Interior Conservation Work Has Begun!

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • October 28, 2024

With a new grant from the Community Preservation Act (CPA), we have now moved inside – to begin work on the interior of the historic components of the Vestal Street Observatory. We are very excited!


After much conservation work completed to the exterior, with a CPA grant as well, we have a weather tight exterior which allows us to start the interior work. In the Astronomical Study, original plaster – possibly with a skim coat of parging – walls have been cleaned up. When I note cleaned – it’s the removal of any loose paint only and no walls have been filled so all that original 1922 “bumpiness” and pitting of those walls remains. A primer coat is being applied to the walls and then we will return to the original cream color on the walls. The circa 1987 blue wall-to-wall carpeting has been removed, as well as the layer of tiles from the 1950s or so. We have revealed the original 1922 wood floor which is beginning its conservation as well. Unfortunately, there was a layer of tarpaper placed between the wood floor and tiles, with a TON of glue, so the work on the floor is a bit more extensive than we had originally hoped. While we looked at some areas under the carpet initially, it did not reveal the extent to the damage of the wood floor. But Adam Zanelli of Nantucket Heritage Painters, and Pen Austin, lime plaster and historic finish expert extraordinare, have worked together to figure it out. Adam and Pen are also working out the final planning phases of work to the original woodwork. We will only be touching areas of loss or damage, matching the tint of the wood, and applying shellac which is what most of the woodwork is coated in. 


In the Pillar Room and Dome Room, they are also working to deal with the layers of paint (mostly from the last thirty years) and in the cellar dealing with the parging that is on most of the walls. The parging was likely for two reasons. To make the room more inviting and cleaner – it was used for storing glass plates and had the boiler way back in the day (sounds horrific but I believe they thought the boiler would keep the glass plates of the night sky dry – and it likely did) and to keep the room waterproof (which it did at first but it has not in many years and has been failing). The parging is likely not original – it seems to be a different vintage and make-up from the one up in the Study.


There is more to come – and a lot of woodwork in other areas that will get the same treatment as the Study. We also have concrete floors with some issues to address, as well as electrical and a new HVAC system. So stay tuned!


JNLF

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Top O’ the Ridge!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 29, 2026
In April and early May, at long last, the Mitchell House roof was replaced. (I noted this in an earlier blog.) I had also noted that the roofwalk, given the condition it was in and its location – sitting on the ridge – had to be replaced. They had thought they could jack it up – as they have done with other walks – but the Blizzard of February 2026 that was ALL wind (83 MPH winds – read Category 1 Hurricane) and no real snow, made the walk impossible to treat in such a manner (read: crumble). So, after much discussion, review by our preservation easement holder, and permits, as well as some fundraising, we are replacing the roofwalk. The prior walk was not the original. The original blew off in a gale in the late nineteenth century, replaced at some point in the 1930s, and likely replaced again in the 1960s or 1970s. Then, since that time, it was heavily repaired. Its framing members were notched to accept the ridge boards (read: peak) of the roof and I think that may have been an original way to construct a walk. Makes perfect sense – and gives the walk more support and a lower profile. It was after all about putting out chimney fires and preventing roof fires. People copied what worked – and there have been a few others noted to be built in this manner still. It presents an issue though – because if you need to work on the ridge board or close to it – you cannot get to it easily – I guess you may be able to access it to some extent by lifting the deck boards of the walk. The new Mitchell House roofwalk will sit about six inches above the ridge – which will also allow air to circulate better over the ridge and the shakes in that area. That is the only thing that will really be different. It is protected by a preservation easement – as part of the Mitchell House’s easement – and frankly, even if we did not have an easement, we would not want it to look any different. So keep your eyes to the skies at 1 Vestal as we work to re-build the walk. With a special thank you to Barber and Sons and Lydon and Sons. JNLF

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 22, 2026
1875, June 20. A meeting of the Officers of Congress was called at the house of Mrs. Hanaford, 5 Summit Ave., Jersey City. The weather was intensely cold. I went to New York on the 19 th and stopped with my friend Mrs. Clapp, 100 W. 54 St . . . .It was a question who should preside. Mrs. Hanaford thought the Chairman of the Executive Committee should and I had been told that I should, etc. The question was decided by the non-arrival of the Chairman of Ex.Com. I called them to order at an hour after the time appointed. Of course I made many blunders, as I have never presided before, but I continued for 4 hours. We did a few good things . . . The thing most weighing on Maria’s mind at this meeting was the looseness of membership for the Congress. She felt people were not being vetted properly in some areas of the country and thus they may allow in “undesirables.” I would take this to mean women who were not entirely behind the cause of the Congress and the Association for the Advancement of Women. I am not surprised by her suspicions and likely she was correct – one could see naysayers gaining access to this group and trying to destroy it from the inside. The women’s rights movement would have many schisms within it as people disagreed and broke into smaller factions.  Another important thing to point out is that Mrs. Hanaford is Nantucket-born Phebe Coffin Hanaford. Raised a Quaker, like Maria, Coffin Hanaford would become the first woman Universalist minister in New England – among many other firsts. She grew up with Maria, attended and taught at the Coffin School here on Nantucket, and was a founding member of another women’s organization, Sorosis, which Maria was also a founding member of. It’s nice to see two sister Nantucketers continuing to work together as adults – far from home! JNLF

Pick A Picket

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 15, 2026
After many, many years of service, our picket fences are getting a much needed replacement. We are starting with the fence on the north side of Vestal Street along the front of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO). This fence is being replaced with part of a grant from the Community Preservation Act. The grant was for the exterior conservation work and landscape issues related to the MMO. The current fence is approximately thirty-five years old so it did rather well. It had replaced a very old fence – one I wish we had kept! But it had been hit many times by cars and had so much paint on it, they decided to replace it. We have small part of that fence still and we will be reproducing it for all the fences we are replacing here on Vestal. The fence is not much different than a normal picket here on island – it’s a hair shorter but it also has a sort of rolled top – not this cut style. I am excited to have this fence back! The new fences are being built by Michael Gault – owner of Gault Woodworking and a Nantucket Preservation Trust Traditional Building Methods award winner. His work is incredible – and lucky for us – he loves building fences!  So keep an eye out – work has begun already. The south side where the MMA Research Center and Hinchman House are located will be done in the fall in the same style. JNLF
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