Most people don’t have a renovation of this scale in mind when calling their contractor, but we were excited to have the opportunity to work on the historic renovation of the courthouse at Pioneer Square which is on the national registry of historic buildings in the U.S. The cupola atop is a national landmark- one of seventeen in Oregon.

Before starting work on a project of such significance we researched the products and processes we’d use every step of the way to make sure the work we did was always adding value, preserving the character of this unique building and some of the unique methods used when it was originally built.

Removing 100 years of paint exposed a sand stucco base layer that was originally added to make the wooden sided cupola appear to have a stone texture. This was done to match the base of the stone building the the time building in wood was easier and the woodworkers were more available here in the west than stone-workers. This discovery and restoration were done with care and a documenting of the process. Some of the original wood work had decayed and was repaired by our local modern woodworkers.

Historic restoration projects surround you with rich architectural detail and a quality of materials you don’t see a lot these days. They also give a contractor chances to solve unique space puzzles in beautiful ways.