Olde World Walls & Ceilings

Architect:

Bert Bender & Associates

General Contractor:

D.L. Porter Construction

Client:

Charlotte Quinn - Director Crane Point Museum

Scope Of Work

Restoration of the tabby construction of the George Adderley House at Crane Point Museum.  We used vernacular materials such as shells, coral rock and lime to recreate the walls on the home built by George Adderley in 1903.  This is the oldest house in the Florida Keys outside of Key West, it was before Henry Flagler built the Overseas Railroad.  Mr. Adderley was a turtleman and sponge collector who would sail down to Key West to sell his wares, including the charcoal he would make.  Tabby is a form of construction brought over to the new world from Africa.  The George Adderley House is the only complete tabby constructed structure in existence in the state of Florida.

The challenge was to find materials that would mimic the type used by George Adderley since modern plasters would be too hard to be used over the soft plaster Mr. Adderley made on site.  Then we had to have the correct ratio of aggregates and apply our mixture by hand just as George Adderley had done over 114 years ago. Care had to be taken with the walls, we would wrap them in wetted burlap and moisten them repeatedly to protect them from the hot humid weather in the Keys in the summer.

Charlotte Quinn, Director of the Crane Point Museum was very happy with our work and had a plaque put up over the door as you enter into the house naming not only Olde World Walls & Ceilings but the name of each of the men wou had lovingly restored the house.  She also presented wach of the men with lifetime passes to the Museum.

The George Adderley House received the Outstanding Achievement Award from The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in 2017.