The elaborately stenciled Egyptian revival stencil programs applied throughout the house had all been restored and repainted except for the Billiards Room, located off the front hall stair landing. While the ceiling of the room had sustained little damage, the walls were extensively cracked and chipped due to plumbing issues, as well as, weather and temperature problems. In other parts of the house similar failures had led to the recording and replacement of the decorative paint program, following replacement of the plaster walls.
We chose a different approach. We removed and replaced the failed paint from the solid color fields, but cleaned conserved, and in-painted the areas of loss in the stenciled decorative bands with reversible pigments. This preserved the restored of the room while allowing the conservation the original decorative paint program. As seen in the above photo, the Billiards Room after conservation.
ARCHITECT: William Ralph Emerson, 1870
