Historic Building Architects, LLC receives New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office Award for BAYADA

May 22, 2017

Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner, Principal,
Historic Building Architects LLC
312 West State Street,
Trenton, NJ 08618

Tel 609-393-3999
Fax 609-393-4333
www.hba-llc.com

 

Historic Overview:

 

This is an excellent example of a Greek Revival Italianate wood frame house built in 1858 by John Buzby. The house is located in the heart of the Moorestown Historic District at the intersection of Main Street and Mill Street. The property remained in the Buzby family until 1920.  Since then, it has transitioned to commercial use and was used as a hotel, beauty shop, and real estate office. In 2015, Mark Baiada, founder of BAYADA Home Health Care purchased the property with the intention of restoring it to its original grandeur for the corporate headquarters of his company.  Historic Building Architects, LLC were selected as the Preservation Architects to assist with the design and restoration of the house.  Extensive research was completed reviewing pattern books and architectural details and finishes used for the period.

 

Scope of Work:

 

This is truly a rehabilitation project.  It acknowledges the need to alter and add to the historic property to meet the continuing and changing uses while retaining the property’s historic character.  Although this project was for commercial office use, the owner wanted the architect to meticulously restore and preserve the interior architectural features of the building.  This included the wood floors that were salvaged and reused on the second floor, the wood inlaid details on the first floor, the plaster moldings and cornices, the stair details, including the decorative balustrades, the large wood paneled doors, the wood windows with their inlaid panels below, and the fireplace mantels were all meticulously preserved by skilled, largely local craftsmen. 

In addition, the building needed some improvements to allow for public use as an office and to meet building code requirements.  One of the primary features of the rehabilitation is the creation of a new staircase to the third floor.  The new octagonal oculus on the third floor allows light from the cupola above to pour down through the building. This was indeed a detail used in the Italianate revival period although in this instance no historic evidence of an oculus was found, however, it was in keeping with the character of the building style.  Other features included arched openings with decorative Victorian style brackets, new barrier-free restrooms designed in a manner appropriate and finished with Victorian finishes.  New systems and upgrades were also included in the renovation.  Lighting was both practical as well as decorative with electric fixtures in keeping with the Victorian period gas lights.  Great detail and care was taken to use classical Victorian finishes, such as William Morris wallpapers and traditional Victorian tile imported from England to complete the restoration.  In addition, the interior design was meticulously finished to include furniture and details that might have been found in a Victorian house of this period.  This extraordinary care and attention to detail was motivated by the client’s desire to retain the house to its Victorian period of significance.  This has successfully created a very pleasing, warm, and welcoming historic space, and yet at the same time, this building functions as the office headquarters for BAYADA Home Health Care services, an organization with 18,000 staff, 300 offices, in 22 States.

 

Award Nomination:

 

It is a rare experience for a Preservation Architect, to work with a commercial company with a passion for preserving a historic building.  BAYADA Home Health Care services could have created their new headquarters within a commercial modern building, or built a new building.  However, they had the vision and foresight and passion for preservation to select a historic building within the heart of their historic community and to repurpose and revitalize the building for both their benefit and the community benefit.  They have set the highest of standards for raising awareness in preservation for commercial use and demonstrated that a historic building can work equally well for modern office needs.  This vision is in keeping with the values of BAYADA Home Health Care, which are compassion, excellence, and reliability.  They build relationships and they recognize that creating a “home” within a historic house is in keeping with their work as home care providers.  Moreover, they wanted to make sure that the local community was involved both in terms of supporting the local craftsmen, as well as recognizing the important urban revitalization value of relocating to Main Street and having a welcome presence in the heart of the commercial and historic district of Moorestown.

Preservation Award Certificate List 2017

BAYADA Home Health Care – Owner

PROFESSIONAL TEAM

Historic Building Architects LLC – Architects of Record

KSI Professional Engineers, LLC Engineers

Neil Johnson Architect Architect for Construction Administration

R. Craig Lord Construction General Contractor

Jodi Swanholm Interior Design, LLC Interior Designer

CRAFTSMEN

Painting/Wallpaper: Ahern Painting, Inc. Owner: John Ahern Tel: 856-665-1131

Plasterer: James R. Slim Plastering, Inc. Owner: James R. Slim Tel: 856-235-6246

Wood Stair: Harmony Stairs, LLC. Owner: William Torres Tel: 856-336-2336

Window Restoration: WMG Historic Restoration, LLC. Owner: Michael J. Gallant Tel: 856-397-2781

Wood Flooring: Dan Higgins Wood Flooring Owner: Michael Higgins Tel: 609-953-7766

Interior Door Restoration: David Ramsay Cabinetmakers, Inc. President: David Ramsay III Tel: 856-234-7776

By WeSpeak Easy | Posted in Architecture in NJ, Historic Resources, Members & the Community, Uncategorized | Tagged: BAYADA NJSHPO HistoricBuildingArchitects | Comments (0)