Manic winds swirled around the old house at tornado velocity late the night of February 12, 2009. Despite the stress, the 140-year-old Victorian home valiantly stood her ground. Then, with a great roar, a nearby 150-year-old live oak split open from top to bottom and fell, crushing the roof over the dining room of the Earle-Napier-Kinnard House.

No one was there to witness this heart-wrenching scene. It wasn’t until the next morning that people realized what had happened. One corner of the roof had caved in and rainwater had poured into several rooms. It was similar to the fate of McCulloch House, just down Fourth Street during Waco’s notorious tornado of 1953. Then, the entire roof of McCulloch had been torn away and rain had badly damaged the vulnerable roofless interior.

Roof damage of Earle-Napier-Kinnard caused by the collapse of a giant live oak.

Interiors are receiving fresh finishes.

The custom crafted cornice is finally set into place.

Knowing that all the friends of Earle-Napier-Kinnard are concerned with its welfare, I am reporting the latest news. Here you see interior and exterior photos, showing damage that occurred to one of Waco’s crown jewels. Fortunately, the restoration work was in the competent hands of Specialty Restoration of Texas, founded in 1968 by Raymond Redding and still in the family.

Funding for this costly project will be provided by insurance as well as profits from HWF’s spectacular 2008 Talk of the Town fund-raiser. The generosity of those Talk of the Town backers will be put to good use in the restoration of Earle-Napier-Kinnard and many other ways, as well.

I recently interviewed project manager Robert Johnson of Specialty Restoration. Hailing from New Mexico, he has been with the company for six years. Specialty Restoration specializes in restoration of historic buildings such as Earle-Napier-Kinnard. Johnson pointed out the damage that had occurred and explained the various steps that were taken to restore ENK.

“Basically, we had serious roof damage,” he said. “The point of impact of the fallen tree was above the dining room. The water that entered the house did damage to the dining room floor as well as the ceiling. Fortunately, the floor won’t have to be torn out since we were successful in drying it out.”

For the first time in its life, Earle-Napier-Kinnard has a completely new roof. Consistent with proper restoration procedures, the shingles are fire resistant cedar. The custom crafted cornice, which will include new gutter work, will be the finishing touch to the roof.”

It’s always fascinating to study one of these old houses. The thickness of the walls of ENK saved them from caving in under the weight of that full-grown tree. Any modern building would have collapsed, but only that section of the roof was torn away. Really amazing! The dining room ceiling had to be replaced. An interesting thing was the intricate crown molding around the dining room’s ceiling. Once we detached it, we could see about eight different layers of paint, each color representing a certain period in the house’s life. In keeping with our mission to ensure Earle-Napier-Kinnard’s historical integrity, we used old growth long leaf pine as replacement material. ”

Interior restoration was handled by Leeds Clark of Midlothian, Texas. Thomas Clark, historic preservation consultant, took me through all the newly refurbished rooms. As you can see in the photographs, the walls of ENK are now covered with a creamy new paint. “Original paint samples were taken to Sherwyn-Williams where they were analyzed by a new technology, a laser device that produces the exact formula of the sample color,” Clark explaned. “The result was a cream with just the slightest tinge of apricot, very attractive for these old rooms.”

House Chairman Sue Pescaia has carefully followed each step of restoration.

“Our House Committee members are very protective of ENK,” she said. “We worry about the ultimate effect of all that moisture on the walls and the floors. Our old lady has taken a beating and we are anxious to see that everything possible is done to give her many more years as a house museum. We are looking forward to the completion of the restoration so that we can roll out the rugs, move all the furniture back into place and open Earle-Napier-Kinnard for public viewing.”

Watch for my subsequent Portals to the Past that will feature the newly renovated interior of Earle-Napier-Kinnard.