Seton Castle Restoration Progress Report

« Back to Progress Report Index Page
 

Spray foam roof.

West façade before...

...and nearly restored.

Aaron Stern, the founder of The Academy and Christa Coggins, Seton's great granddaughter, visiting the castle during restoration.

The lower-level office area with new floor.

The new road leading to castle being laid.

The view of castle from new guest/caretakers house.

The view of castle from new art studio.

October 2005
 

Fall is in the air. Some six months into the restoration project, the leaves are turning and the air has a distinct crispness. We are in the process of sealing off the exterior of the castle to prepare for the cold weather ahead.

In our last progress report, we had removed the seven layers of old roofing, exposing the wood decking below and laying all of our electrical and wireless computer lines. There was some debate about having either a rolled roofing membrane or a spray foam roof. The Academy and Wolf Corp, our general contactor, chose the environmentally safe spray foam, to allow the foam to hug every contour of the stone and wood parapet walls, protecting the castle from the elements.

The foam was sprayed over the entire roof in thicknesses of up to six inches, to allow for rain runoff. All this is hidden behind our parapet walls. Eventually the parapets will be coated with a finish color stucco, matching the color we will use on the wood framed walls outside the castle, and the yellow, custard-colored spray foam roof will have a thin coat of gravel over the entire roof area.

Old windows and doors are being painstakingly restored, and either stained or painted. Those not able to be saved are being rebuilt to match the original flavor of the castle. Seton had some quirky, distinctive detailing in his doors and windows.

All the exterior stone was power washed and cleaned of decades of grime. This week, the stone workers will come back to fill in big gaps of grout between the stone, to further protect against the elements.

The stone workers came a month ago and rebuilt the stone wall area by the front door. Later additions, added after Seton's death, included a picture window to the left of the front door. With the help of early photos and Seton's own sketches, we rebuilt the two windows that were originally there.

Moving to the inside, from the lookout to the lower level Academy office space, amazing progress has unfolded.

We have totally cleaned all the woodwork. The vigas and decking were power washed, repeatedly cleaned, stained and sealed to match original conditions seen in earlier photos; as if dipping the entire castle in a photo development tray, revealing all the details that were originally there.

To highlight the amazing interior, and hopefully in time for the opening of the castle next year, we are in the process of restoring, as funds permit, some 50 of 150 works of art by Seton on paper and a number of stunning oil on canvas paintings. Seton was truly a gifted artist, along with his many other talents.

Our lower level office space has a new concrete floor, hiding the radiant in-floor heating elements the Academy will use throughout the castle, on all the floors, either under concrete or wood members, to keep us warm.

To note further progress, we have worked extensively on the land surrounding the castle. We have trenched the landscape so that we can eventually bury all the utilities. And our new road was laid, connecting the original entry by the arroyo to the castle, and allowing us to bypass our neighbors at the top of the hill. This creates a graceful flowing entry drive from the bottom of the hill up to the castle. The entire landscape has the feeling of a beautiful campus.

We have just begun laying the footprints for the caretakers/guest house and the art studio to the east of the castle. Meandering to each building will be handicap accessed gravel paths with little nature niches to pause for reflection and breathtaking panoramic views all around.

Between the castle and the other buildings, we will have an outdoor amphitheatre, built of stone, nestled in a stand of junipers, naturally encircling the structure.

Quite a feat for us all, and a beautiful, inspiring setting for the Academy and its visitors!

"Lion Head" before and after treatment.

"English Sparrows" before and after treatment.