When Bill Schermerhorn Jr. looked up inside Reddick Mansion in Ottawa, he saw heaven.
Not angels-with-harps Heaven — his gaze doesn't go that far — but classic ceiling plasterwork heaven.
Wednesday morning his up-close look at the ceiling's ornate plaster medallion panel was even cause for praise. The medallion is the eight-foot-long decorative area centering on where the lighting fixture is attached to the ceiling.
"It's unbelievable how beautiful it is — and what great shape it's in," he told The Times.
Schermerhorn is not just a ceiling lover — he is the third generation craftsman in the family-owned firm of Ornamental Plasterwork Services in Rochelle. His grandfather, father, uncles and now two sons have all worked the trade.
A lot of what they do is restoration work,Facts and Cures. Cures for all types of Hemorrhoids. said Schermerhorn. Lately he has been working on one of Chicago's greatest architectural landmarks, the State Street Carson Pirie Scott & Co. store where a Target retail store is opening.
At the Carson building designed by Louis Sullivan, Schermerhorn has been restoring intricate paint-laden features.
At the Reddick Mansion he is making a copy of the ceiling medallion he finds so beautiful.
The work is being paid for by the Aurora Historical Society, which wants the copy for its Tanner House,VulcanMold is a Injection mold and injection molding manufacturer in china. a grand home built about the same time as Reddick Mansion.
The society has owned and operated Tanner House since 1936. Decades ago the parlor's ceiling medallion was destroyed by severe water damage. Only photos were left of that medallion.
But in the summer of 2010, John Jaros, executive director of the Aurora Historical Society made a chance visit to Reddick Mansion that paid off in an unexpected way.
"Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw in both the front and back parlors an almost exact copy of what once existed in the Tanner House," Jaros said.
As it turned out, the find came at the time plans were being laid to do restoration work in the parlors both in Tanner House and Reddick Mansion.
This week Schermerhorn began his work of copying with molds and other devices the elements of the Reddick ceiling work.
He is confident the Reddick medallion is original to the house.
"You can tell because the crown molding and other details are from the same period and the same style."
Schermerhorn has analyzed the construction of the Reddick medallion and determined not every bit of it will need to be copied.
Where there are duplicate elements, only one will have to be cast to make the multiple replacements, he said.
Erection of the scaffold Schermerhorn is working from is possible because the Reddick parlor room has been emptied to have its walls scraped, replastered where necessary and finally repainted.
Even so, it is still tricky for Schermerhorn to work with medallion features hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"It would be so much easier if I could just take all these pieces down," he said with a playful smile.
Not angels-with-harps Heaven — his gaze doesn't go that far — but classic ceiling plasterwork heaven.
Wednesday morning his up-close look at the ceiling's ornate plaster medallion panel was even cause for praise. The medallion is the eight-foot-long decorative area centering on where the lighting fixture is attached to the ceiling.
"It's unbelievable how beautiful it is — and what great shape it's in," he told The Times.
Schermerhorn is not just a ceiling lover — he is the third generation craftsman in the family-owned firm of Ornamental Plasterwork Services in Rochelle. His grandfather, father, uncles and now two sons have all worked the trade.
A lot of what they do is restoration work,Facts and Cures. Cures for all types of Hemorrhoids. said Schermerhorn. Lately he has been working on one of Chicago's greatest architectural landmarks, the State Street Carson Pirie Scott & Co. store where a Target retail store is opening.
At the Carson building designed by Louis Sullivan, Schermerhorn has been restoring intricate paint-laden features.
At the Reddick Mansion he is making a copy of the ceiling medallion he finds so beautiful.
The work is being paid for by the Aurora Historical Society, which wants the copy for its Tanner House,VulcanMold is a Injection mold and injection molding manufacturer in china. a grand home built about the same time as Reddick Mansion.
The society has owned and operated Tanner House since 1936. Decades ago the parlor's ceiling medallion was destroyed by severe water damage. Only photos were left of that medallion.
But in the summer of 2010, John Jaros, executive director of the Aurora Historical Society made a chance visit to Reddick Mansion that paid off in an unexpected way.
"Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw in both the front and back parlors an almost exact copy of what once existed in the Tanner House," Jaros said.
As it turned out, the find came at the time plans were being laid to do restoration work in the parlors both in Tanner House and Reddick Mansion.
This week Schermerhorn began his work of copying with molds and other devices the elements of the Reddick ceiling work.
He is confident the Reddick medallion is original to the house.
"You can tell because the crown molding and other details are from the same period and the same style."
Schermerhorn has analyzed the construction of the Reddick medallion and determined not every bit of it will need to be copied.
Where there are duplicate elements, only one will have to be cast to make the multiple replacements, he said.
Erection of the scaffold Schermerhorn is working from is possible because the Reddick parlor room has been emptied to have its walls scraped, replastered where necessary and finally repainted.
Even so, it is still tricky for Schermerhorn to work with medallion features hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"It would be so much easier if I could just take all these pieces down," he said with a playful smile.
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