Tubman House

When purchased, the property appeared sound — requiring little more than new paint and refinished floors.

But as repainting began in the 1986 additions, a different reality surfaced. Water infiltration, carpenter-ant damage, and structural deterioration appeared behind finished walls; puddles formed in the dining room and upper floors.

What began as a simple update became a multi-year effort to secure the building’s integrity.

Once stabilized, attention turned to restoring the architectural details lost during the 1986 renovation. Guided by conservation specialists and heritage architects — and informed by archival plans, surviving millwork, and original materials — the owners set out to re-establish the home’s authentic design language.

The roofs were replaced with western red-cedar shingles, the stone foundation rebuilt, and the front porch — with its pierced balustrade and chamfered posts — reconstructed in heritage pine. The front door and original windows were restored, while six new wood replicas replaced later PVC units, reinstating the façade’s 19th-century rhythm.

The clapboard siding was repaired and repainted in a heritage palette of sage-green walls, cream trim, and blue-green doors and windows. Modern fencing gave way to a Gothic picket design, and the asphalt paving was replaced with permeable cobblestone, softening the approach and allowing the ground to breathe.

Inside, period mouldings were remade from one original sample found, the staircase returned to its historic form, and the horizontal pine boards behind the walls were preserved and re-installed during insulation work.

The grounds were then re-landscaped with over one hundred native trees and shrubs, reconnecting the house to its natural setting and restoring its 19th-century garden scale.