Saving Face
The renovation took a good year and a half to complete and required strengthening the bones of the house . Part of that included sprucing up its scruffy exterior . The clunky sliding metal front door is now mahogany , and the slate roof , which needed replacing , sports new composite tiles by Boral . The façade itself was pocked and faded . “ We didn ’ t want to remake the brick or remove the patina that builds up over time ,” says McKinley . Feole Masonry of Cranston did a gentle power wash , then an old-style limebased mortar , to preserve the bricks ’ integrity . “ The art with that kind of cleaning is realizing when it becomes too hard to get out the discoloration , and knowing when to leave it as is ,” McKinley adds . Another challenge was incorporating the original steel trusses in a way that ’ s both functional and pleasing , with a nod to the house ’ s industrial past . The solution was to clean and paint them a flat black . The roof support beams also dictated the size of the loft . Gardner custom built the sleeping area ’ s armoire , which has drawers on both the back and front . He also designed the queen size bed and a nightstand on each side .
76 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2020