Revitalizing old buildings at Mashomack Preserve
Darrin Binder pilots the Bobcat while maneuvering the barn into place in the area of the Mashomack Visitor Center.
Reduce, reuse, recycle is a mantra familiar to many. At Mashomack Preserve we’ve always tried to renovate before razing and move and reuse before building new.
In 1986, the Mashomack Manor House was renovated to make a functional conference center for the Nature Conservancy. Starting in the late summer of 2015, it will get another makeover, this one designed to provide better accessibility, replace the historically correct front porch, make it more sustainable and bring up it to current building codes.
The former Young/Lightcap house of South Ferry Hills was floated across the bay in 2013 and repositioned at the west end of the Manor House complex. The architectural style fits perfectly with the existing buildings. It is now the director’s residence.
On April 9, we were at it again. A 100-year-old barn slowly made its way down Route 114 from its foundation at 30 South Cartwright Road to its new home about a half mile south. Binder Pools donated the barn to act as an enlarged storage shed at Mashomack’s Visitor Center. With the Visitor Center itself a rescued/renovated 100-year-old structure, the barn will be in good company, while allowing the Nature Conservancy to continue protecting Mashomack for generations to come.
Cindy Belt is education coordinator at Mashomack Preserve.
