Historic Structure Report, Part II: Glenmont

Hollister, Susan; Krieger, Rebekah

The purpose of this report is to produce a Historic Structures Report Part 2 for Glenmont, which is part of the Edison National Historical Park located in West Orange, NJ. Glenmont was the home of Thomas Edison and his family from 1886 through and beyond his death in 1931. The building has been the subject of a number of studies, the most comprehensive being Barbara Yocum’s The House at Glenmont, Home of Thomas Edison, a two-volume Part 1 Historic Structure Report (“HSR”) written in 1995. In the twenty years since the HSR Part 1 was published a number of large and small preservation and rehabilitation projects have been completed on the building. Task 1 of the HSR Part 2 document (“Part 2”) is to identify and catalog these projects in order to maintain and continue the record of treatment that has occurred. While care and maintenance of the structure has been on-going and Park staff and administration have diligently and regularly addressed issues on the building there are always unmet needs which cause deterioration. Glenmont is a very large, highly detailed, wood-frame structure with a complex roof plan with many penetrations. These features, while architecturally delightful, are particularly susceptible to water infiltration and damage which threaten significant interior finishes and collections. Task 2 of Part 2 looks at the building envelope and building system needs to develop a condition assessment and prioritized list of repairs for the structure. These prioritized needs will form the basis for funding requests and project formulation for the building. Task 3 of Part 2 is the creation of an inspection program and a cyclic maintenance plan for the building which will help to monitor conditions and assist with on-going building stewardship.

Historic Structure Report, Part II: Glenmont

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