The Louis Sullivan-designed Charnley-Norwood House in Ocean Springs has won a preservation award from the prestigious Victorian Society in America, based in New York City. Two other projects won an award in the VSA’s annual meeting earlier in October: the restoration of the U.S. Capitol dome, and the renovation of the Old Chapel at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
According to the VSA website:
Charnley-Norwood House and Gardens
Ocean Springs, MississippiAWARD for the meticulous restoration of this 1890 seaside cottage following its near destruction by hurricane in 2005, a landmark structure designed by noted architect Louis Sullivan and now open for public visitation.
Louis Sullivan discovered and was so captivated by the Mississippi coast that he designed two identical cottages there, one for himself and the other for his wealthy Chicago friend James Charnley. The structures demonstrate Sullivan’s modernist ideas for simplified form and natural materials espoused by the Arts & Crafts Movement. Charnley soon sold his house to Frederick Norwood, another Chicago businessman. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Sullivan cottage and so badly damaged the Norwood cottage that it was slated for demolition.
Recognizing the building’s significance, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in 2011 acquired the property, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History commissioned an historic structure report and began its extensive restoration, aided by vintage photographs from the Norwood occupancy. Volunteers carefully salvaged and inventoried the numerous pieces of the building strewn across the site. Restoration encompassed repositioning the house on its foundation, reconstruction of roof and chimneys, refinishing of wood interiors, and re-creation of the gardens. The Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area has produced museum exhibit panels for the house and schedules interpretative tours and lectures.
Link: http://msgulfcoastheritage.ms.gov/Historic-Homes-detail/detail/41319
Read more about the Charnley-Norwood House . . .
Categories: Gulf Coast, Historic Preservation, MS Dept. of Archives and History, Ocean Springs, Preservation People/Events, Renovation Projects
Preservation in Mississippi 
What a success!
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