Pergola Restoration

RESTORATION HIGHLIGHT – Pergola, 2017, 2024

The covered walkway leading from the Castle’s driveway to the lakeside lawn is known as the pergola. Before its restoration in 2017, the pergola was in poor condition. Wood rot was wreaking havoc on the posts, beams, braces, and decorative rafter tails. Preservation carpenters from Fifield Building Restoration & Relocation replaced only what was necessary. As with all of our restoration projects, their goal was to keep as much of the original wood as possible intact. In some cases, the Fifield crew spliced new white oak members into original sections using special joinery techniques. All exposed surfaces were chiseled to resemble the original scalloping, and new copper flashing was attached to the tops of the rafter tails.

In 2024, we returned to the pergola project to address the roof. Historic photos show the pergola originally had red terracotta roof tiles, just like the mansion. Decades ago, those tiles were replaced with wood shingles. The Castle Preservation Society worked with Pat Murphy, a New Hampshire-based ceramicist, who custom-made the wedge-shaped Pergola roof tiles. Roofers from Custom Slate & Copper (Manchester, NH) installed the tiles in April 2024.

To finish the project, Steve Fifield and Sue Hardt (Fifield Building Restoration & Relocation) installed a decorative wood finial on the top of the Pergola dome. The finial, chainsaw-carved by Todd Gladfelter, depicts three squirrels. It is not a replica, but is inspired by the original squirrel finial seen in historic photos of Lucknow Mansion.