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Beacon Street Landmark - 19th CenturyBeacon Hill,
Beacon Hill,
matched
to the 1800s.
Crown restored the slate and copper roof of the George Francis Parkman House, sourcing historically accurate slate and forming custom copper to the profiles already on the building.
- Location
- 33 Beacon Street, Boston
- Building
- 19th-century Beacon Street residence
- Scope
- Slate, copper, gutters and downspouts
- Standard
- Original 1800s materials and methods
The ChallengeRestore it
Restore it
without
modernizing it.
A 19th-century Beacon Street residence that has been a home, a civic reception hall, and a host to Boston mayors and U.S. presidents. Modern technique was welcome; a modern appearance was not.
Starting conditions
The Parkman House is a piece of Boston's cultural heritage as much as a building - intricate woodwork, original stained glass, and a roofline that reads as its era from the street.
That put the work on a line: everything had to shed water to a current standard while matching what a roofer in the 1800s would actually have laid.
The ApproachHow Crown
How Crown
built it.
Documented, sequenced, and largely self-performed. Here is how the work came together on site.
- 01
Source the slate
Slate was sourced to be historically accurate to the 1800s original - matched on the material itself, not just approximated by color.
- 02
Fabricate the copper
Custom copper accents were formed to the building's original profiles, so the new metal reads continuous with what was already there.
- 03
Restore the water path
Gutters and downspouts were restored to drain efficiently while still meeting the aesthetic standard of the period.
- 04
Hold the character
Modern restoration technique carried the work, but nothing was allowed to change how the roof reads from Beacon Street.
The ResultHeritage,
Heritage,
kept
watertight.
33 Beacon Street keeps its 19th-century roofline, and sheds water the way it was built to.
1800sMaterials and methods matched
Slate + copperRestored in kind
Beacon StLandmark residence
- Slate roof restored with historically accurate tile matched to the 1800s original.
- Custom copper accents fabricated to the building's own profiles.
- Gutters and downspouts restored to period appearance and modern function.
- Original character preserved on one of Beacon Street's landmark residences.
Slate and copper, done right.
Restoration is Crown's craft. If your building carries a historic slate or copper roof, see how we keep it watertight for another century.
Free EstimateHave a roof
Have a roof
like this?
Tell us about your building and what it needs. We will schedule a no-obligation assessment and walk you through what restoration or replacement actually involves - with no pressure to over-build.