Restoration Primer: Cupola Maintenance

I was called to look at the cupola on the Memorial Building in Stowe, Vt. It is a finely detailed Colonial Revival building put up around 1900. Local officials have realized the importance and special character of the building, and restoration of the cupola is part of a general effort to save its distinctive details. When I inspected the building, I used a ladder and safety harness to get up to and around the structure. Hiring a crane or setting up scaffolding would have been too costly. After the inspection, I wrote a “scope document,” which describes both the condition of the cupola and the extent of the work to be done. The architect uses this document when