In addition to being a working lighthouse, Fairport Harbor West Breakwater Light is also an historic property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The lighthouse was added to the Register in 1992. As such, restoration of the property must be done according to established historic preservation guidelines.
The guidelines for restoration of historic properties are administered by the Secretary of the Interior in concert with the State of Ohio’s Historic Preservation Office. While this may seem restrictive to some, I was more than happy to have a road map to follow.
Before beginning the restoration work, I contacted the State of Ohio’s Historic Preservation Office in Columbus for guidance. As a general rule of thumb, they told me to think, “Repair, Refurbish, Restore rather than Replace.” With that mantra as my guide, I have spent the last two years renovating various interior surfaces of the lighthouse, researching original paint colors, and sourcing both missing hardware replacements and matching reclaimed wood for repairs needed to the upper level floor.
My first order of business in the restoration process was to renovate the large double hung windows on the first floor back to their original beautiful blond wood finish. I chose these to focus on first because the large and dramatic windows are the prime source of light and air conditioning to the lighthouse. The ten original windows on the first floor were covered in layers of paint, had broken or missing glass panes, tattered sash cord and tarnished or missing hardware. Utilizing the skills of a master woodworker, each window was taken apart, stripped of its paint, sanded and coated in protective polyurethane. For sashes or sills that were too damaged to strip to the bare wood, new paint was applied. Replacement glass was hand cut and glazed into place on site. The sash cords were removed and replaced. The original brass hardware was hand polished removing coats of paint and decades of tarnish. Missing hardware was matched and while not exact, only a very discerning eye will be able to distinguish the originals from the replacements. I don’t yet have a definitive answer on the type of wood that was used for the windows, so I hope to solve that mystery in the future.
In addition to the windows, the walls have been repaired by hand and re-plastered as needed. In some places, the plaster cracked off in strange patterns to expose a brick layer underneath. Where that has happened, the exposed brick has been left and new paint has been applied to the remaining plaster. There’s no question the interior walls were very thirsty as we’ve gone through over 30 gallons of primer/paint so far and still have several small rooms to do. I have been fortunate to have had fabulous volunteers who spent many holiday weekends this summer armed with a brush and roller.
Their work has brought the walls back to life and prepared the lighthouse for more restoration work to come.
