An extensive project to conserve the original 18th-century windows of the 1768 Lee Mansion is currently in progress.   

The Lee Mansion is one of only a handful of pre-Revolutionary buildings in America that retain their original 18th-century window sash and frames.  Fifty one of the 54 windows, and most of the sills are original.  The project is necessary to halt further deterioration of architectural elements.

The multi-year effort (2000-07) addresses the sash, frames and sills in the most critical condition – about 20 large and 12 small windows, including all 20 of the front windows and some on the side.   The work is complex and meticulous – more like furniture conservation than building repair.   

Window Sash and Sills

The window sash, with its rare and delicate 18th c. joinery, involves the most detailed treatment, and is done in a conservation workshop.  Degrading putty and epoxies must be removed without damaging the fragile glass, some of which is original (mostly on the rear/north façade).   Conservation of the large sills, which perhaps suffer the most from the environment, is also challenging and labor-intensive. 

The 18th c. sash, frames, and sills were made of red cedar, a very rot-resistant wood, which certainly benefited their long-term preservation.  The conservators craft small bits of red cedar to fit damaged areas of the finely shaped muntin bars, rather than simply filling rotted areas with epoxies, which eventually fail. 

Original material is preserved wherever possible.  Earlier repairs to sash corners and eroded areas of the sills were made with epoxy or pine, which responds to the climate differently than the original red cedar to which the piece is glued, and has generated further deterioration.  Those are now being replaced with pieces of red cedar.  Of all the sash, the two from c.1922 are in nearly the worst condition.  Original wood in historic buildings generally fares better over time than 20th-century substitutes, showing the importance of preserving rather than replacing historic building elements. 

The Arched Window and Cupola  

In addition to the Mansion’s 54 windows, there is a large original arched or “round-headed” window at the head of the main staircase and six 20th-century windows in the cupola.

The arched window of this grand colonial house articulates superb Georgian style, which was inspired by earlier architects such as Andrea Palladio and others, who based their designs on Greek and Roman architecture.  The fluted interior pilasters flanking the arched window in the grand stair-hall, however, suggests a tri-partite (3-part) Palladian design.  The lower sash of the very large arched window was once able to be raised up. The original pulley wheels survive in place. 

The cupola windows have been replaced several times over the centuries, but all six of its original round-headed windows still survive, in storage since the early 1800s.

Conservation Continues

To date, the project has conserved 26 large pairs of sash from the principal front rooms on the first and second floors (13 on the front, 5 on the sides, and 1 at the back of the entry hall).   Twelve pairs of smaller third-floor sash will be conserved during the winter and spring of 2007.

The work began in 2000, with funding from The Essex National Heritage Commission, a federal agency. It continued with two successive grants from The Institute of Museum and Library Services, and several private foundations including the Society of Colonial Wars. 

Approximately $60,000 is still needed to complete the project.