PRESERVATION
Tech Notes

METALS
NUMBER 3

In-Kind Replacement of Historic Stamped Metal Exterior Siding


Rebecca A. Shiffer
Technical Preservation Services
National Parrk Service

THE HEXAGON
(Ephraim Shay House)
Harbor Springs, Michigan

The Hexagon is a unique house designed and constructed in 1892 by inventor Ephraim Shay as his home in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Shay's principal invention, the Shay locomotive, ran on wooden rails over rough terrain, enabling Michigan's logging industry to reach previously inaccessible stands of timber and to expand into a year-round operation. Listed on the National Register, the Hexagon is the last remaining building in a complex that formerly included Shay's machine shop and the waterworks that he constructed for the town of Harbor Springs.

1. Windows in each elevation of the hexagonal wings offer views in every direction from the center of the house. This first floor plan of the Hexagon shows the new, post-rehabilitation uses. Drawing: Jeffrey Pascale, from plans by Richard Hiler.

The first floor of the house is composed of a central hexagon surrounded bysix hexagonal wings (see figure 1). Each wing originally contained one room, with windows in each elevation, permitting outside visibility in all directions from the center of the house. One large hexagonal room forms the second story. The house is of frame construction, sheathed on both the interior and exterior with 7/8" horizontal planks.

Stamped sheet metal covers the planks on the exterior and the interior of the Hexagon. Brick-patterned metal siding, accented by four bands of varying ornamental designs, covers the exterior elevations; the ornamental window hoods are also sheet metal. On the interior, the walls and ceilings are also covered with stamped sheet metal (see figure 2). This extensive use of architectural sheet metal reflected the popularity of the product at the turn of the century. It provided a decorative and fire-resistant covering that was inexpensive, easy to install, and durable.

Until the mid-twentieth century, the house remained a single-family residence. Later, the building housed a dress shop and a basement tea room. In 1989, a new owner purchased the Hexagon, planning to rehabilitate it into offices. The building had not been substantially altered, and the new owner wanted to restore it to its original appearance.

2. The walls and celings of each interior room are sheathed with stamped metal siding in a variety of decorative patterns. Photo: Brian Conway

Historic stamped sheet metal exterior siding should
be replicated in-kind when deteriorated beyond repair.