The Turnblad Mansion was built from 1903-1908 by Swan Turnblad, a Swedish immigrant; just 21 years later, the mansion was donated to the public as a place to preserve Swedish customs and culture. JE Dunn led a comprehensive restoration of the mansion’s exterior and interior. A complete masonry restoration was performed, cleaning and replacing elements as needed with custom-carved replacement stonework, bringing the exterior back to its original glory. The project also reclaimed space in the carriage house for use as administrative space with a new floor plan, added elevator, and restored original finishes, including tile flooring, tile wainscot, hardwood floors, stained wood staircases, and plaster walls, ceilings, and decorative crown moldings.
As with any historic renovation, this project came with its fair share of challenges. During construction of the new elevator, it was found that the existing footings were much shallower than anticipated and the soil was very dry where the elevator was to be installed, meaning additional work was required. The construction team worked with the architects and engineers to properly underpin the existing foundation, and the elevator was installed into a new shaft created at the proper depth per code.
Bringing this much-loved, historic building up to modern standards so it can be fully used by staff, visitors, and the community required a combination of tactics and techniques from cutting edge and state of the art to traditional and historic. The project placed an emphasis on maintaining the historic style of construction and keeping the building as historically accurate as possible, while updating to modern standards for safety, sustainability, and quality. Additional historic character exposed during demolition needed to be salvaged and integrated into the renovation while still meeting original project goals.
