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The basic overview of the award winning restoration of the
1863 stable and a brief history of Greenvale Farm and
Vineyards
BACKGROUND
The 5000 square foot stable now Tasting Room was designed
and built in 1863 by John H. Sturgis, a young architect in
Boston at the time who later designed and built such
buildings as the Church of the Advent in Boston, the
original Museum of Fine Arts at Copley Square, and the
Webster Ames House on the corner of Dartmouth and
Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston. Though he spent much of his
adult life in England he also did many private homes in
Boston, Cambridge and the North Shore. Margaret Henderson
Floyd, architectural historian who died a few years ago
remarked that many of his building were torn down in the
1960’s.
The restoration of our stable is a wonderful example of
adaptive reuse. Originally Greenvale Farm as envisioned by
the current family’s ancestor John Barstow was designed as a
Ferme Orne and built on the premise of a book by Richard
Morris Copeland called Country Life. Copeland’s message and
John Barstow’s intent was to find a 50 to 60 acre farm to
“establish a rural agricultural retreat but one that would
provide occupation as well as recreation.” During the day
one was to be employed in a task, a focus or specialty and
at night one was to “pursue the classics.” Enriching one’s
body and soul. The original copy of Country Life is in the
Greenvale Collection at the Redwood Library in Newport. John
Barstow’s collection was bequeathed by John’s younger
sister, Catharine, upon her death in 1907. John died in
1886.
Barstow, Catharine and a brother Captain Daniel Barstow
first moved into the existing and still standing 1790’s
Farmhouse in 1863 when John purchased the 52 acres from
Samuel Peckam. The Farmhouse was more sympathetic with
Copeland’s viewpoint of simplicity., yet from the maps of
the 1850’s it is clear that Barstow tore down the colonial
farm buildings, retained the Farmhouse and began his own
version of Country Life, a more aesthetic approach as the
architecture and landscaping clearly proves. The 1850’s map
also explains the skewed orientation of two granite posts
that is now obvious that were meant to relate to the former
structures.
It appears that the stable was built almost as a template
for the house. The early Victorian gothic motifs were not
altogether common at the time though Sturgis might have sent
his client to look at the construction of the Griswold house
now the Newport Art Museum to give an idea of his design
intent. Two other farm buildings were built, and sadly taken
down in the 1950’s due to disrepair. The cow barn and
chicken coop were much simpler in their form.
Other Restoration projects on the property included a
beautiful restoration of the 19th century Farmhouse by Cort
and Nancy Parker and brother James Parker with Richard Long
of Newport as the architect in 1980-1981. Also, constant
stewardship of the main house and the landscape. Between the
first and second generation the house stood empty for 20
years and fell into disrepair. General James and Charlotte
Parker returned to Greenvale upon his retirement from the
army. The Parker’s removed the porch and brought the place
back to life. The nomination papers for the National
Register of Historic Places explains that the porch was
obviously in disrepair and the porch probably made the house
too dark for “20th century sensibilities” and therefore
removed. Most of the furnishings and the chrystal door knobs
were stolen. The stained glass window remained intact.
The Vineyard project started in the early 1980’s. Cort
Parker has always had an interest in growing grapes and his
wife and their children recognized the value of having the
surrounding acreage support he property - another goal
stipulated in Copeland’ book. The attention to the house and
to the vineyards meant that the stable was not really used
and was a great opportunity for the powder post beetle. Over
a period of 30 years repairs were made to the Stable’s roof
and the foundation in order to keep the building standing
but the bug damage had become extensive.
PROJECT
In 1998, with Cort and Nancy Parker’s blessing and support,
their daughter, Nancy Parker Wilson and son in law William
Wilson embarked on the restoration of the building to become
the Tasting Room for what had become Greenvale’s raison
d’etre. Nancy is an active preservationist and Bill is an
architect. Nancy also runs the winery. It was very clear
that the restoration of the stable would be a great venue by
which to talk to the general public about historic
preservation, adaptive reuse, conservation of open space,
while enjoying the fruit of the land.
With the help of Bill’s office, William Wilson Associated
Architects and architect Jim Moses, working with Jenkins
Construction of Middletown, the 20 month long restoration
entailed taking down all four walls and rebuilding them. The
northern elevation was lifted 13 inches, the southern
elevation, 18 inches. East and West were relatively plumb
though the powder post damage required almost complete
reconstruction in some areas.. We kept as much original
fabric as possible. One wall was rebuilt with all that was
possible from the project. Windows were mostly repaired
though a few had to be rebuilt in kind. The barn door
openings have been retained. The hardware and original doors
are either up or waiting to be reinstalled.
The ceilings had to be removed and the floors on carriage
side had to be replaced. The stall side floor was replaced
in the early 80’s. The roof is expansive and a beautiful new
truss system was designed to provide the stability for the
roof. The expansive roof and the hay on the second floor had
much to do with the structural instability of the building
initially. The top of the roof was replaced with
architectural shingles, the original roof was wood shakes
which we hope to use when the mansard work has to be done
some year. The earth surrounding the building was changed
slightly in order to create a slope that has made the
building handicapped accessible.
The three remaining standing stalls at the time of
construction are now offices for the winemaker, vineyard
manager and tasting room manager, one box stall is a
bathroom and the other a kitchen. They are clearly stalls.
The tack room is intact. Farm notes remain on the wall and
are covered with plexiglass. We have collected a great deal
of historic farming implements and old bottles that are on
exhibit though not truly curated yet.
It has been an extremely rewarding project and a great joy.
Greenvale Vineyards is open for Vineyard Tours and Wine Tastings from 10:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
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