Groundroot Preservation guides futures of historic buildings
PHOTo / Tim Greenway
Groundroot Preservation Group co-owners Scott Stevens, left, and Steven Mallory inspect the attic of a historic home near the Barrell Grove project in York.
Scott Stevens and Steven Mallory each had a dream job before starting Groundroot Preservation Group, a historic restoration and preservation firm based in York.
For 15 years, Stevens had been executive director of the Museums of Old York, a high-profile job he loved for the variety of responsibilities, including maintaining the 1719 Old Gaol dungeon where pre-Colonial debtors did their time. Mallory had been managing the restoration of George Washington's Mount Vernon mansion in Virginia for four years — a job he describes as adhering to the “gold standard” of restoration practices.
Each knew of the other's work, and they had crossed paths multiple times. So it seemed fitting in February 2012, when they were both yearning for something new, that they combine their historic preservation talents and launch their own company. In just one year, Groundroot Preservation has assembled a client list that spans multiple states with projects valued at $400,000.
Mallory's motivation for something new came with the realization that as enviable as his job at Mount Vernon might have been, it was something of a dead-end. Those above him weren't going anywhere — and, even if they were, he realized his passion is restoration and conservation, not museum management.
“It's not my thing,” he says of climbing a museum's corporate ladder.
And for Stevens, the steady stream of calls to the York museum seeking referrals for preservation work meant there was a business opportunity that his skills in museum and project management could likely fill. Among his accomplishments at the museum were restoration of the historic John Hancock Wharf on the banks of the York River and a $1.45 million fundraising campaign to build a new visitor and education center.
“[The job gave] me a broad understanding and knowledge of the challenges involved in maintaining and restoring historic properties,” he says.
He knew whatever expertise he lacked in the technical areas he could find in Mallory, an architectural conservator with a national reputation who coincidentally wanted to relocate to Maine.
“Like so many areas in life, you find out who's good and who's not,” says Stevens. “I found out, in working with Steven on various projects over the years, he knew what he was doing. He was my 'go-to' guy. Everything pointed to ... a demand for the kinds of services we now offer. By coincidence, Steven was reaching the same point in his career.”
Stevens also knew the Maine market was ripe for a company that specialized in restoration and preservation work. Since January 2012, there have been 32 new listings on the National Register of Historic Places. And the state has the fifth-oldest housing stock in the country, with 28.2% of its homes built before 1940 — easily falling under the National Park Service's 50-year rule to be considered for the national register.
Uncovering the details
Working out of their homes in York, Stevens and Mallory today have $400,000 of work under contract. Their clients include museums and historical societies, as well as private homeowners.
Soon after forming Groundroot Preservation Group, they landed their first major client: the Peabody Essex Museum, the nation's oldest continuously operating museum, in Salem, Mass. The museum, which includes more than 20 pre-Civil War buildings, four National Historic Landmarks and many National Register of Historic Places buildings, hired them to create “historic structure reports” for each of 16 properties.
“With a historic preservation report, we're taking a snapshot in time,” Mallory says. “We try to design them to be a useful document.”
The reports involve what Mallory calls historical detective work to understand the pathology of architecture and buildings. While “pathology” is more commonly used in the field of medicine, he says it also applies to buildings, which over time can develop problems that might impair their ability to be functional or even to survive. In both cases, linking causes to their effects is essential to restoring health.
Using forensic tools such as infrared photography and researching historical documents such as lead abatement reports, Mallory and Stevens compile a detailed record that includes:
- A history of a building's construction and alterations
- Assessment of current condition
- Recommendations for preservation, rehabilitation, restoration or reconstruction
- Identification of future areas of research or documentation.
“We typically make a lot of recommendations for future research … so [the reports] can become a living document,” Mallory adds.
Groundroot Preservation has completed five of the 16 reports commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum. When finished, the reports will give the museum a planning tool for managing its historic properties and a better understanding of how to integrate them as visitor destinations within the museum's sprawling campus, says Stevens.
A need in Maine
Greg Paxton, executive director of the nonprofit Maine Preservation in Yarmouth, says there is a growing demand in Maine for such consulting services.
“Maine has a large number of historic buildings,” he says. “From an economic and a sustainability perspective, it makes sense to manage those buildings as assets. Unfortunately, right now there is not nearly enough knowledge out there as there are buildings to manage. I see [Stevens and Mallory] as a welcome addition. They both have deep knowledge in the preservation field.”
Paxton says the view that preservation relates chiefly to museums is changing slowly, as closed mills and schools become mixed-use complexes or apartments.
“Part of our role is pointing out trends in the world of preservation,” he says. “It's not all museum work, nor is the vast majority of it to restore something to an earlier use. We help people use historic buildings in the modern world. We try to help people fit their building to their needs and current goals in a manner that is consistent with sound preservation standards.”
Earle Shettleworth Jr., director and state historic preservation officer at Maine Historic Preservation Commission, agrees.
“The field of historic preservation consulting is relatively new in Maine,” he says. “It's existed in larger urban areas for a lot longer than it's been practiced here … It goes well beyond 'Fix my foundation' or 'Fix my roof.' The fact that there are a growing number of firms in Maine doing at least some preservation consulting indicates a growing understanding and appreciation of its value.”
Shettleworth says the kind of detailed analyses Stevens and Mallory are doing for the Peabody Essex Museum, while expensive, are generally what prospective owners or developers need as part of their due diligence in rehabilitating or renovating a historic property.
“When a group comes to our office asking, 'What do we do?' it's exactly that,” he says. “I tell them, 'You need to do a historic structure report. You need to take the building to a doctor who will tell you if what you want to do with the building is feasible or not. Do the report and then you'll be in a position to go to lenders or donors or investors and prove to them that professionally you know what the issues are with the building in relation to what you want to do with it.'”
Shettleworth says that advice is particularly true for projects seeking state or federal tax credits for the rehabilitation of historic buildings. In both cases, he says, rehabilitation work must meet numerous standards. Doing a project without proper consultation could result in the denial of the credits.
“The need is there, it's all around us,” he says.
Defining their market
To develop their clientele, Stevens and Mallory say they've tapped their extensive networks in the museum, preservation and historic conservation fields. Besides the Peabody Essex Museum, their client list includes the Andover Historical Society, the Boston Port & Seamen's Aid Society, several building owners and managers, and municipalities.
They see their market area as being primarily Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay region — a diverse geographic area reflecting, in part, well-established ties Stevens and Mallory have made in their respective careers. Because they both work out of their homes, their overhead costs are low.
“We're able to charge less and pass the savings on,” says Mallory.
Part of their mission, both partners say, involves education. The needs of museum-quality properties are very different than those of an owner of a historic home. In the latter category, they say their goal is twofold: helping homeowners enhance the value, livability, comfort and convenience of their property; and honoring, maintaining and preserving the building's unique historical integrity, character and tradition.
“Historic preservation is the ultimate in 'green' living,” says Stevens. “You're saving and reusing something that already exists.”
Stevens and Mallory recently have been reaching out to real estate brokers, offering their services as facilitators who can provide step-by-step repair and maintenance plans for a property. They're also offering advice on selecting conservation-minded contractors, and can advise a broker whether a historic home with problems is architecturally significant, how its problems can be addressed and how it might be marketed to reach the most likely buyers.
“When we get into areas beyond our expertise, we're able to pull in really good people to fill the gaps,” Stevens says, noting that their contacts include even dendrochronologists who take small core samples of wood from a building to determine its date of construction.
The partners are also sensitive to uses of historic buildings beyond preservation. With churches and nonprofits, for example, they recognize part of their evaluation might involve helping the client find suitable uses for the building to expand its revenue stream.
“That can help [the client] maintain the historic integrity of their building and keep it vital for a new generation,” says Stevens. “Some of the greatest preservers of architecture are churches and small nonprofits.”
Stevens and Mallory figure there are plenty of buildings in Maine and New England that are historic, given the National Park Service's 50-year rule and the number of New England properties meeting that standard. That's what gives them confidence their services are needed.
“We love old buildings, we want to see them survive,” says Stevens. “They're disappearing all the time. We think they are an important resource for Maine, both culturally and economically. What sells Maine is its character. We're both romantics, but for practical reasons we feel it's important for Maine to preserve its character. A big part of that is to keep its historic buildings in good shape.”
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