May 24, 2007
Preserving history is a labor of love
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Patrick Cozzens' tools of the trade include a crowbar, a hammer and a power
saw, all used in the fine art of salvaging historic architectural elements
of old buildings.
He is at work now removing hand-hewn beams from a century house on
the site where South Franklin Circle is being built in Bainbridge
by Judson Retirement Community.
"You try not to break things," Mr. Cozzens said of the work that requires
taking architectural elements apart, piece by piece. It is painstaking labor
and involves much physical labor. "I want to remove them intact as much
as possible," he said.
William Fehrenbach, project manager for South Franklin Circle project,
said, "We were looking for a way to deal with the barns and the house,
instead of sending them to a landfill." The structures were on the property
purchased by Judson.
Mr. Cozzens went through the house and said he would take the windows,
flooring, beams and woodwork. "We said, 'You're welcome to them,'" Mr.
Fehrenbach said.
"We're thrilled it's not all going to a landfill," he said. "The house is in sad shape and was abandoned for many years," he said. "We'
d like to see as much as possible be salvaged.
"It's more environmentally friendly," Mr. Fehrenbach said of Mr. Cozzens'
removal and preservation of some of the architectural elements of the building.
There is also a stone foundation that Mr. Cozzens will remove to
another location.
Mr. Cozzens, whose business is Western Reserve Classic Restoration
and Architectural Salvage, just completed a restoration of his 1840s Greek
Revival farmhouse in Auburn as well as a bank barn and outbuildings.
He said he had noticed the empty house on South Franklin Street and
called the South Franklin Circle office in Chagrin Falls.
"I have an eye for old houses, and I knew it was post-and-beam construction," he
said. He estimated its construction could date to 1830.
All the beams are hand-hewn, and they are still in good shape, Mr.
Cozzens said.
The upright beams measure about 8-by-10 inches and the cross beams
are 8-by-8. They are 22 feet to 24 feet long. "They came from some big
trees," he said of the beams.
"The sills are not good," he said of the beams that sit on the foundation
structure. The 3-by-8 flooring joists are poplar wood, and he has taken out
many of the windows to be used in an old barn he owns in Auburn.
The railings and spindles of a stairway in the house were also salvageable,
Mr. Cozzens said. The doors and all the stone for the foundation are worth
saving as well, he said.
There were two "eye-brow" windows in the second floor of the structure,
but they cannot be saved. However a fireplace mantel and the home's doors
will be preserved.
Salvaged pieces will be used for his projects or he will sell them
to others who restore old houses and barns. He will even save the old outside
shutter hangers he has come across.
Mr. Cozzens plans to save one section of the house and rebuild it
at his house in Auburn. He will number the pieces as he takes them down, making
it easier to reconstruct them.
Susan Harris White, of Chagrin Falls, whose family owned the property,said
it was known as the Gardner farm. Her great-grandmother, Mary Gardner, lived
in the house.
Her grandfather had a horse farm on the site with a quarter-mile
track to train the horses.
"I'm glad it's not going to a landfill or being burned," she said. "I'm
happy someone is doing something good with it."
Most of the clearing is completed on the South Franklin Circle community
site. Grading, utilities, filling and sewer, gas and electrical lines will
be started this summer, early fall, Mr. Fehrenbach said.
They want to install foundations before winter, he said.
Like the house and barn, there have also been a couple of inquiries
to move a house on Chagrin Road that is in the location of a road that will
be constructed between Chagrin Road and South Franklin Street. It is still
being investigated. We would rather do that than tear it down."
Used with permission of The Chagrin Valley Times.
For media inquiries about South Franklin Circle, please contact:
Rob Lucarelli
Public Relations Manager
(216) 791-2321
rlucarelli@judsonretirement.org
