the bat. “Now I know why that oddly
placed garden was there,” said Jen.
“But thankfully, the solution was
simple and permanent to have them
filled with sand.” Addressing safety
and accessibility concerns was a
major priority of the Second Century
Project.
The foundation needed only
a small portion of underpinning
and brick skirting repaired, which
was quickly completed by Mr.
Sam Gaffney, and DBM Roofing
replaced a leaky porch roof with
new durable material that should
stand the test of southern storms.
Rhodes Electric oversaw the
installation of new exterior lighting
for security and aesthetics, among
other improvements.
Fortunately, the “knob
and tube” electrical
wiring had been
replaced during an
earlier renovation
in the ‘90s. Knob
and tube wiring was
fabric-wrapped wiring
mounted to little
ceramic knobs that
went through the
walls. Because it was
cloth-covered, it was
attractive to pests like
rodents. As a result, it’s
been responsible for a
lot of electrical fires in
older homes.
But the porch,
railings, and ramp
required a great deal
of repair. “Over the
years, the porch had
deteriorated with water
damage,” said Jen, “and
the railings were falling
apart in places. The
ramp had also rotted
and become unstable.”
With an eye toward
ecological responsibility,
new wood was only used
where deterioration was
beyond repair. When
Harry and Jackie Moses
renovated the house
behind the museum,
Jen asked for the old tongue-andgroove
porch decking, which was
being removed and slated for the city
dump. “The house behind us was built
only about ten years after the Brazell
House, so we were really excited to
utilize that material to repair our
porch. It’s historically accurate,
environmentally responsible, and
budget-friendly.” When the work was
complete, approximately 250 linear
feet of the railing had been rebuilt
and brought up to code.
One of the stipulations to
being on the National Register of
Historic Places is that any repairs or
replacements must be as close to the
original as possible. Since modern
wood is milled thicker or thinner
than the original heart pine used for
siding on the Brazell House, lumber
for repairs was custom milled to the
correct size by H.V. & T.G. Thompson
Lumber Co. in Ailey. With so much
wood work to replicate according
to National Register standards,
attention to detail is important.
“The quality of workmanship by our
carpenters, Harry Harper, Jr. and
Trey Squires, has been outstanding,”
said Jen. Harry Harper Construction
Company provided both construction
and painting services.
Adding a new ADA-compliant
restroom was a much-needed
update, as the old restroom was
claustrophobic with a step down and
an undersized door. With the aid of
designers Lyndi Dean and Stephanie
Dunham, and guidance from Wheeler
Plumbing, traditional fixtures were
sourced that balanced design details
appropriate to the home when it
was first built with highly specific
requirements of the Adults With
Disabilities Act. An antique stainedglass
window was sourced from Red
Wagon Market in Lyons to bring
much-needed light and architectural
interest to the space. When asked
about the small size of the former
bathroom door and its opening,
Jen said, “The bathroom door was
purposefully smaller so you could
tell which room was the bathroom
without having to ask your host or
accidentally entering a private space
in the house.”
The exterior of the house received
a full coat of paint, top to bottom,
with shutters by gTs Plantation
added in strategic places to create a
more pleasing look than the backs
of interior display walls. In keeping
with Southern tradition, the porch
ceiling was repainted its original
shade of “haint blue,” which could
still be found under layers of peeling
white paint. “Haint is a Southern
variation of the word haunt, which
refers to a spirit or a ghost,” explained
Jen. “According to folklore, the blue
represented water. It was believed
that spirits couldn’t cross water, so
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