Archives
Preservation Overview
The planning and scope of work for the preservation of President Lincoln’s Cottage was divided into distinct phases of investigative research, planning, and development. The Preservation and restoration of the Cottage and rehabilitation of the Visitor Education Center has been fully documented with digital photographs, reports, and architectural design and as-built plans. An exterior restoration slideshow is available on site …
Read MoreSponsor a Preservation Day!
We would like to give a big thanks to Penn Mutual for sponsoring our March 31st Preservation Day and for making it such a big success! Dozens of Penn Mutual volunteers took time out of their weekend to help with an array of projects including laying sod, planting, mulching, paving, waxing, and painting. Veterans of the Armed Forces Retirement Home …
Read MoreChanges Coming to the Armed Forces Retirement Home Campus
By Shira Gladstone In 1851 George W. Riggs sold his 256 acre property, located 3 miles north of the White House in Washington, DC, to the federal government for around $57,000. It was there where the Military Asylum, as the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) was first known, was established that same year. While four U.S. presidents (Buchanan, Lincoln, …
Read MoreNew Discoveries and Preservation Projects at the Cottage
By Jeffrey Larry Every so often a new discovery allows us to better understand not only what the Cottage looked like during Lincoln’s time but how it changed and looked at other times during its long architectural history. Recently we discovered a circa 1860 painted photograph of Janet Riggs, the wife of original owner George Riggs, standing in front of …
Read More2010 Civil War Preservation Trust Conference
By Scott Ackerman In June 2010, I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) to attend their annual conference, held this year in Lexington, Kentucky. The first day of the conference was devoted to a welcome lunch and panel discussion about Kentucky’s unique role in the Civil War. Panelists Ed Bearrs, Kent Masterson …
Read MoreRepointing of the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center
By Jeffrey Larry The rehabilitation of the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center (VEC) at President Lincoln’s Cottage was completed in January, 2008. Though the deterioration of mortar joints on the building was mentioned in pre-construction proposals, no extensive repairs to mortar joints were undertaken. It was believed that repairs to roofing and flashing were sufficient in addressing areas of …
Read More“THAT’S a Cottage?”
By Shira Gladstone One of the most frequent comments President Lincoln’s Cottage staff hear from visitors is that they never expected the Cottage to be so big! President Lincoln’s Cottage is no cottage, at least in the way most people think of a cottage; it’s a 10,000 square foot house with approximately 34 rooms. The house also defies the type …
Read MoreEco-Tour Launches Today
By Erin Carlson Mast President Lincoln’s Cottage is pleased to announce the launch of its Self-Guided Eco-Tour of the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center! The Visitor Education Center received the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification in April 2009. As part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s sustainability initiative, President Lincoln’s …
Read MoreAn Argument for Moving the Cottage, 1903
By Erin Carlson Mast The National Trust for Historic Preservation assumed stewardship of the Cottage in 2000, carefully restored it, and open it to the public in 2008. That act of saving the Cottage is now well documented and was carried out with the blessings of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, the campus in northwest Washington, D.C. where the Cottage stands. What fewer people …
Read MoreRobert H. Smith Visitor Education Center on ClimateWire
From ClimateWire.net, a story about the sustainable design and use at President Lincoln’s Cottage, with a focus on the Visitor Education Center, which received LEED Gold in April 2009. Lincoln’s summer home offers a lesson in green building Saqib Rahim, E&E reporter ClimateWire: Friday, August 28, 2009 WASHINGTON — One hundred fifty years ago, there wasn’t much the locals could …
Read More