Historic Structure Report, Phase 1-3: John Muir House

Architectural Resources Group

Architectural Resources Group (ARG) was retained by the National Park Service (NPS) to produce a Historic Structure Report (HSR), for the John Muir House (Muir House), located in Martinez, California. Divided into three volumes, this HSR is the final product of three phases of study. In 2002, ARG performed an interior finishes assessment of the house to determine the existence of historic paints, stains, and/or wallcoverings. This phase intends to coordinate with a Historic Furnishings Report produced by NPS Harpers Ferry Center. The culmination of this first phase appears as Volume III of this HSR. The second phase (2003) included a conditions assessment and code analysis of the house. The final product of this second phase of work appears as Volume II of this HSR and includes preliminary design sketches of the basement (for possible office space) and attic (for access issues). The final phase, occurring in fall 2004, combines the previous two phases into a complete HSR, adding Volume I, Documentation and Significance Ratings. Volume I provides documentation of the Muir House. Included in this volume is a historical overview. It should be noted that details about John Muir’s life are not provided because this information was provided by numerous scholars and is widely available. For three of the better biographies of John Muir, consult the bibliography. Another key section of this volume is a chronology of development, which lists the major changes to the Muir House, placing special emphasis on NPS ownership, which occurred in 1966. Volume I also provides significance ratings of architectural elements and an annotated bibliography describing the sources consulted for research. Appendices to Volume I include historic photographs (Appendix A) and updated HABS drawings (Appendix B); the latter including annotated survey notes from the exterior conditions assessment conducted by ARG in 2003. Volume II provides a conditions assessment and code analysis of the Muir House. This section describes existing material conditions of the Muir House and provides recommendations for repair, based on The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings. The second section of this volume provides a code analysis for access and life safety for the building’s proposed use projected over the next 10 years. A companion section evaluates design alternatives for means of egress from Cupola 400. Lastly, this volume provides design alternatives and sketches for proposed office space in the basement. Appendix A provides existing conditions photographs; the remaining appendices provide copies of two seismic evaluations of the house, in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Volume III of this HSR is the interior finishes analysis of the Muir House. The analysis included extensive paint and wallpaper sampling of all interior elements to determine the presence of historic finishes. Based on the findings of the analysis, this volume provides recommendations for historic finishes on a room-by-room basis. The recommendations are intended to supplement interior furnishings recommendations in a NFS report to be completed in 2004. Appendix A of this volume provides historic interior photographs. Appendix B includes finish matrices intended to summarize the documentation and oral history for each room as a means to correlate the history with the physical evidence found in the samples. Additional appendices provide laboratory analysis and microscopy of specific samples.

Historic Structure Report, Phase 1-3: John Muir House

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