Repairing the Field Stone Basement in Veblen Cottage

The 1875 farmhouse we call the Veblen Cottage has been a remarkably patient structure. It has long appeared to be standing forlorn in a forest clearing, but has in fact been getting considerable attention of late. Donated to Mercer County by the Veblens in 1957 as part of Herrontown Woods, it had been Oswald Veblen's study and getaway, a place to spend Saturday afternoons with Einstein and other close friends. Veblen died in 1960, and the cottage has stood empty ever since. After Elizabeth Veblen died in 1974, Mercer County spruced it up for the celebration of the country's 1976 Bicentennial, and in the 1980s, a NY Times article told of plans to make it into a nature center. That initiative was evidently abandoned, and recurrent vandalism eroded any further interest. Before the Friends of Herrontown Woods was able to intervene, the roofs of the kitchen and study had been allowed to collapse. Vines grew up and over the walls. It seemed pretty far gone, and yet appearances were deceiving. The original, 2-story portion of the cottage remained dry and intact. At some point, I pulled the vines away, built serviceable roofs for the kitchen and study, and augmented the 2-story portion's roof with a progression of tarps.

There are several reasons to preserve the Cottage. For one, it appears to have been Oswald Veblen's spiritual center. He asked that his ashes be buried nearby, and Elizabeth's ashes were to join his. The Cottage is also the only remaining, unaltered example of the smallholder farmhouses that dotted the Princeton ridge in the 19th century.

We are thrilled, then, to report that the Friends of Herrontown Woods has made the first substantial investment in the Veblen Cottage's future. In October, FOHW hired the first-rate masonry firm, deGruchy Masonry Restoration, to repair and repoint the field stone walls in the basement. Through his 40 year career, Andy deGruchy has been part of a movement to bring back the tradition of lime mortar, of the sort that was used in cathedrals and other stone buildings before being displaced by Portland cement.

Though the stones in the cottage basement had long since lost their mortar, the walls had nonetheless remained standing. Only a couple stones had to be hammered back into place. Fifty years of neglect and still sturdy and repairable!

The grout bag that Charlie used to refill the crevices with mortar looked a lot like a pastry bag. Turned out he had enjoyed making cakes when he was a kid. 

This photo shows the prepped wall on the left, applied mortar on the right. Before hiring deGruchy, we had gone through a lot of hemming and hawing about whether to use mortar containing Portland cement, and if so, what percentage. Portland cement largely replaced lime mortar in the 1920s and '30s. It's easy to use, sets quickly, and is very strong. But deGruchy made the case that Portland cement's impermeability traps moisture in the walls. Only by using high quality lime mortar could we restore the walls to have both strength and breathability. I found this concise writeup on the history of lime mortar very informative.

DeGruchy's lime is actually sourced in France, of the sort that was used to build cathedrals. Here, the mortar is being brushed in preparation for application of a lime whitewash. 

The whitewash they used is thicker than normal, for durability. 

The high quality and authenticity of deGruchy's work has raised the bar for work to follow, as we rehab  the sills, walls, and floors. Our aim is to preserve the unique features of this smallholder farmhouse while making it useful, as a nature center and museum to tell the story of Herrontown Woods.