Restoration work on the Keating Dollhouse began in 2020. Mark Smith of Gravestone Transformations has been hard at work the past three years making the incremental changes that are necessary to keep the Keating Dollhouse standing for another 150 years.
The first step was to clean the exterior of the dollhouse with D2 solution and to stabilize and tuckpoint the limestone and marble foundation. He then cleaned out the loose sandstone debris within the inside of the dollhouse, and realized the extent of deterioration – “spalling” of the interior walls of the house. This deterioration placed the monument in danger of caving in on itself after having grown very thin over the past 150 years. Unfortunately, he could not simply apply the necessary masonry materials to stabilize it – the crumbling sandstone first needed moisture removed.
Signs were placed outside of the dollhouse asking people to not place items inside of it. Items that retain moisture are particularly troublesome in that they create a haven for moisture and condensation to linger for extended periods within the house, thus exacerbating the interior deterioration that has occurred over time. It took many, many months, with numerous applications, but Mark was eventually able to draw enough moisture out of the interior of the walls to apply the materials needed to stabilize the dollhouse. This occurred around fall, 2022.
After a long rainy spring, Mark return these past couple weeks to add some additional materials inside a couple of the windows and to add the new wooden floors. The wooden floors placed in the little house by its creators, Michael and John Keating, were badly deteriorated and had unseated from the track that held them long ago. The little house has regained significant structural stability and is starting to look a bit like it would have when the Keating brothers installed it so long ago.
Additional work remains, including a repair of the corner of the roof that was likely broken some time in the 1980s or 1990’s by heavy equipment or a fallen tree. Thank you to everyone who has donated and followed the “little house” in its restoration these past three and a half years!
If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”
A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!
Keating Dollhouse 