Timber framer Laura Saeger discusses restoration project at Historic Huguenot Street
The Jean Hasbrouck House is a specific and rare example of traditional Dutch 18th-century architecture. The house’s high-pitched gable roof spans twice the depth of other stone houses from the period and is one of a kind in the United States. The house was named a National Historic Landmark in 1967 and serves as the flagship house of seven historic house museums comprising Historic Huguenot Street’s 10-acre National Historic Landmark District (awarded 1960).
The project in the first two weeks of June focuses on the repair of damaged rafter feet on both the west and east slopes of the house as well as frame connections on the interior in the 18th-century timber-roof frame.
The project team at this time looks at the structure in mind to preserve it for the next 300 years. Materials will be replaced in a historically appropriate fashion. The final phase of the project will be to replace wooden shingles with shaved shakes deemed suitable for the historic interpretation of the house in 1721. HHS has raised more than $215,000 of the total project cost from individuals and foundations, along with contributions of historically appropriate materials from the traditional timber frame community, but must still raise an additional $120,000 to complete all phases of restoration.
Rudy Christian and Laura Saeger have decades of experience reconstructing and repairing historic timber frame structures across the country and beyond. Projects include the Big Barn at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio and relocation of the 19th-century Crawford Horse Barn in Newark, Ohio, re-creating and raising an 18th-century carriage house frame in Washington, D.C., as part of the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. Other projects include relocating Thomas Edison’s #11 laboratory building from the Henry Ford Museum to West Orange, New Jersey, where it was originally built, and the restoration of the Mansfield Blockhouse, a hewn-log structure built by the U.S. military in 1812. During the summer of 2006, Rudy; his son, Carson; and his wife, Laura, were the lead instructors and conservation specialists for the Field School at Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village, during which the 1838 timber frame granary was restored. Since May 2015 Rudy and Laura have been working as consultants to the World Monuments Fund in the restoration of the Golden Palace Monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar. In the summer of 2017 they reconstructed the historic timber-frame belfry at Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio, in collaboration with Stan Hywet Hall.
Rudy’s educational background includes the study of structural engineering at both General Motor’s Institute in Flint, Michigan, and Akron University in Ohio. He and his son Carson have also studied historic compound roof layout and computer modeling at the Gewerbe Akademie in Rotweil, Germany. Laura has a formal education in Art History and Special Education. Rudy and Laura are active in the preservation field as founding members and having past leadership roles in the Timber Framers Guild, Friends of Ohio Barns, the Preservation Trades Network, Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group, and the International Trades Education Initiative.
To learn more about the project, and how to support HHS's restorations, visit
Rudy Christian, master carpenter and timber framer, details restoration work on Jean Hasbrouck House
The Jean Hasbrouck House is a specific and rare example of traditional Dutch 18th-century architecture. The house’s high-pitched gable roof spans twice the depth of other stone houses from the period and is one of a kind in the United States. The house was named a National Historic Landmark in 1967 and serves as the flagship house of seven historic house museums comprising Historic Huguenot Street’s 10-acre National Historic Landmark District (awarded 1960).
The project in the first two weeks of June focuses on the repair of damaged rafter feet on both the west and east slopes of the house as well as frame connections on the interior in the 18th-century timber-roof frame.
Rudy Christian and Laura Saeger have decades of experience reconstructing and repairing historic timber frame structures across the country and beyond. Projects include the Big Barn at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio and relocation of the 19th-century Crawford Horse Barn in Newark, Ohio, re-creating and raising an 18th-century carriage house frame in Washington, D.C., as part of the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. Other projects include relocating Thomas Edison’s #11 laboratory building from the Henry Ford Museum to West Orange, New Jersey, where it was originally built, and the restoration of the Mansfield Blockhouse, a hewn-log structure built by the U.S. military in 1812. During the summer of 2006, Rudy; his son, Carson; and his wife, Laura, were the lead instructors and conservation specialists for the Field School at Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village, during which the 1838 timber frame granary was restored. Since May 2015 Rudy and Laura have been working as consultants to the World Monuments Fund in the restoration of the Golden Palace Monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar. In the summer of 2017 they reconstructed the historic timber-frame belfry at Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio, in collaboration with Stan Hywet Hall.
Rudy’s educational background includes the study of structural engineering at both General Motor’s Institute in Flint, Michigan, and Akron University in Ohio. He and his son Carson have also studied historic compound roof layout and computer modeling at the Gewerbe Akademie in Rotweil, Germany. Rudy and Laura are active in the preservation field as founding members and having past leadership roles in the Timber Framers Guild, Friends of Ohio Barns, the Preservation Trades Network, Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group, and the International Trades Education Initiative.
Learn more about the project, and how to support HHS's restoration efforts, here: