Restoration of the Col. H. G. Blake House Phase Two: The Roof. The Col. H.G. Blake House is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a beloved home and living museum.

The Debate: Replace or Repair?

Once the side of the house had been pulled in (see “Closing the Gap: Underground Railroad Site Restoration Phase One” at hgblakehouse.com), it was time to address the next big issue in stabilizing the beloved Col. H. G. Blake house.

A lot of leaks had developed in the slate roof, some around the base of the chimney, some scattered along the roof edge. The first question that had to be answered was whether there would be repairs made to the roof or if it was time to do a complete tear off of the 168-year-old slate and replace it with asphalt shingles.

While there were numerous assurances from one roofer that he could install a shingle that would look “just like the original slate,” that option was a last resort.

I consulted with Nancy McClelland Wilson, whose family had lived in the house for 100 years.

We had met in 1998 when she dropped by the house to visit and found to her surprise that the family she had sold the house to years ago had now sold it to my family. Nancy quickly became a very dear friend and a tremendous supporter for the preservation of her family’s legacy.

We both agreed that what we wanted most of all was to preserve the slate roof rather than replace it, and Nancy offered to help with the funding for the project. Neither of us could accept that this piece of the house’s history would be lost forever.

The roofer dug in his heels and did everything he could to convince me to replace the slate. Up to this point, he had been a trusted roofer who had worked on the roof various times over the previous 18 years.

The more I said we wanted to keep the original slate and repair it, he kept adding numerous levels to the roof project, including suggesting several additional people who should be hired to complete each part of the project (a mason to tear down the chimney to roof level and rebuild, a gutter company to replace gutters, a carpenter to replace rotted wood underneath the shingles, and more).

It began to feel very overwhelming. At one point, the quote for the roof replacement option was $25,000. The repair option estimate kept increasing and was close to $25,000, with only a few of the other suggested workers included.

At that point, it was decided to call Dan Reljin of Ohio Restoration Solutions, who also has experience with slate roofs.

Dan examined the roof, he frowned, he squinted, he walked around and around the house, he sent a slate specialist from his company to climb up on the roof and examine it. When Dan returned, his face had brightened and he had good news.

Not only could the roof be saved (I swear I heard angels singing!) and he had an Amish team of workers who had lots of experience in this kind of work, but the leader of the team had slate pieces stacked in his backyard for just such repairs and to top it all off, the slate was from the ORIGINAL quarry that the slate on Blake House had come from 168 years ago!

Once again, in the eleventh hour, just the right person had arrived at Blake House.

The Ohio Restoration Solutions team arrives

The Amish team that arrived on July 31, 2016, was very kind. Every one of the team members was extremely safety minded, not only for themselves, but for my family members as well; they were very kind and respectful; and they were very dedicated to their craft. Seeing them on the roof felt like a trip back in time to when the house was so carefully built. There was an atmosphere that all was right in the world.

I asked Dan if the slate being removed could possibly be saved. He readily agreed, but the look on the Amish foreman’s face was priceless.

They already had raised a large mechanical scissor-lift box up to roof level and had started tossing in the slate being removed. “She wants to save it???”, he asked in dismay. Dan said, yes, and had me show them where it could be piled.

Soon after the work began, I heard some kind of wet, sloppy substance hitting the back patio. It looked like leaf rot from the gutter. It actually was the rotted wood from under the shingles. It looked like compost. That was the moment I realized how very lucky we were that the leaks had not been worse and how badly the work being done was needed.

It was much wetter when it first came off the roof, this is what the wood underneath the slate plates was like. What is pictured is much drier than it was when it first came off the roof, for safety reasons, it was a couple of hours before I could get close to get a picture.

At one point, the large difference in the Amish way of life and mine was very obvious when I needed to leave for work and their truck was blocking my path. I explained to the Amish foreman that I had to go to work, and his eyebrows raised as he said in a dismayed tone, “You go to work?” I smiled, as we looked each other up and down, him in his traditional Amish clothing and me in my old-fashioned hat and modern clothes.

He must have thought that since I had taken the previous day off from work and was home that I was a stay-at-home mother. They very quickly moved their truck, made sure I got out of the driveway safely and when I returned at the end of the day, they already had ensured I would be able to pull right in. It is very rare that I have had workers here who were that considerate and kind.

Within two days, the carpenter had replaced the wood, the Amish had replaced the slate and the project was finished. Because the slate matched so exactly, no one can tell that three rows of slate and the underlying wood were replaced. A small part of history had been saved.

After they left, to my amazement, I found four neat stacks of slate waiting for me right where I had asked for it to be placed under the shade of a black walnut tree. These wonderful workers had taken the time to very carefully and caringly stack all of those old slate shingles. Because they cared to take the time to do that, I knew with confidence that the same care had been taken with their restoration of the roof.

Special Note: Sadly, a little more than a year after the house had been stabilized, beloved Nancy McClelland Wilson was overcome by cancer after a valiant and courageous battle. She lived long enough to know her beloved family home had been stabilized. I like to think she still watches over the house, just from a different vantage point now, and has reunited with her parents and others who lived here and worked to keep this house safe from the ravages of developers and time.

One of the challenges the roofers had to deal with was the very large wasp nest on the side of the house.

If you would like to learn more and keep up with our progress, like and follow https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Slate-Underground-Railroad-Site-Needs-Help-106579376371892/ and www.facebook.com/H-G-Blake-House-449472958577273/ If you would like to contribute to the restoration fund, as much more work still needs to be done, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/savetheslate

Saving Our National History

This chapter of the historic H.G. Blake House’s story begins in approximately 1950.

In the 1950s, the Shepard-Griesinger-McClelland family decided that it was time for Blake House, which had gone approximately 100 years without closets, to finally gain built-in storage space.

By then, however, the upper floor on the west side had bowed enough that the closet built in the corner bedroom was built to follow the curve of the wall. This caused the closet wall to begin at 2 inches wide at the bottom and expand to 4 inches wide at the top.

For decades the house remained stable, a steel cable kept things lashed together well enough that the wall didn’t change. Well, it didn’t change much. With changes in ownership and time, it was lost track of how much of a bow the wall had and if there had been any change.

By the time we moved in, there was a small gap between the closet wall and the bedroom wall. In 1998, I could just barely fit a fingertip into the gap.

Then an earthquake hit Cleveland in 2001. Most in the area have no idea there ever was an earthquake. When it rippled down to Medina, I was sitting on the living room sofa. I noticed movement at the doorway across the room from me as the floor heaved upward in a big rolling movement. I had just enough time to wonder if this historic home from 1848 had poltergeists after all, when the rolling wave popped me and the sofa into the air before it passed on into the yard and toward the town library.

I asked countless people if the house should be checked for damage. I was assured the house was fine, after all, did I see any damage? Well, no, I didn’t, at least nothing that I connected to the earthquake’s passing through.

At some point after the quake, I noticed the corner bedroom’s wall gap had grown. I was to come to realize that it was still growing and was showing no signs of stopping. The bedroom next to the corner one began to show separation of ceiling and wall along the same outside wall that was gaping and the connecting wall between the two rooms was becoming separated from the outside wall. Still, all seemed solid.

When the roof began leaking extensively, it was decided that it was time to have the corner bedroom’s bowed wall examined. After several attempts to find an architect, and two awful architects who sneered at this beautiful historic home and said to tear it down, Bob Arnold of Arnold Architects was finally found to be the perfect fit for the Save the Slate project and a good friend to the house.

He discovered that the 2001 earthquake had, indeed, caused damage. A hand-carved heavy wooden peg that held together the rafter and column together, right where the wall bow was located, had been shattered by the quake, as evidenced by the peg’s remains that were still clinging to the beam.

Bob knew that Gary of Roetzel Construction would have the skills and knowledge necessary to pull the wall and stabilize the 168-year-old house. He was right.

After all kinds of dire warnings from others about the huge task of pulling the wall in slowly over a period of years; that walls and ceilings would crack; other, unknown damage would be caused; and that the project would cost tens of thousands of dollars, we found that not one word was true.

This morning, the day started with a gap large enough that my entire hand could fit into it. By 1:30 p.m. today, the gap in the corner bedroom was completely gone. The walls had not cracked, the ceilings had not fallen. In the bedroom next door, the gaps and cracks between the walls and the outside wall had closed.

Gary had turnbuckles built especially to his specs and combined with steel cables, an energetic helper named A.J., and a few tools, he used his skills and priceless knowledge to help save one of the most significant historic structures located in Medina.

For the first time in 15 years, I can breathe. I no longer feel like my entire being is focused on holding the house together. We have a very long way yet to go, but this miracle today is the nicest beginning I could ask for.

The Col. H.G. Blake House is on the National Register of Historic Places for having been a part of the Underground Railroad, home to a Civil War veteran, and beloved home of the Shepard-Griesinger-McClelland family for more than 100 years.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no help for National Register structures. There are no funds to maintain or preserve them, no help in funding restoration or repairs. In the last 50 years, Medina has lost more than 40 historic structures.

As I write this, the City of Medina is planning to demolish the Masonic Hall, which also is on the National Register of Historic Places, in order to build a parking deck. (Update: The city torn down the Masonic Hall, now it is a large empty space, while city leaders determine what to do.)

If you would like to be a part of the restoration and repair project of the H. G. Blake House, if you love history and know that saving our country’s historic structures is priceless in value, please visit gofundme.com/savetheslate and make a donation, no matter how small.

My family has lived in and worked to preserve the history and structure of the H. G. Blake House since 1998. We have given free tours to hundreds of schoolchildren and countless groups, including foreign visitors. Booklets about the history of the house are provided at our expense to tour participants as our way to give back to the community.

If you would like to learn more and keep up with our progress, check in on this site and like and follow at https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Slate-Underground-Railroad-Site-Needs-Help-106579376371892/ and www.facebook.com/H-G-Blake-House-449472958577273/ Donations can be made at gofundme.com/savetheslate