Godchaux-Reserve PlantationBuilding Glossary

Tulane School of ArchitectureBuilding Preservation StudioFall 2015

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The Plantation House

The Godchaux-Reserve Plantation, or Reserve Plantation House/La Reserve, is a traditional French Creole plantation house located in the small town of Reserve, Louisiana on River Road. Following the bends of the Mississippi River, River Road was the only way to get from New Orleans to all points north before the inter-state highway system was put in place in the 1950s. The house has been moved from its original location due to the influx of indsutry. Built for the Laubel family in the late 18th century as part of their sugar cane plantation, it was added on to in several stages during the first half of the 19th century, reaching its current size by about 1850. During this time it also passed through several owners: Borne, Fleming and Teinter, Rillieux, Boudousquie and Andry, and Godchaux. Under Leon Godchaux, the plantation became one of the largest producers of sugar from cane in the United States. It was last renovated in 1993.

As one of the remaining River Road plantations and an exceptional example of Creole architecture, the Plan-tation house merits study. Hidden within the large house are the remnants of the original much smaller struc-ture. Through an analysis of the materials and construction, we can fully understand the building’s history.

French Creole Architecture

In the French colonies of the present-day United States, such as Louisiana, there developed a very particular architectural style. Like the unique culture that grew up around the Mississippi River Valley, this architecture is termed “Creole.” According to the National Park Service, the most important features of a typical rural French Creole house include:

“...1) generous galleries, 2) a broad spreading roofline, 3) gallery roofs supported by light wooden colon-nettes, 4) placement of the principal rooms well above grade (sometimes a full story), 5) a form of con-struction utilizing a heavy timber frame combined with an infill made of brick (briquette entre poteaux) or a mixture of mud [and] moss called bousillage, 6) multiple French doors, and 7) French wraparound mantels.”1

The exterior features in particular are apparent on the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation.

1 “French Creole Architecture,” National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/architecture.htm, accessed 27 November 2015.

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BUILDING TECHNIQUESThe Godchaux-Reserve Plantation house was partially constructed with the colombage method, which is important in understanding this building due to the heavy influence of readily available materials at this time within this region. Bousillage, abundant in south Louisiana during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, can be found in the oldest parts of the house.

Colombage pierotté: Half-timber construction; a timber-frame wall with a bousillage infill. This construc-tion technique was a common substitute for solid wooden walls during a time in which the lumber in western France was becoming more expensive. This practice was carried over into areas where wood was plentiful such as Louisiana. Though its popularity started to wane post-17th century in favor of stone walls for improved insulation, the scarcity of stones in lower Louisiana increased this technique’s popularity.

Bousillage: A type of construction method created by mixing Spanish moss in with tempered earth, which is then used as infill overtop of wooden staves between the posts that make up the timber-frame structure. Bousillage is found in a vast number of French Colonial, Creole, and Acadian buildings of timber-frame con-struction throughout North America. This earthen infill application is a technique seen used frequently in Lou-isiana through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In contrast its use and number of surviving structures in other states such as Mississippi and Illinois, there are currently over one hundred examples of extant struc-tures containing bousillage in Louisiana showing its abundance in this region.

Figure B3: A section of bousillage wall at Godchaux.

Figures B1, B2, and B4 from Edwards, Jay and Nicolas Kariouk Pecquet du Bellay de Verton. A Creole Lexicon: Architecture, Landscape, People. Baton Rogue: LSU Press, 2004.

Figure B1 Figure B2

Figure B4

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As Godchaux Plantation was built in a series of construction phases, studying the joinery allows for the build-ing to be dated though the types of joints used. Three construction phases are certain (Phases 1, II, and III), Phase IV and Phase V are purely speculative. There was not enough (or any in most places) old joinery to make a valid assessment.

e) Longitudinal Beveled and Tabled Half-Scarf Joints: These have been found on the outer perimeter walls of the southeast and southwest elevations. These are likely from Phase II of construction.

f) Full-shouldered Mortise-and-Tenon: Found in the middle of the southern elevation and are likely from Phase I of construction.

g) Barefaced Tenon Joints: Found on the entire southern elevation, indicating phase one and being incorporated when the porch was added in Phase II.

h) Abandoned Center Mortises: Located in the sill in the middle of the southern elevation, these indicate girders were removed after Phase I.

i) Scarf Joints, Halved and Tabled: Found at the structural center of the building and the center of the southern elevation sill, indicating they were original to the building’s first phase of construction.

j) Mortise-and-Tenon Joints, Type II: Found in the middle of the southern elevation, from Phase I or II.

k) Abandoned Double-Shouldered Mortise: Found in the southeast side elevation, likely Phase II.

l) Mortise-and-Tenon Joint, Type III: Found on smaller and smoother sawn timbers, likely Phase III.

m) Mortise-and-Tenon Joint, Type IV: Similar to Type III, found on timbers smoother sawn and smaller than Type I and II, also likely Phase III.

n) Joist-in-Beam Joints,Type II: Smaller, smoother sawn, and cut differently than Type I; likely Phase III.

o) Butt Joints: These join smaller to larger timbers may be Phase III or IV.

p) Edge-Halved Scarf Joints: These join lumber of the same size and are found in the larger of the butt joints; likely Phase III.

q) Abandoned Top Mortise: This is either a remnant of Phase II or removed during Phase III.

JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR

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JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR

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JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR

Phase 4

No joinery in this area of floor

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JOINERY: SECOND FLOORA) Mortise-and-Tenon with Peg: The majority of the second floor framing uses mortise-and-tenon joints which are secured with a wooden peg. In the center room, thought to be original construction, the framing members are heavy and rough hewn, and the walls are infilled with bousillage.

B) Double Mortise-and-Tenon: At the corners of the center room, a double mortise-and-tenon is used for added stability.

C) Abandoned Half-Lapped Mortise-and-Tenon Joints: Dovetail joints were used in the original framing for ceiling joists. Ceiling joists were overturned to sit on top of top plate during a later renovation.

D) Dovetail Tenons: Dovetail tenons can be observed on either side of the fireplace in the central room. This indicates the fireplace may have been rebuilt or relocated after the original construction.

E) Hand-Hewn Mortise-and-Tenon Without Peg : Hand-hewn mortise-and tenon-joints without pegs are found throughout the southeast, northeast and northwest rooms. These members are narrower than those in the central room and probably date to the second phase of construction.

F) Sawn Members, Toenailed or Mortise-and-Tenon, Without Peg: Sawn members attached either with mor-tise-and-tenon, but more likely toenailed into the top plate.

G) Cut Tenon with Peg: Cut tenons with peg are found in all rooms. They are the result of changing the struc-tural framing to accommodate windows and doors to their current location. This may have happened more than once, but the current configuration is likely from the third phase of building, indicated by the presence of dimensional lumber in the framing.

H) Shoulder Joint with Peg:This joint is found only in one part of the house, a bricked-in entryway on the south wall of the northwest room. An abandoned mortise on the corresponding corner stud on the other side of the original frame suggests this may have been part of the original porch structure before expansion.

I) Longitudinal Beveled and Tabled Half-Scarf Joints: Found in the top plate of the east wall of the southeast room, likely from the second phase of construction.

J) Curved Door or Window Transom: A partially obscured door transom can be seen in the west central room. Part of the original construction, the opening was filled in during a later phase of construction.

Type A Type B Type C Type D Type E

Type F Type G Type H Type I Type J

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MATERIALS: WOODHewn members are made from large, tall and straight trees. A log was ready for hewing after all the large, irregular areas were removed and the log was close to the size of the timber that it would become. To hew the log, a broadax was used to create a level, squared surface. After two sides were completed, the log was turned 180° and the process was repeated until all four sides were level and square. Hand-hewn beams have a number of unique features, which give clues about the experience level of the craftsman, original use, or the age of the beam.

Hewn

Circular Saw

Reciprocal Saw

Sawmill

Sawmill with Kiln

Created by Tabitha Babbit in 1813, a circular saw blade is a circular notched tin disc, which is made to revolve rapidly on its axis. The disc would be commonly fit-ted to a table and worked by a treadle mechanism. Circular saws leave concentric arcs when cutting pieces of wood.

A reciprocal saw cuts with a back-and-forth, or push-and-pull, blade motion. A

good example of the use of this type of saw is the sawpit: a pit over which lum-

ber is positioned to be sawed with a long two-handled saw held by two men, one

standing above the timber and the other below; it was used for producing sawn

planks from tree trunks, which could then be cut down into boards, pales, posts,

etc.

A sawmill is a facility where log are cut into dimensional lumber. After selection, felling, and bucking, the logs are taken to the mill. There they are are scaled and bark is removed. After sorting the logs by species, size and end use, the sawyer uses a head saw, head rig, or primary saw to break the logs further into unfin-ished logs and planks. The flitch and trim of all irregular edges is removed, leaving four-sided lumber to be trimmed and smoothed, leaving squares at the ends at typical lumber lengths and uniform width and thickness. Sawmills could be wa-ter-powered, wind-powered, animal-powered, or electric.

Depending on the sawmill features, the kiln dry process may be applied to kill any mold or insects that might be present in the beams. Kiln drying is recommended if the moisture content of a timber is high. Much of the wood that is reclaimed from historic structures has co-existed with at least some level of moisture for many years. Kiln drying reduces the risk of the wood shrinking and twisting as it accli-mates to a drier environment.

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MATERIALS: BRICKThe 19th century saw huge changes in the brick industry, mirroring the rapid change in all forms of manufac-turing during the Industrial Revolution. As this house was built over time but has been at its present general state since 1850, many developments in the brick industry can be seen in the brick used. This includes perceiv-able changes in moulding techniques, new kiln technology, and brick size. As opposed to its European counter-parts, America’s brick industry took off quickly so, again, the changes within the industry were rapid.

Prior to 1800 bricks were formed by hand, but as other manufacturing processes began to mechanize, so too did the shaping of bricks. Many mills developed their own machines to press brick, which meant that each one had its own idea of the perfect brick proportions. In Godchaux’s older sections, we see this to be true as the original fireplace has differently-sized bricks when compared to the other second-floor fireplace. This could be because they date back to hand-moulded periods of the industry or because they date to a little later when many different shapes were being sold en masse. Either way, the differences in brick sizes show us which parts of the house match which renovation. The two double fireplaces have different bricks and therefore they are from different years.

The portions of the walls that are brick-between-post are then also post-1800 and therefore not original to the house. Without a mass industry, it would have been cost-prohibitive to build more than the foundation with brick. This explains why portions of the house are of bousillage construction. These sections belong to the original 18th-century structure, making the brick then logically 19th century. Paired with the peg joinery of the wooden members, it is apparent that these brick sections still date to an early addition. The current deteriorat-ing state of the building has revealed previously covered posts that show these pegged members in brick-be-tween-post walls.

Fireplace No. 2

Fireplace No. 1

Location Color Size

Pink

Orange

External Loggia Orange

“Bathroom” Door Surround & Opposite Wall

Orange

Window Infill & Other Bathroom Section

Reddish Pink N/A

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MATERIALS: PLASTERPlaster

Lime plaster, the most common type of plaster in the United States, begins as water, sand, and lime. Lime is a calcium oxide that helps adhere components in a mixture. On the Gulf Coast, lime is produced by firing oyster shells. Although it is traditionally a lesser-used source of lime, Louisiana has such an abundance of oyster shells spread in the soil that it’s a safe assumption that the plaster used in the Godchaux Reserve was produced using this very lime source.

Water is added to this compound to create a paste and then it is applied to sections of wall to cover and seal mud construction, brick, or wooden lath. After application, the mixture’s exposure to air/carbon dioxide hard-ens it into a calcium carbonate. This strengthens the putty, but not it enough to be load-bearing. Therefore, plaster is better suited as a wall finish rather than an integral part of the wall itself. Plaster has another securing element in the blend – horse hair – that, like the Spanish moss in bousillage (as discussed in an earlier section), gives the drying putty something more to cling to.

Plaster is a key building material when working with mud construction such as bousillage because it protects against water intrusion by creating a relatively smooth, continuous surface. Water cannot get through nor can it pool and erode. This finish purposefully covers not only the bousillage, but also the newer brick walls at the Godchaux Plantation. It has a similar effect by default of guarding against water damage on the brick and mor-tar. It is put on for design cohesion.

Plaster finishing, as seen in this building, was used until the 20th century when drywall largely replaced it.

Two second-floor fireplaces. Built at different times, the size of the bricks is different in each. The interior chimney stack was plastered over and adhered directly to the brick. Further finishes could then be applied to the plaster.

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FINISHES: LIMEWASHLimewash is a breathable coating produced by the burning and slaking of lime, with or without pigments. Its use is primarily for decoration and to provide a clean, bright matte surface. In addition, it has mild preservative, bug and fungal repellent, and antiseptic qualities. Limewash, sometimes called whitewash, can be used on a variety of surfaces, including wood, wattle and daub, plaster, and masonry. Limewash would be applied in three to four coats, each allowed to dry completely before the next application, and applied one to two times per year as part of a continual maintenance regimen. Additives included tallow (binder and waterproofing), raw linseed oil (weather-proofing), casein (improved resistance), salt and alum (humectant, emulsifier), clove oil (biocide), and washing blue (to add brilliance).

In widespread use in the 18th and 19th centuries, limewash be-came less common in the 1820’s with the rise of Portland ce-ment. However, in rural areas like Reserve, Louisiana, traditional use of limewash persisted long after. At the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation House, there is evidence of limewash in construction Phases I and II, particularly on the colombage framing of the original structure. Limewash was especially popular in south-east Louisiana as the ingredients were readily available. During the Colonial period, local deposits of limewash were found in Winn and Bienville parishes. Additionally, it could be found in seashells, plentiful along the Gulf coast.

Limewash can also be colored through the use of “earth pigments” such as iron oxide, cobalt, copper, and chrome oxide particles found in soil. The use of “washing blue” (blue iron or indigo) creates a more brilliant shade of white limewash. As early as the 1790’s, colors such as “Spanish Brown” and other European pigment colors were available to local merchants in Louisiana.

Figure L1: Remnants of limewash on the first floor.

Conjectural construction phases based on location of limewash on the second floor:

Original Structure

Phase II

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FINISHES: PAINTThe multiple additions to the second floor of the house show varying coats of paint dating to different times with different pigments and compositions. Whitewash or limewash seems to have been the earliest coating on most of the structure. All of the current topmost paint layers on the second floor appear to be lead paints, with the floor paint being of an uncertain composition.

Visible Paint Scheme

There are are six colors that appear most frequently (Figure P2): dark brown, dark red, dark blue, golden yellow, light blue, and white. The earliest is dark stain on several doors and windows and on all of the crown moldings. The dark red is found on floors and the majority of the baseboards. It is also found on part of the exterior wall of Room 1B facing the open space between 1B and 1A. The dark blue appears to be water-based and is found on the majority of the doors and door trim. A golden yellow that is perhaps made with linseed oil is also on all the doors, door trim, and crown moldings, and on some windows. Light blue is found in Rooms 1A, 1B, and 2C. In 1A, it is on the floor and walls. In 1B, it is on the door and door trim and on the walls under-neath the current white paint. In 2C it is found on the door and trim leading into room 1B, as seen in the paint sample. The most recent color on the doors, trim, windows, and crown moldings is white.

Ceilings and Crown Moldings

Ceilings have had multiple coats of paint over time (Figure P3). The majority of the crown moldings all have the same layers of paint, suggesting that all moldings had matching color schemes in the house (Figure P4).

1A 1B

2A 2B 2C

3A 3B 3C 3D

Figure P2: The most common paint colors visible at Godchaux-Reserve Plantation.Figure P1: The second floor of the house.

Figure P3: Ceiling paint layers Figure P4: Crown molding paint layers

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FINISHES: PAINTBaseboard Trims

Most rooms have the top half painted white with a dark red lower half. Room 2B, however, has a baseboard that appears pink.

Doors and Windows

The earliest base paints for the majority of the door and window trims is a form of whitewash and then a dark stain, which is the followed by a gold color and occasionally dark blue. Starting from this point forward the trims sometime vary in colors and amount of layers. In Rooms 3D and 3C, there are freestanding doors and door trims in a pile. These doors and trims also show an early coat of dark blue that appears to be tempera or another water-based paint. Windows in 3A and 3B have fewer coats of paint than 3C, and their top layer is a glossy white. It is the only high-gloss paint in the building.

Walls

Most walls only showed a layer of lime wash. Rooms 2B and 2A show a chalky red/pink color. Room 2C showed evidence of a chalky yellow (Figure P5) on the southern wall, seen in the paint sample. Rooms 3D and 3C may have had paint over wallpaper, which has been removed. Evidence of the wall paint can be seen on the door trims between 3C and 3D, where bits of wall paint splashed onto the trim.

Floors

The floors show three variations of color. a dark red paint that is lead-based, a deep brown/purple wood stain, and an orange oil-based paint. Rooms 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D have a top coat of red. Room 2B’s floor is one half orange, one half purple towards 2C where wall once split the room in two. Room 1A has a top coat of light blue of unknown composition. Rooms 2A and 2B are not in sufficient condition to assess the floor paint color.

Second Floor Exterior

Walls have a top layer of white lead paint. Underneath is a pale green that is lead-based. The earliest coat of paint seen in the paint sample is emerald green (Figure P6). The screened doors and some window frames on the gallery have a top layer of bright blue with the same pale green and emerald green layers underneath. The columns show a white lead base as the most recent layer, with yellow underneath.

Pigments

In the early 1800s,new pigments were introduced, such as a synthetic ultramarine, cadmium sulfide (yellow), chromium oxide (green), zinc chromate (can be green or yellow), lead chromate (vivid yellow), and copper acetate-arsenite mix (emerald green). These colors are present at Godchaux, however their particular pig-ments are unknown. The reds seen in Godchaux may be quite old; red ochre was a popular choice in the late 1700s-early 1800s by Creoles in Louisiana. Prussian blue, a deep blue hue, was also popular in the early 1800s but was expensive; it is unknown if this is the type of blue found on the doors and trim at Godchaux. The light blue found on the ceiling and walls in Room 1A and 1B is a cerulean blue that was common for porch paint, suggesting that Rooms 1A and 1B may have been open-air at some point in time.

Figure P5

Figure P6

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FINISHES: WALLPAPERWallpapering began in American cities as early as the beginning of the 18th century. After industrialization in the 1840s they were made more affordable throughout the United States and remained one of the most popular wall decorations until World War I.

Early wallpapers had to be tacked into the walls along the seams of the wallpaper, and then have the seams covered by borders that were also tacked in place. This began in America as early as 1741. At this time, differ-ent forms of adhesives were also developing. One of the most basic yet enduring forms of adhering paper to walls is to use “wheat paste,” or create a mixture of water, flour, and alum and for pasting the paper to the walls. During the late 19th century, textile liners, or sections of a thicker cloth placed on the wall behind the paper, were used to prepare a smooth surface by covering the grooves in the wood, and then the paper was attached on top. The methods of printing paper also changed throughout the years from being hand-painted to block-printed to screen-printed.

Many of these techniques have been found used on the second floor, mostly on the west side of the house. The most visible paper is a screen-printed rose-patterned paper applied with machine-applied sizing, dating likely from the 1930-40s. Another paper with thin green lines looks to date, pattern-wise, to the late 1870-80s. Both of these have many layers of other papers layered beneath them.

Figure WI Figure W2

Figure W3

Figure W1: Remnants of several wallpapers and their application methods, with the 1930s-40s wallpaper at far right.Figure W2: Tacks still in place from early wallpaper. Note how they follow the frame of the door.Figure W3: Layers of wallpaper and textile liners.

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FEATURES: GALLERYThe second-story front porch or gallery was an integral part of the Creole plantation house design. The humid sub-tropical climate made indoor/outdoor living a necessity, and many activities took place on the gallery rather than within the house’s solid walls. Though Godchaux’s porch is in a state of deterioration today, it is important to telling the story of change over time at the house.

Left to Right:

Cypress Columns (G1, G2)The wooden columns found on the front porch may be historic. We assume that the original columns would have been unadorned, receiving decorative touches sometime around 1825 during one of the expansions. Differences in the columns can be noted from the detail at base; older columns appear to have a circular notch while the newer columns have a triangular notch.

Cement Skim Coat (G3)In the latest rendition of the exterior elevations, a cement mixture was used in place of the traditional plas-ter. On the front elevation, the first coat contains score marks that are believed to be used as an imitation of granite. A second, thin coat of cement is found in several areas hiding the score marks. The side elevations have thicker cement coats as well as several areas backed by wire mesh. These elevations were not scored, but they seem to be of the same time period from the paint samples.

Faux-Granite Finish (G4)It is believed that at one point the house was painted to a faux-granite finish. This is supported by the score marks present on the front elevation and the paint analysis, which indicates a dark brown finish with some white spots beneath a solid green layer. Faux stone finishes were used widely in this area because real stone was hard to acquire, especially in rural areas, and had to be shipped in from quarries farther north.

Wire Mesh (G5)Wire mesh is found in two distinct places on the facade, indicating work that was completed post-1990. There is a fine green wire mesh surrounding a window on the east side of the building. There is also an expanded wire mesh surrounding a window on the west side of the building. This work seems to indicate that repairs were completed to the exterior finish in these areas.

G1 G2 G3 G4 G5

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FEATURES: MANTELSDoors, Windows, and Mantels

In the 1870s, there was a shift from handmade doors, windows, moldings, stairs, mantels, etc. to machine-made. The millwork industry started with small local companies that were located near timber-growing regions. These mills expanded and started producing more and more. By the 1890s almost everything in the home was made out of wood. Moldings were standardized in 1890. Wood was plentiful and cheap. In the 1920s – 1940s, millwork had been standardized and mills across the country were producing very similar products. By the Great Depression, wood was no-longer a cheap resource. Non-wood products that were cheaper started taking the place of millwork.

None of the doors, windows, or mantels are original to the first phase of construction of the Godchaux-Re-serve house. These features changed as the building changed. The earliest of the features dates from about the 1870s. This tells us that there were several renovations throughout the lifetime of this building.

Original windows, doors and mantels were removed from the structure while new ones were introduced. This is especially obvious with the windows labeled 2W5. These are located in the oldest part of the structure but they are the newest windows, dating to the 1950s at the earliest. Even when looking at the framing of the structure, you can see that the placement of doors and windows has changed, so it makes sense that the doors and windows themselves have changed too.

Mantels

The mantel has been an important decorative feature of the home for hundreds of years. The type of wood-en mantel that includes columns on the sides and the mantelshelf all in one piece was developed in the early 1800s with the Federal Style. Before this, fireplaces were simply surrounded with molding. Mantels can range from being simple to highly decorative. By 1870s, there was a wide range of mantel styles, many of which we still see today.

Mantel 1M1, ca. 1898 - 1904Massive wooden wrap-around mantelpiece with a fluted pilasters on either side of the fireplace opening. There are diamond motifs on the frieze. The detailed cornice holds up a wide mantel shelf. This mantel is currently not attached to a fireplace. It was once on the second floor of the house in one of the rooms on the south end. This mantel’s measure-ments match up with the fireplace in room 3C.

1M2, ca. 1898-1904 (Quantity 2)Small wooden mantelpiece that would only cover the front of a fireplace. This mantel is a smaller, more delicate version of 1M1.

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FEATURES: WINDOWS AND DOORS

Doors

In the early 1700s, the most common door type was the batten door. This door is constructed of vertical planks nailed to a pair of horizontal boards. Doors up until the 1850s were very thin, roughly 1-½” or less for exterior doors and 1” for interior doors. By the 1870s, the most common door type was the stile and rail door. This construction allows the wood to expand and warp overtime without changing the dimensions of the door. After the 1890s the standard thickness of exterior doors was 1-½” and interior doors was 1- 3/8”. These standards still exist today.

2D1, ca. 1900Wooden double glazed door with two large lights on each leaf. The four glass lights are missing. There is a four-light operable transom window above the door. This is an exterior door that opened onto a porch. The trim of the door surround is plain, square-edge.

Windows

Before 1700, windows were inoperable. Since the 1750s, windows have most typically been of the casement or double-hung varieties (single-hung before 1800). Glass technology was the main reason for changes in window size and style. In the 1700s all glass was imported from England. The standard size for glass panes during this time was 6” x 8” or 7” x 9”. Before 1870, sashes were typically 1” to 1-½” thick. Up through the 1890s, glass continued to be imported from european countries because the US could not produce enough to meet the demand. By the 1850s, plate glass became available but was not widely produced until the 1900s. Plate glass allowed for a variety of pane sizes. Operating double-hung windows with the pulley system was not common until the 1870s.

2W5, ca.1950s - 1980s (Quantity 4)Six-over-six, double-hung wooden window with thin muntins. These windows are functional. They have a metal sash lock and metal sash weights and chains. Only one of the four win-dows still retains the molding. The other three windows are in various states of disrepair, but only one is missing light panels. All of them have been boarded up to protect the interior of the house.

2W5

2D1

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Hull, Brent. Historic Millwork: A Guide to Restoring and Recreating Doors, Windows, and Moldings of the Late Nineteenth through Mid-Twenti-eth Centuries. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Lynn, Catherine. Wallpapers in Historic Preservation. Washington, D.C.: Technical Preservation Services Division, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1977.

Martin, Bruce. Joints in Buildings. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1977.Maurin, Michael J. Typescript history of Reserve Plantation based upon extensive research in primary sources, copy in Register file,

Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation.McDermott, Allyson. “Investigating Wallpapers: The Potential of Integrated Research within Historic Interiors.” In Paint Research in

Building Conservation. London: Archetype, 2006. Moss, Roger. Paint in America. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 1994.Nylander, Richard C. Wall Papers for Historic Buildings: A Guide to Selecting Reproduction Wallpapers. Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press,

National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1983. Rose, Colin Mitchell. Traditional Paints. 2002. http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/paint/paint.htm. Accessed 3 December

2015.Standeven, Harriet. House Paints, 1900-1960: History & Use. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2011.Sternberg, Mary Ann. Along The River Road: Past and Present on Louisiana’s Historic Byway. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University

Press, 1996.Streigel, Mary F., and Sarah M. Jackson. Study on the Durability of Traditional and Modified Limewash. 8 July 2011. https://ncptt.nps.gov/blog/

study-on-the-durability-of-traditional-and-modified-limewash/. Accessed 30 November 2015.Zwerger, Klaus. Wood and Wood Joints. Boston: Birkhäuser, 1997.

19

Appendix

20

1D1 (Quantity 12) ca. 1990s - 2005

There are no original or even historic doors left on the first floor. There are green faux batten paired doors covering the openings. These were added fairly recently to protect the interior of the house. Most of the wooden doors are in good condition except for two on the back of the house; one has lost the right panel door and the other’s paired doors have fallen off of their hinges.

WINDOW AND DOOR SCHEDULE

Room1

1D1 1D1

1D1

1D1

1D1

1D11D11D11D1

1D1

1D1

1D1

1W1

1W11W1

First Floor

1W1 (Quantity 3) ca. 1990s - 2005

These three windows do not have any actual window panes or any of the original window left. There are green faux batten shutters covering the openings. These were added fairly recently to protect the interior of the house. They are in fairly good condition except for one on the right side of the house that has been boarded over.

21

Wooden double glazed door with two large lights on each door. The four glass lights are missing. There is a four-light operable transom window above the door. This is an exterior door that opened onto a porch. The trim of the door surround is plain, square-edge.

WINDOW AND DOOR SCHEDULE

2D1

2D2

2D4

2D22D52D6

2D7

2D8

2D3

2W1

2W2

2W1

2W32W52W52W5

2W5

2W4 2W4

2W7

2W6

Second Floor

Wooden multi light-over-panel french door with a porcelain door knob. There is a four-light operable transom window above the door. The door surround of the south door has detailed trim while the north door trim is plain, square-edge. The south door has lost or broken 2 of the 16 lights. Some of these lights had been painted. The paint could have been due to its move from its use as an exterior door to an interior door when the porch was enclosed. The north door has lost 13 of the 16 lights.

2D1 ca. 1900

2D2 (Quantity 2) ca. 1900

22

O.G. four-panel, stile and rail, hinged wooden door. There are remnants of the decorative molding of the top of the door surround. The door knob is missing.

WINDOW AND DOOR SCHEDULE

Wooden multi-light over-panel hinged door with porcelain doorknob. There are no decora-tive features on the door surround or panels of the door. This door was likely an exterior door due to its large amount of windows and the sliding lock near the top of the door. It does appear that at one point, the window panes were painted over, as evidence of the bottom right pane. The paint could have been due to its move from exterior to interior. The door is missing two of the nine lights.

2D42D3 ca. 1870s - 1940s

2D4ca. 1900

2D5ca. 1920s - 1940s

2D6ca. 1900

Wooden two-paneled door with a single-light. This exterior door features lots of decora-tion in the molding on the door surround and on the two panels. The metal doorknob and hardware are also decorative and match that of 2D6. The door is in good condition and still functions.

Wooden multi light, hinged door with transom. The molding of the door is decorative and the doorknob hardware matches that of 2D5 in the room adjacent. This door is not in the best of conditions; two of the fifteen lights are missing, the transom is missing all four of its panes, and the doorknob is gone. Most of the molding around the door is no longer intact and the door no longer closes due to rusted hinges. It has been boarded up to protect the interior of the house.

23

Wooden four-paneled, stile and rail, hinged, interior door with glass doorknob. The panels of the door are set in and have no decorative features, the molding on the other hand, is much more decorative. The doorknob hardware is similar to 2D5 and 2D6, however it is much smaller. Though the door is the only object left standing on its wall it is in fairly good condition. It is not missing any pieces and it can still open and close.

WINDOW AND DOOR SCHEDULE

Wooden four-paneled, stile and rail, hinged,interior door. The panels of this door set in and then bump out again, which is a bit more decorative than 2D7, but the doorknob hard-ware matches that of 2D7. The molding on the door is decorative as well. The door is not in quite as good condition as the one next to it, the hinges have rusted so that the door cannot close all the way and the doorknob is missing.

Six-over-six double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. Both of these windows face west. The south window is missing all six lights of the upper sash and all of its molding. The north window still has all of its lights and most of the plain, square-edge trim still exists. Both of the windows have been boarded up on the exterior.

Six-over-six square-paned, double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. Thick plain, square-edge trim. It is missing five lights, all from the upper sash.

2D82D7ca. 1870s - 1940s

2D8ca. 1870s - 1940s

2W1 (Quantity 2)ca. 1900

2W2 ca. 1900

24

Six-over-six double-hung, extremely tall, wooden window with thin muntins. This window is one of the most decorative in the house with molding around the edges and along the sill. It has a small metal sash lock and metal sash weights and chains. The window is missing two of the twelve lights but other than that it seems to be in decent condition. The window has been boarded up to protect the interior of the house.

WINDOW AND DOOR SCHEDULE

Six-over-six double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. There is a four light transom above. De-tailed trim surrounds the window and transom. The window on the west is missing one of its lights while the window on the east is missing the entire lower sash.

Six-over-six double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. These windows are non-decorative. They have a metal sash lock and metal sash weights and chains. Only one of the four windows still retains the molding. The other three windows are in various states of disrepair, but only one is missing light panels. All of them have been boarded up to protect the interior of the house.

Six-over-six double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. This window has square lights and is much shorter than it is wide. The trim around the window has no decorative features. The upper and lower sashes of the window overlap due to the shortening of the entire window sometime during its lifetime. The window is missing at least thirteen of the twenty-four lights. It has been boarded up to protect the interior of the house.

2W3 ca. 1900

2W4 (Quantity 2)ca. 1900

2W5 (Quantity 4)ca. 1950s - 1980s

2W7

2W6ca. 1900

2W7ca. 1900

Six-over-six double-hung, wooden window with thin muntins. This window is ad-jacent to 2W6 and is the same width, however the lights are rectangular and the window is much longer than 2W6. The trim around the window has no decorative features. The window is missing two of the twentyfour lights. It has been boarded up to protect the interior of the house. -

25

EXAMPLE PAINT SAMPLE FORMPROJECT

DESCRIPTION SAMPLE LOCATION DATE ANALYZED

MICROSCOPE ANALYZED BYMAGNIFICATION ILLUMINATION CAMERA

NOTES

AmScope Fiberoptic Haloid Lamp

40xAmScope M150C AmScope 10mp MU100

SAMPLE LOCATION LOCATION PHOTOGRAPH 100X PHOTOMICROGRAPH

REFLECTED LIGHT PHOTOMICROGRAPH COLORLAYER SCHEME

Godchaux-Reserve Housecorner of West 10th Street and River RoadReserve, Louisiana

SAMPLE ID: CC-1

Christine Carlo

Exterior corner of house Southwest exterior corner on 2nd floor

11/30/2015

6

5

4

3

2

1

base layer

Off-White

White

Off-White

Creme

Green

Light Yellow

Cypress

x

x

x

x

x

x

Scheme 3

Building Preservation StudioProfessor Michael Shoriak

Gwen AsburyAhleah BoiseHallie Borstel

Marshall BrownKelly CalhounWendy CargileChristine CarloAmy Federman

Jose Madrid GalvanAlison Hill

Emma KousourisNicole Lirette

Meghan MurphyRosemary Phillips

Dorsey PierceMarguerite Roberts

Alyssa RogutJames Rolf

Leah Solomon