The Cook's House before restoration
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This photo essay describes how Debbie Meeks and her crew restored the historic windows.
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Cook's House General Restoration 2024
Made possible by a Florida State Historic Preservation grant awarded in 2021.
Grant administrator- John McPherson.
Grant administrator- John McPherson.
In 2021, Friends again applied for and received a grant from the Division of Historical Resources. It provided $75,000 to restore the roof and windows of the Cook’s House, doing whatever else was needed to get the building out of the weather so it could later be fully restored.
That project included a gift-in-kind of about $10,500 in professional services from Debbie Meeks, then-president of Friends and an expert in historical preservation. With help from some additional Friends’ volunteers, she removed, repaired, and reinstalled all the windows to historical-restoration standards at no cost to Friends or the grant funds. The Division of Historical Resources credited the gift-in-kind toward Friends’ $15,000 required matching gift on the grant.
That project included a gift-in-kind of about $10,500 in professional services from Debbie Meeks, then-president of Friends and an expert in historical preservation. With help from some additional Friends’ volunteers, she removed, repaired, and reinstalled all the windows to historical-restoration standards at no cost to Friends or the grant funds. The Division of Historical Resources credited the gift-in-kind toward Friends’ $15,000 required matching gift on the grant.
Document the existing conditions
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Form footers for three new piers
With the house temporarily supported, holes for the new footers are dug, measured and formed.
Threaded anchor bolts, drilled through the sill beam, extend into the future concrete pour. Rebar to strengthen the concrete is placed and wired in place. |
A finished pier with fresh concrete.
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Install temporary flooring
The floor was rotted or missing in two places so plywood was installed.
Replace the Roof
Farewell resurrection ferns!
BEFORE
photo: Laurie Coppedge
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AFTER
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We thought the resurrection fern roots were imbedded in the shingles but to our surprise, they pulled up in large sheets- like peat moss with ferns on top- leaving the shingles behind. Martin Construction was kind enough to set them aside so we could sell a few to raise additional funds for Vista. Deer found the remaining ferns and browsed the leaves off all of them in one night!
The cook's house was originally built as inexpensive lumber worker housing and it was possibly moved from Cummer's Sumner mill town to Vista. When the house was built pecky cypress was considered inferior lumber so everything is pecky even the roof decking which is never seen except when re-roofing.
Notch the roof and save the tree!
New shingles
Thanks to the Florida State Historic Preservation grant awarded to the Friends, this building and the stories it tells will be preserved for many years. A new roof and restored windows made it weatherproof and the Lower Suwannee NWR is pursuing termite extermination and protection.
But there's much more to do before Vista can open to the public. If you haven't already, please sign up for our News Brief and get involved with Vista.
But there's much more to do before Vista can open to the public. If you haven't already, please sign up for our News Brief and get involved with Vista.
