Once Again, The Intern Hunt Is On

**Not that kind of hunt...we don't want to shoot them, just invite them over for a nice cup of tea, and a week of restoration.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES We're inviting anyone interested in a week-long restoration or research internship to click on this article's title and read on! We're offering a number of different internships between now and November. We have positions ideal for students (of restoration, historic structures, writing, history, library studies, construction, architecture, antiquarian processes, artisans, etc.) as well as places for people who have their own historic home (or someone else's to work on), and would like a chance to get a feel for our environmentally friendly restoration techniques, and apply them to their own structures! Glean some of the benefits of taking our workshops at off-peak times working as an intern, and have a chance to meet all the interesting characters lurking about this old pile of beams.

Walk Backwards In Time With All of Athens

The Athens Cultural Center will be celebrating the Evarts Library's Centennial by hosting a walking tour of the stunning historic homes in our piece of the Hudson River Valley. Some of these homes (including ours) have not been open to the public since the library was a mere 50 years old. Join us in the festivities on Saturday, June 30th. In addition to gaining entrance and stories inside these gorgeous historic sites, there will also be a lunchtime concert in the park, a photography sale, and a parade (complete with horse-drawn carriage, 19th century fire wagon, and a procession of antique automobiles carrying our public figures to the reviewing stand)!

HERE IS THE ROSTER OF EVENTS FROM THEIR WEBSITE:

THREE RARE, EARLY HOUSES OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS Celebrate Old Home Week with a tour of homes in Athens, a lunchtime concert in the park and a photography sale. Fete the Evarts Library on its centennial and watch as the Athens Cultural Center helps recreates the Old Home Week parade up Main Street. Saturday, June 30th To help the Evarts Library celebrate its centennial, the Athens Cultural Center has joined forces to stage a celebration replete with house tours, parades, exhibits, old time music and old-fashioned children's games. This revives the first Old Home Week celebration which was started 100 years ago, in conjunction with the laying of the cornerstone of the Evarts Library. In the way that only the village of Athens can do, we're recreating this slice of Americana on Saturday, June 30th. The centerpiece of our celebration is a tour of homes in the village including three major, early houses that have not been open to the public in at least 50 years and an exhibition at the Cultural Center highlighting the library centennial and the celebration of Old Home Week in Athens. The Greene County Camera Club will host a photography sale at the Cultural Center. The Evarts Library will host a centennial celebration on its lawn. Babe Ruth Little League and APAC will help host a lunchtime concert in the Riverfront Park. We'll all parade up Main Street together. So come out to Athens and help us fete the library as it turns 100. Tour of homes: 10 AM- 4 PM Photo: Howard Hall Farm, the earliest Federal House on the Hudson River Tour times: Guided tours of village homes will be held on the hour at 10, 11, noon, 1, 2 and 3 PM. Meet at the Athens Cultural Center at least 15 minutes prior to the tour start. Tickets: Tours cost $15 per person with advance reservation, $20 at the door. To reserve tickets in advance, email your name, number of tickets and requested tour time to info@athensculturalcenter.org. Please put "House Tour Tickets" in your email subject line. Parking: Parking is available on North Franklin Street, just north of the intersection of Second and Franklin Street. The Athens Cultural Center is located one block away, at 24 Second Street, between Franklin and Washington Streets. Haight-Gantley House Featured properties: The tour will feature the Haight-Gantley House, a significant work by Barnabus Waterman, the House of History architect, built during the War of 1812. This house has not been open in decades and the last recorded house tour was for the Athens sesquicentennial in 1955. The house is surprisingly in tact and features an impressive and rare oval ballroom and striking views over the Hudson River. Also featured is Howard Hall Farm, constructed circa 1780 and considered by some to be the earliest Federal house in left the Hudson Valley. This house, which has been in private hands since the 1970's, is virtually unknown to Federal architecture aficionados although in retains much of its early fabric including such rarities as cylinder glass windows and perfectly preserved period European marble fireplace surrounds. An impressive Civil War era house, retaining its elegant period detail and impeccably decorated with a mix of American and European antiques, will be shown on a house tour for the first time ever. This house was probably the last in-village farm in Athens and only left the hands of the original farming family a few years ago. The Evarts Library, other village gems and a stroll up Second Street and down South Franklin Street, which contain some of the most impressive houses in the village, round out the tour. Old Home Week Parade: 12:45 PM The parade route runs up Second Street from the Riverfront Park to the Evarts Library. The Athens Fire Department will pull their 19th century fire wagon, library trustees will ride in a horse-drawn carriage and classic cars will carry local dignitaries to the reviewing stand. Not since Norman Rockwell have you seen anything this quaint. Lunchtime Concert in the Park: 12-1 PM The Saints of Swing brass band and the Dented Fenders barbershop quartet give a lunchtime concert in the gazebo in the Athens Riverfront Park. Have some lunch while you listen to old time music and watch the Hudson River meander by. Evarts Library Centennial Celebration: 1-3 PM Photo: the Evarts Library Especially for kids or the kid in you, the Evarts Library will host its centennial celebration on its front lawn. Following the serving of the centennial birthday cake and lemonade, enjoy free horse and buggy rides, Professor Marvel's Old Tyme Magic Show, Uncle Sam the Stilt Waker and many turn-of-the century games. The Post Office will hold a special centennial stamp cancellation for those secret philatelists in the crowd. The Evarts Library will also be one of the stops on our tour of historic village homes. An exhibition highlighting the history of the library centennial and the Old Home Week celebration is on view concurrently at the Athens Cultural Center.

Green Technology Conference

Historic Buildings & Green Energy

June 20 – 23, 2007

Howard Hall Farm is pleased to bring you our Green Technology Conference 2007. This is an AIA Certified Course, which gives a detailed overview of the considerations of planning and using alternative energy in the historic home or building. Our mission is to educate practitioners so that we may both honor the past and protect the future.

The conference will be headed up by a panel of experts including Randolph Horner, who has recently been featured in newspapers around the world for his groundbreaking plan to take Woodstock, NY to zero carbon.

Two different segments are offered, the first being geared toward the Historic Site Manager, Architect, Engineer, and Design Professional, which takes place over three days. The second segment is a weekend-long abbreviated version tailored towards the homeowner.

This promises to be a dynamic discussion and one that will allow for audience participation, as well as address the goals of attendees.

AIA Certificates of Completion will be distributed to attendees at the conclusion of the workshop.

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Course Outline

Part I. Finance

I. Policy Trends

• Congress, New York Sate, & Public Sector

II. National & New York State Incentives

• NYSERDA & Green Lending

III. Community Engagement/Financing

• Capitol Campaigns, donations, & banks

Part II. Technology

I. Ground Exchange Heating or Ground Coupled/Source Heating & Cooling

• Energy Costs: Fuel & Electric
• How they are derived?
• What to do about it?
• Why it is cost effective?

II. RE + EE or Renewable Energy plus Energy Efficiency

• Ground Source Systems: photovoltaic, solar, & on-site generation
• Symbiotic relationship with the grid
• Companion Technology
• Looking Ahead: anticipating energy costs

Part III. Design Considerations

I. Energy Integrity & the Historic Building

• Envelope improvement without sacrifice: striking a balance
• Cultural: what is the overall mission of historic site?
• Energy containment: foundation, walls, & windows
• Aesthetics: pipes, ducts, & wiring

Articles on Randolph Horner's Zero Carbon Intiative:

New York Times

CNN

Telegraph UK

Wind Farm Visit

The Fenner Renewable Energy Center, Inc. is a grass-roots organization that was formed to educate the public on the benefits of renewable energy and other sustainable practices. They are located on-site at the Fenner Wind Farm in the heart of Central New York. Since late 2001, they have lived and worked amongst the 20 turbines that make up this 30 MW wind project. They organized the project to share their unique experience and to encourage others to embrace a clean energy future.

Reggie and resident Architect Bob Godwin recently paid a visit to the farm to discover more about their phenomenal efforts in wind technology.

Reggie's report from the field:

The wind farm was truly amazing. I, with everything going on, forgot to take a coat and hat. One thing you want to remember always on visits to a wind farm is to over-dress! I suffered a little bit due to this mistake. However, even freezing beyond belief, it is a shocking experience to take this place in... towers 330 feet tall and 100 foot blades!

What makes this wind farm unique is the sheer vision in putting it all together. The turbines are scattered among the entire mountain range, sort of willy nilly -- some tucked in to slight recesses in the hilltop. They have an average wind of 18 miles per hour. The turbines are programed to shut down when wind reaches 63 mph, as the blades are designed to turn and deflect the wind when stronger (this is called feathering), otherwise the entire structure is always turning to face the wind. Yesterday the wind was pretty much coming from the same direction so they where all facing the same direction, apparently this can change quite a bit depending on the nature of the wind.

It is a very distorting optical effect looking at these giants. Its hard to really get a sense of the size when looking at the landscape, only when you get up close does it impact your brain how enormous they are. This farm also unique in that they are never designed quite like this, but rather they typically fall in lines, and there are more of them. Here there 20 turbines. This design was an experiment, one that Joan assured us won't happen again. The design has to be more cost effective. Of course the government subsidizes power of all other sorts, but not wind power (!!!!), so its difficult to finance a truly well thought out and effective wind farm. This one is a bit of an anomaly.

It is encouraging that this group endeavored to try something new with the idea that innovation is a worthy cause for greater understanding of alternative energy. This project is also spotlighting the need for greater assistance for alternative energy projects within New York State and beyond. Very cool thing... kudos!

-- Reggie

River Tavern Grand Opening

Reggie, Nora, & crew have been working-away for the past few months on a very exciting project here in Athens! The River Tavern at the Stewart House Hotel is a rich part of the community's history dating back to 1883. Reggie & Nora have re-conceptualized & redesigned the waterfront bar & restaurant integrating the historic features which make it so beloved.

Please take a look at their blog to catch a glimpse of Nora's magnificent murals and the new menu!

An Ongoing Correspondence

So a few weeks ago, I started, armed with a small clipping my friend Ursula had found in the NY Times on how to research the history of ”your” house, I embarked on what I assumed would be a hastily dispatched chore. I looked at the warnings of the difficulties in really coming up with concrete information with a sort of lofty distain; I, of course would use my intuitive research skills and cut through the drudgery in record time and, well, just get on with it.

And so I did, at least, start. Frankly, owing nothing to a single ability I possess, the most important fragment of information came right at the beginning of the process from the Vedder Research Library (for Greene County history. Reggie and I dashed up there for one of the rare open library moments and while trying to decide how to plunge into the task, we stood staring at a map of Greene County of about 1881 or so, and realized that it showed what we were pretty sure was our house with the horse-shoe drive and indications of another drive around the back of the house for deliveries. And there was a name on the house: George Griffin. Considering there were very few names of actual people on that map, this seemed terribly impressive and from there, I was sure that all we had to do was find George and home free!

Then, the most amazing thing was that upon scanning a copy of the Beer’s “History of Greene County”, in the Athens history part, suddenly the name of George Griffin popped up again, but this time referencing not only the previous owner who sold it to him, but the owner before, who, it stated, was a “very prominent man of his day”; Joseph Groom. A definite tingle-all-over moment! But the tingle will have to do until I get more time to do the forging ahead some more stuff.