Restoration

Extraordinary House is being restored through its surviving papers, disputed recollections and the habits that outlived the building itself.

A House Recalled

The former House was lost during the war. The prevailing account records enemy action; other explanations remain in circulation and are not improved by repetition. What survived was scattered among members, families, tradesmen and institutions.

The Work

The restoration begins with the record: committee papers, notices, menus, correspondence, objects and recollections. Materials are examined, compared and, where necessary, reconstructed. Certainty is stated plainly. Doubt is preserved.

This is not an attempt to make the past behave. It is the continuation of a House whose character was always more durable than its address.