Storied Homes: 415 Winona Boulevard
If you agree that most of us today are challenged with the constant pull of media, heavily scheduled lives and relentless expectations to go faster and do more, you’ll find it refreshing to hear about David and Charlotte Harvey of 415 Winona Boulevard, who say cheerfully of their 30+ year home restoration project, “we’re getting there”. Listening to the Harvey’s talk about the work on their amazing home shifted my own sense of deadlines, pace and time in general, and made me question my own definition of accomplishment. Here is the story of 415 Winona….
The Harveys purchased 415 Winona in 1983 from a bank that administered the estate of Mr. John O’Connell, the original homeowner and founder of O’Connell Electric. Established in 1911 and today one of the nation’s largest commercial electrical contracting firms, O’Connell Electric established itself in Rochester doing most of the work for Kodak and RG&E, particularly in the High Falls district. The O’Connells owned a huge parcel of land which extended to St Paul Blvd, all but four acres of which they sold to developers. They built the house between 1927 and 1929, completing it two months before the stock market crash of 1929. The O’Connells had three children – two daughters and a son – and although their children did not inherit the house, their son convinced the bank to allow him access to the house, whereupon he took up residence and refused to leave. Months after closing on the purchase, the Harvey’s were still not able to move in because the O’Connell son and a house full of furnishings and belongings remained. The bank finally auctioned off or disposed of most of the contents, the Harvey’s changed all the locks, asked the son to leave, and a new chapter began.
Even as a young couple, the Harvey’s had a guiding vision to restore 415 Winona, not remodel it. They possessed the original architectural blueprints drawn up by the firm of Edgar A. Ziegler for Mr. and Mrs. J. O’Connell, and hired their own architect to complete drawings of every room in the house, including all the plumbing and electrical circuitry. While they hired contractors to do some work such as plaster repair, they did much work themselves. They cleaned up the wooded ravine in the back, which was full of discarded equipment from O’Connell’s company – a tractor, cement mixer, and steam shovel to name a few. David undertook many projects himself, the most impressive being restoration of all the original Pella Rolscreen steel casement windows (Pella’s hallmark design from 1925, still in production today, featuring screens that roll up into the frame of the casements like a window shade). This involves removing all the existing glass, sandblasting the steel frames, epoxy painting the frames, installing new 1/4″ thick window panes and reglazing them. David’s restored metal casements open and close beautifully. To sandblast the steel frames, which are embedded in the poured concrete, David built booths of plastic sheeting inside the house, to prevent sand from getting into the house. I asked him about his resources for restoration know-how. He explained that while he subscribes to a high end restoration magazine, takes workshops on things such as slate and copper work, and consults the Landmark Society of Western NY for architectural advice, his background as a mechanical engineer at Kodak has helped the most. The 21 years he spent in the facility engineering group as a mechanical engineer working on projects related to HVAC system design, industrial drainage, fire protection, industrial exhaust, and piping systems have equipped him with the skills and ingenuity needed to figure out a solution for most of the challenges presented.
As the Harvey’s tell me about a recent project in 2010 to reproduce the original cypress front door to exacting detail with white oak, consistent with the interior woodwork, the idea of such slow and thoughtful restoration…”we’re getting there”….takes a while to sink in. Clearly, the Harvey’s are not looking for quick results at all costs. They want the job done right. Cheddy presents the notion that this work is about caring for the past as well as the future: “If there aren’t people to take care of these homes, they will eventually be demolished, and there will never be structures like this again. We are giving this house a new life.” Indeed, they will not build like this again. David explains the impressive construction, which is everything you would expect judging from the exterior: slate roof and copper gutters, exterior walls of poured concrete with 4-6” of stone facing on the exterior and 1” of hand finished plaster on the interior, with original tinted finish. The downstairs floors are blue quarry stone with black slate baseboards and 4” of poured concrete subfloors. Original decorative drapery hardware, original lighting, including silver-plated wall sconces, and a stunning wrought iron banister grace the house. Some additional interesting elements include a built in incinerator for household waste, poured concrete stairs, and steam radiators enclosed within the concrete walls.
When the Harvey’s first moved in, they contacted O’Connell Electric’s secretary and requested the addresses of Mr. O’Connell’s two daughters in California, hoping to get some information. One daughter, then in her 80’s or 90’s, corresponded promptly by letter. She recounted memories of trips with her mother to New York City to purchase the house’s light fixtures, hiding as a child in one of the ample storage cabinets in the butler’s pantry, the exact placement of specific stones in the façade that had been gathered during family trips around the world, and a bit of family history, that the two anvils posted proudly outside the house had once belonged to her grandfather who was a blacksmith.
The Harvey’s have detailed plans for this year and the years ahead, which should be of no surprise. Watch this beautiful home and meet these wonderful and interesting people at the Winona Woods summer picnic. And should you be interested in the names of some excellent contractors, they may be happy to share those with you as well!
