When architect Vincent J. Lepera stood before the Casparus Pruyn House in 1983, he knew he had his work cut out for him.
The Troy architect, now of Architecture Plus, needed to completely restore the dilapidated historic home within a four-month span and a budget of merely $200,000. The bricks on the house were ready to fall out and the floor was rotting away. But Lepera said he’s always liked a challenge, and this was another one to add to his list.
“It was pretty ambitious for the budget we had, and a challenging project,” he said on Wednesday, June 12, before a small crowd at the Pruyn House on Old Niskayuna Road. “This place was full of surprises.”
Lepera spoke of his experience using a slideshow last Wednesday as part of a kickoff event to celebrate the Pruyn House’s 30th anniversary, hosted by the Friends of the Pruyn House. The two-story, 15-room mansion sits on 5 ½ acres of land and now serves as a cultural and historical museum that hosts events, weddings, tours, classes and more.
The home was built in the 1800s to serve as a summer home for tax collector Casparus Pruyn and his family. After a slew of owners throughout the years, the Town of Colonie, under then Town Supervisor Fred Field, decided to preserve the historic site by purchasing the home and accompanying acreage for $110,000 in 1983.
“A lot of people thought the town acquiring this was an unnecessary expense. And then there were others that thought it was a remarkable idea … to give the community a sense of history,” Lepera said.
An experienced architect who has worked on buildings such as the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and at colleges like RPI, Lepera got to work with Zandri Construction. The list of renovations included exterior masonry restoration; interior flooring restoration; fixing the heating, ventilation, A/C and climate control; roof replacement; and window restoration.
Because the home had survived more than two centuries of use, neglect, weather and old-fashioned aging, Lepera said the restoration was “closely watched” by the New York State Office of Historic Preservation.
With the back of the house’s brick wall, Lepera said they salvaged as much of the original brick as they could, buying new ones that resembled the old ones if necessary. When it came to the exterior of the house, Lepera said they washed the home with “gentle soap and water,” which revealed a part of the window shade that had been painted white was actually a brown decorative stone.
“That brown stone doesn’t want to be painted,” Lepera said, and renovators let it be when they repainted the whole house.
The interior was a much bigger mess. Most of the wallpaper and plaster had peeled off. None of the wallpaper could be saved, and it was difficult to tell what may have been the original wallpaper and what had been changed over the years.
“The floor was interesting. We took virtually every floor board out,” Lepera said.
The house’s 10 fireplaces were mostly intact and original. Lepera said the biggest – and best – surprise was finding the original bread and beehive oven in the basement.
“This is my favorite. This is really a find because there are very few examples in this region,” Lepera said. “You will not find that very often.”
While the house hasn’t had another makeover since the early ‘80s, Lepera said maintenance still needs to be done often to keep the house in good shape. Friends of Pruyn House Curator Diane Morgan said work on the interior and exterior of the house is ongoing.
“I think it just requires constant observation, care and attention,” Morgan said.
Friends of the Pruyn House spends about $15,000 on the house every year, and the Town of Colonie matches that.
Morgan said lately, she’s seen some new cracks in the parlor wall and recently saw one of the outdoor shutters hanging off. The paint, too, is constantly peeling, she said. Over the years maintenance has included replacing the roof again, chimney repairs almost every year, repairing and staining the shutters and touching up the paint.
Last month, the white-picket fence that outlines the front of the house was taken to the town landfill when it completely rotted out. Morgan said they are working on replacing the fence. Other buildings on the land, mainly the Buhrmaster Barn and the schoolhouse, are in need of repairs and painting. Morgan said the Friends recently spent $9,000 to fix one of the barn’s walls.
“We do feel it’s worth all of the money we’re spending … tourists come to visit us. It’s a lovely setting for cultural, educational and social events. It’s part of our community,” Morgan said.