Saving the Paint in Drayton Hall by Wade A. Lawrence, Susan L. Buck , and Richard C. Wolbers Drayton Hall, constructed between 1738 and 1742, is widely recognized as the premier Georgian-Palladian structure in America. It has been a National Trust property since 1974, and has been presented to the public as an unrestored, unfurnished building since 1976. It is a remarkable survivor of the American Revolution and the Civil War, a nearby catastrophic earthquake and many hurricanes. It has also reached the 21st century without ever having been plumbed, electrified or climate controlled, and most of the interior paints were applied more than 100 years ago. However, the extremes of Charleston's climate with cool, damp winters and blazingly hot, humid summers have accelerated the degradation of the fragile interior paints. The painted surfaces are as important to the interpretation of the building as the elaborately carved decorations and decorative plaster ceilings, yet in many areas the paints are so chalky and friable they can be brushed off in a shower of flakes by an incautious visitor. Conservation of the interior paints in Drayton Hall is a unique project as the walls will be treated as fine arts objects rather than architectural surfaces. The grand scale of architectural paint projects usually means that historic paints become too costly to save or are considered expendable and are simply painted over. This approach is not appropriate for Drayton Hall. If Drayton Hall was an original manuscript, not a building, great pains would be taken to preserve the manuscript, not create a facsimile or a transcription. In this case it is important that the public see the "manuscript" in its original hand (or its original paints) to fully understand it and for it to be preserved for future study and research. This project to save the historic paints involves a technical study of the paint histories in all the rooms, a review of archive photographs and records to assess the relative rate of paint loss, photographic documentation of the existing conditions, an assessment of the success of previous paint consolidation efforts, and testing and application of appropriate consolidation methods and materials. The effort to stabilize and re-secure the extensive areas of flaking paint is additionally complicated by the desire to retain the matte, unreflective quality of the aged paint surfaces, and the need to leave the paint colors unaffected by the chosen consolidants. This work is part of an extensive conservation project funded by a Getty Architectural Conservation Grant. The work taking place in the building until the end of 2001 will not only preserve the interiors for the future, it also provides the opportunity to educate Drayton Hall visitors about conservation of historic paints, stabilization of gravely weakened decorative plaster ceilings, conservation of historic window sash, and the implementation of a non-invasive approach to monitoring and modifying environmental extremes without compromising the building. Short Project Description: This is a collaborative project involving historical research and technical analysis, and hands-on conservation testing and treatment of the extremely degraded interior architectural paints at Drayton Hall. The goal of the project is to identify and stabilize the historic paint sequences (dating back to 1738) without further paint loss and without altering the current aged, matte appearance of the paint surfaces.  Back to conference agenda