Belmont Mansion : a conditions survey of the ornamental plaster ceilings of rooms 101 and 205

250 Pages·1996·4.5 MB·English

by  Ives, Amy Cole

UNIVERSlTVy
PENNSYLVANIA
UBKAR1E5

BELMONT MANSION, A CONDITIONS SURVEY
OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLASTER CEILINGS OF
ROOMS AND
101 205
Amy
Cole Ives
A THESIS
in
Historic Preservation
Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
1996
;U^v!Xm5^
AsKisoj
FranFG. Matero. Associate Professor of ^ohn Milner. Adjunct Assoc. Professor
Architecture ofArchitecture
luate Group (Zha^
David G. De LongTProfessor of
Architecture
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.UNivERSiry
1
OF
PENNSYLVANIAJ
LIBRARIES
FORWARD
I would like to thank my husband, Jonathan, first ofall for his tremendous energy
and support this past year. His enthusiasm and interest in my work helped to make this
project a lot offijn. Many thanks go to my advisor, Frank Matero, and my reader, John
Milner, for all their help and shared experience. I would also like to thank the following
people who have been so generous with their time, Rollin Lakis fi-om the Laboratory for
Research on the Structure ofMatter at the University ofPennsylvania, Suzanna Barucco
and Peter Copp fi'om Martin Jay Rosenblum, R.A. and Associates, Maribel Beas, Cassie
Myers, Dr. Gomaa Omar fi-om the Geology Department, and my classmates Evan
Kopelson and Rynta Fourie.
11

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
iv
INTRODUCTION
1. 1
METHODOLOGY
2. 5
3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE 8
3.1 WILLIAM PETERS TO FAIRMOUNT PARK 8
3.2 HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CEILING DESCRIPTION 12
4. HISTORICAL TECHNOLOGY 23
5. CEILING CONSTRUCTION 28
6. PHYSICAL INVESTIGATION 32
MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION
6.1 32
6.2 CONDITIONS SURVEY 48
6.3 DETERIORATION EVALUATION AND DIAGNOSIS 76
FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS
7. 81
RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 81
7.2 TREATMENT OPTIONS 82
iii