age-old techniques to repair and expand the slate roof.
Episode 4 - Cornice Reconstruction and Mantle Restoration
Episode 5 - Molding Plaster Details
Episode 6 - Drywall Joints and Glass Cabinet Doors
Episode 7 - Painting the Siding and Installing Shutters
Episode 9 - House Tour and Decorative Painting

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