beneath the surface - huntington...

BENEATHtheSURFACE

Architect Kelly Sutherlin McLeod reflects on the restoration of the Japanese House

By Diana W. Thompson

10 Spring/Summer 2012

When you set out to restore a houselike this, do you take it back to theday it was first built? Not necessarily. In preservation, theissue of “historic significance” is notmerely academic. Research helps usidentify a property’s most historicallynoteworthy period, also known as the“period of significance.” It providesthe lens through which we identifyany number of features, materials, andeven finishes that reflect and conveya property’s historic significance. Thisapproach helps us retain and protectthe relevant stories that a historicbuilding and site have to tell. With the Japanese House, we iden-

tified a 16-year period of significance:from 1911, when Huntington pur-chased and relocated the house to hisranch, until his death in 1927. Thisperiod encompasses the JapaneseHouse as Henry Huntington envi-sioned it, in the context of his JapaneseGarden. This determination helped tofocus our restoration plan on physicalfeatures dating from this period inaddition to the relationship betweenthe house and its garden setting.

And how did you and other mem-bers of the project team find outmore about that period, particularlywhen it came to a detail like the colorof the plaster, which has changedfrom brown to a charcoal-gray? We started with investigative work,including studying correspondencebetween Huntington and his superin-tendent, William Hertrich. Hertrichreported details about reassemblingthe house at the Huntington ranch,including the installation of newexterior plaster.

Q&A

When architect Kelly Sutherlin McLeod, AIA, accepted the job ofrestoring The Huntington’s Japanese House as part of a centennialrenovation of its Japanese Garden, she did so without the benefitof original plans, building specifications, or a clear history ofprevious alterations. Instead, she pored through photos, letters, and other documents

that trace the building’s history back to 1903, when antiquesdealer George T. Marsh had the house built for his commercialtea garden in Pasadena, and to 1911, when Henry E. Huntingtonbought the house from Marsh and moved it to his San Marinoranch as the focal point of his Japanese Garden. McLeod andother members of the team consulted carpenters, plasterers, his-torians, and experts on traditional Japanese architecture. Togetherthey worked to determine the historical context and significance ofthe Japanese House. They concluded the structure was composedprimarily of materials originating in Japan, and that it representeda hybrid of traditional Japanese architectural styles. As one of veryfew such buildings, it was a prime example of early 20th-centuryJapanese architecture built in California by Japanese Americancarpenters. Huntington staff members also weighed in about thestructure’s more recent history. Ultimately, however, it was the house itself that revealed the

most about its origins. As McLeod and her team began peelingaway the layers, they made a series of exciting discoveries thatprovided a blueprint for restoring the Japanese House to its early20th-century elegance.

HUNTINGTON FRONTIERS 11

At the start of our project the plas-ter was a multi-layered patchwork ofrepairs in various colors of brown andwhite, as well as differing textures andfinishes. An epoxy-like coating hadbeen applied in recent years to mostof the exterior plaster surfaces, whichwas peeling away in several locations,revealing underlying plaster layers. On-site investigation revealed an

underlying plaster that was dark incolor, with a smooth finish. The proj-ect team’s conservator, John Griswold,found this 1911 finish to be a porousand organic plaster more consistentwith traditional Japanese plaster, notthe cement-based plaster found inWestern construction. Unfortunatelythe nonporous coatings that had beenapplied trapped moisture, causingsevere damage to the original plaster.The deteriorated condition of theplaster led to our decision to replacenearly all of it. John’s firm (GriswoldConservation Associates, LLC) designeda multi-layered finish system usinglayers of lime mixtures over moderncementitious plaster, the exteriorplaster commonly used in construc-tion today. (For more on the use oftraditional natural plaster, see sidebar.)The new exterior plaster, with its

dramatic charcoal color, restores theoverall appearance of the plaster tothe period of significance while pro-viding a durable, cost effective, andeasy-to-maintain finish.

Research helps usidentify a property’smost historicallynoteworthy period,also known as the“period of significance.”

Opposite: Project architect Kelly Sutherlin McLeod, AIA (center), and associate Heather Donaghy Ballard(right) review restoration plans with Andrew Mitchell, the master craftsman at The Huntington. Photographby John Ellis. Above: In 1903, the Japanese House served as an antique shop on the corner of Fair Oaks Ave.and California Blvd. in Pasadena. Below: By 1914, the house had been moved to Henry E. Huntington’sSan Marino ranch as the centerpiece of his Japanese Garden. Previous spread: Celebrating its 100-yearanniversary in April 2012, the Japanese House emerges resplendent after a year-long renovation. Photographby Martha Benedict.


How did you know you were closeto finding the original color?We carefully removed small core sam-ples from different locations of theexterior walls and used them to deter-mine the original color and finish ofthe plaster from Henry Huntington’sera. We made an exciting discoveryabove the second-floor storm doors,where the exterior wall had not beentreated with heavy coatings—as hadmost of the exterior—but was cov-ered only with a layer of oil paint.Under the paint, we found originalHuntington-era plaster. We left thismaterial intact and protected underthe painted surface. We also foundunderlying layers of beige-coloredplaster above the front entry of thehouse that we determined to be orig-inal to the Marsh era. We left thismaterial intact as well. The team made yet another amaz-

ing discovery at the back of the housewhere the wood steps were badlydeteriorated. We pulled the steps awayfrom the house and found a com-pletely untouched panel of the origi-nal 1911 plaster—a perfect match tothe new plaster installed during therestoration project!

Another distinctive feature of theJapanese House is its undulating hip-and-gable wooden roof, or irimoya-zukuri. What challenges did you facein restoring this section? Historical photos show stacks of newwood roof shingles ready for installa-tion on the house after it was relocat-ed to the Huntington property. TheHuntington staff told us that the shin-gles were replaced again about 40 yearsago, with spot repairs taking placesince then. We removed the roof shin-gles with the hope that we might findsome of the original shingles, but wenever did. We enlarged the historicalphotos and analyzed them to deter-mine the original dimensions and

Our crew carefully shaped and installedindividual shingles to re-create the complexcurves at the roof hips and eaves.

Entry at the Japanese House, with distinctive Chinese-style curved gable (karahafu唐破風), after restoration.With a layer of flat brown paint removed, exquisite carvings come into view. Photograph by John Ellis.


The same material that keeps the ceiling ofRome’s Pantheon intact after nearly 2,000years now coats the exterior of The Hunting-ton’s Japanese House: lime plaster. Made fromnatural limestone that has been heated in akiln to create quicklime and then mixed withwater and other compounds, lime plaster hasbeen valued as a building material for cen-turies. Natural plasters can be found in manyolder constructions, including the Egyptianpyramids, the Great Wall of China, and asarchitect Kelly Sutherlin McLeod discovered,the Japanese House.In a November 1911 letter, Henry Hunt-

ington’s superintendent William Hertrich de-scribed the exterior finish as a “very fineJapanese plaster.” Indeed, when conservatorJohn Griswold analyzed the underlying layersof plaster, he found a substance high in organiccontent, not the hard, impermeable cement-based plaster used to recoat the JapaneseHouse over the years. These later layers wereforcing moisture to remain trapped withinthe walls.One of lime plaster’s key benefits is

breathability. Lime wicks water to the build-ing’s exterior, where it can evaporate, whileordinary Portland cement traps moisture. If acement plaster is used over a traditional limeplaster, moisture can form and literally pulldown the existing wall. “We needed to reversethe order of plaster materials on the exteriorwalls,” explained McLeod. “Although therewere no signs of mold, water infiltration wasstarting to take its toll. And yet a radical changeback to a pure lime plaster system wouldhave imposed too great a change in the in-terior environment, putting the historic ma-terials at risk.”The solution was to remove the existing

plaster and replace it with a new plaster base.Alpine Plaster, subcontractor to Valley Crest,performed that step. This was followed witha traditional lime plaster system formulatedto emulate the original appearance of thesoft, natural Japanese-style plaster.

The Staying Power of Ancient Rome

Above: The project team discusses treatment options for the plaster restoration. Clockwise fromfar right: John Griswold, principal conservator at Griswold Conservation Associates, LLC (GCA),James Polson of Alpine Plastering, Inc., Kelly Sutherlin McLeod, AIA, and Catherine Smith, alsoof GCA. Photograph by Andrew Mitchell. Below: The restored plaster shows the reveal with thefinely grained wood. Photograph by Martha Benedict.


installation pattern of the wood roof shingles and theamount each shingle extends beyond the one above it,which is called the exposure of a shingle. But the oldphotos aren’t very sharp, so that was a challenge. Then the project team had another dramatic break-

through. After taking down the wood ridge-box above theentry, we exposed the back of the ornamental concretecap and discovered a clear imprint of the original shin-gles—shape, size, and profile—molded into the mortar atthe base of the concrete cap. This discovery confirmed thatthe original shingles extended two and a half inches—half the exposure of standard Western shingle installation.The photographs from 1903 and 1911 showed com-

mon Western-style wood roof shingles. After comparingvarious options, we chose an 18-inch cedar “rebuttedand rejointed” wall shingle to simulate the original roofinstallation. Our crew carefully shaped and installed indi-vidual shingles to re-create the complex curves at theroof hips and eaves. The curved gable over the entryporch is a highly visible, character-defining feature of thehouse and was one of the most complicated areas forinstallation of shingles, but we knew restoring the originalroof design was critical to the overall impact of the project.When the roof installation was finished, after more than amonth of painstaking work, the house came back to life.

You said that the brown paint that coated much ofthe wood was not original to Henry Huntington’s time.How did you go about removing it?Most all of the exterior wood elements at the house hadbeen painted with an opaque brown paint. We learnedfrom letters between Huntington and Hertrich that theexterior wood of the house had been treated with stain.We then found the original rich brown stain finish at afew discrete locations. So we carefully removed all of thebrown paint from the sliding wood storm doors, beams,vertical posts, and trim without removing the originalstain finish or the patina of age. Our goal was not tomake the house look pristine and brand-new but ratherto have it appear a well-maintained, appropriately aged100-year-old building. The crew also removed paint from wood panels above

the storm doors, which had been thought to be replace-ment panels of contemporary plywood. They uncovereda highly figured grain pattern, the same pattern shown inphotos dating back to 1903 as well as in photos from the1950s. Atsuko Tanaka, a Japanese historian and scholar,advised the team that the panels have a very similarappearance to sugi, a wood commonly used for traditionalJapanese houses. Sugi wood, which is a Japanese cedar,

For application of this outer finish, McLeod andGriswold turned to Scott Nelson of Natural Walls, a localartisan who started his company after becoming inspired bythe traditional architecture he viewed while touring Europe.Using a natural hydraulic lime from southwestern

France, Griswold developed a formula mixing a natural,breathable plaster tinted with black oxide and a smallamount of raw umber to achieve the rich, dark charcoalcolor of the Huntington-era plaster, which was skillfullyapplied by Nelson.

A defining feature of lime plaster is that it strengthensas it cures. The heating process that creates quicklimedrives off carbon dioxide, leaving behind calcium oxide.During the curing process, lime plaster pulls carbon diox-ide from the air, returning it to a carbonized, hardenedstate. This can take anywhere from a few days to a month.The majority of the new exterior wall panels are com-posed of modern cementitious plaster with a naturalhydraulic lime finish layer and six or seven layers of limepaint (pure high-calcium hydrated lime). Nelson was extremely careful with the measurements.

“When you have that many vertical panels, it can lookuneven if you don’t get it right,” he said. “So we matchedthe thickness from panel to panel.”The newly applied plaster also reestablished an important

aesthetic, the proper reveal between the plaster and thelevel of the wood trim. “Over the years,” explained McLeod,“patching and caulking had raised the level of the plaster,reducing the reveal between wood trim and plaster.”The defined reveal between wood trim and plaster has

been returned to its original dimension—“A simpledetail with a large aesthetic impact,” said McLeod.

–DWT

Natural plasters can be foundin many older constructions,including the Egyptian pyra-mids, the Great Wall of China,and as architect Kelly SutherlinMcLeod discovered, theJapanese House.


was used for panels at the base of theoriginal shoji screens that are still inplace at the house today. So the lami-nated wood material had been delib-erately used to simulate sugi, yet anothercharacter-defining element of the house.

How would you summarize, then,what we now know about the house?At the beginning of the project, wedidn’t have a clear understanding ofthe historic integrity of the house orof its authenticity. In other words, weweren’t sure how much of the housewas original and to what extent it hadbeen altered over the years. Throughcareful investigation—accompaniedby verification from Japanese buildersand scholars who clarified the house’speriod and regional style—we were

able to confirm that the materials, de-sign elements, and construction tech-niques were in fact original andauthentic and that the house had re-mained relatively unaltered for thepast 100 years.

What are you proudest of?The successful outcome of this proj-ect, on every level. Not only has theJapanese House been returned to itsplace of honor in The Huntington’sJapanese Garden, there is also richerunderstanding and appreciation for itssignificance as a historical and culturalresource. Atsuko Tanaka, the historianI mentioned earlier, reports that theJapanese House is one of only fourstructures of its type and era remainingin the United States and that it’s the

best example of early 20th-centuryJapanese architecture in California. Itwas an honor to serve as projectarchitect on this restoration, and I lookforward to having the privilege ofsharing the house and its story withinterested audiences for many years. �

Interview conducted by DianaW. Thompson,a freelance writer based in South Pasadena,Calif. Kelly Sutherlin McLeod will con-tribute an essay to One Hundred Yearsin the Huntington’s Japanese Garden:Harmony with Nature, which will bepublished by the Huntington Library Pressin spring 2013.

Discoveries during restoration of the exterior could help guide future work on the interior, shown here cleaned but not yet restored. Photograph by John Ellis.

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