The Restoration of a Grand Old Manor
The Rehabilitation
When International Paper acquired Kensington, the nineteenth century mansion required extensive work both inside and out. While the company salvaged everything possible, they had to replace some of the exterior wood siding and window frames. Other elements, such as shutters and balustrades, were either missing entirely or beyond repair.
One of the major problems encountered was the reconstruction of the wooden sills which rested on the foundation and which in turn supported much of the weight of the house. Approximately 90% of the perimeter had to be replaced. This required the workers to raise all four corners of the house with jacks which supported the structure's weight while the work was being done.
None of the original metal roof was salvageable. Fortunately, International Paper found that the company which sold the Singleton's the original tern roofing material still manufactured the same type of roofing! IP purchased the roofing from this company so the new roof is identical to the old.
The inside of the house contained some intricate and beautifully decorative plaster work, much of which had been ruined. The company had the intact pieces carefully taken down and used them to create molds from which workers created duplicate plaster medallions and moulding.
In the 1850s, Kensington Mansion was a testament to the slave labor that built the manor house. In the 1980s, Kensington Mansion became a testament to International Paper's committment to preserving a part of our nation's past and to the skill and dedication of the local craftsmen who performed the major portion of the rehabilitation.
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| Kensington Mansion's front facade. International Paper replaced the entire tern (a tin alloy) roof. The company that supplied the original roofing material was still in business and they supplied the replacement materials. | |
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| Kensington's southern facade. Note the missing shutters and the enclosed front porch. The before picture also shows a portion of the extant summer kitchen. International Paper restored both the mansion and the kitchen structure. | |
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| The before image shows one of the front porches enclosed by the Hamer family. During the restoration, International Paper returned them to their 1855 appearance. | |
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| Ralph Boyd worked for International Paper as the head of restoration. Here he sits on Kensington Mansion's front steps. | |
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| Kensington's front hall. The broken skylight directly above the entrance hall allowed rain to pour into the hall and rotted the center of the floor. Although it's impossible to see in the after image, International Paper replaced the boards and stained them a darker color to differentiate the original flooring from the replacement boards. | |
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| A closeup of the molding in Kensington's entrance hall. These images show both the damage to the plaster in the hallway and the missing interior balcony railing. The Lanhams, who sold the property to IP, removed the balcony railing and used it on their own home. International Paper restored the railing to the Mansion. | |
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| The skylight in the Kensington atrium. Much of the interior damage was caused by the broken skylight which allowed rain to pour down inside the mansion. | |
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| The molding at the entrance to the dining room. Luckily for the restoration process, much of the original molding and carvings remained intact and allowed craftsmen to create new molds to replace the damaged and missing sections. | |
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| Closeup of the molding and doorway leading into the entrance hall | |
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| Portion of the "wedding cake" barrel vaulted ceiling in Kensington Mansion's dining room. The dining room ceiling rises two stories high. | |
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| The medallion in the dining room | |
