Farmhouse Previous Work Recap

It started with red squirrels. As reported in 2022, the feisty critters found a way under our back ramp, creating a mess inside the Olsen farmhouse, home of the Port Oneida Heritage Center and Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear’s offices. This led to tearing off the ramp and the back kitchen wall to repair and seal the house. While we were at it, we repaired rotted wall boards, replaced
ceiling insulation, and restored kitchen interior and exterior siding. New steps, railing, and a storage shed were added. Window repair commenced. Building a small commercial kitchen for events and personnel began. In 2023, kitchen flooring, appliances, and handmade cabinets were installed. Electrical upgrades to 400 amps for appliances and potential electricity to the barn were partially funded with a grant award from the Michigan History Alliance.

32 Farmhouse Windows Restored

Thanks to donors and volunteers, this year we completed window and storm window restoration by conducting 29 window workshops. Special thanks to Curtis Fahlberg for leading that project. Why is it so labor-intense to complete 16 windows and 16 storms? After research and testing in the field, Preserve has adopted a method of taking windows down to bare wood using infrared tools, sanding, glazing with linseed putty and using linseed paint. The beauty of linseed paint is that it doesn’t peel. When it’s time to refresh the paint in 5-10 years, one coat of linseed oil restores the paint to its original luster. Unlike latex paint, linseed also penetrates the wood for
better protection. Though this method comes with challenges—linseed paint takes longer to dry—the investment will arguably save time and expense over the years, given the number of windows that need preserving.

Collaboration on Siding Repairs

In a collaboration between Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, the national park, and YouthWorks, dozens of deteriorated siding boards were replaced in preparation for exterior painting. Park employee Terry Ryan was the hands-on instructor of three YouthWorks teenage girls
who were taught carpentry skills over the summer. Another crew scraped and primed. Preserve volunteers spent four weeks repairing the exterior of the house, caulking, and priming as well. Removing boards with the “alligatored” look from years of paint layers also made a huge difference in refreshing the look of the house.

Exterior Painted

Beautiful fall weather allowed Preserve to apply two finish coats of exterior paint on the house. Thank you to our nine-member crew: Curtis Fahlberg, Jane Bush, Jonathon Ball, Mark Bartell, Jim Duntley, Margo and Doug Detzler, Casey Reynolds, and Milan Kuklik.

New Roof

The national park had a funding package in the pike for re-roofing the farmhouse During some hot summer months, they stripped off and replaced 25-year old cedar shakes. What an amazing difference a new roof makes! Thank you to the park crews for all your work this summer at the Olsen farm and around the park.

Porch Posts a Surprise

An unexpected project came up when we discovered the front porch posts were in poor condition. Things got really interesting when our project team pulled the trim boards back and found that the posts inside were cut in half! The team rebuilt all four posts, grateful that this surprise was
found and fixed before it caused much bigger issues later.

With all these repairs, the Olsen house will be in good shape for years to come, and will be ready to welcome visitors again!