Story

Worcester Eisenbrandt was selected to restore this very significant historic church located across the street from the White House. Known as “The Church of the Presidents”, St. John’s was built in 1816 and has been visited by every sitting president since. The historic bell tower was in great need of repair and Worcester Eisenbrandt (WEI) was hired to replace 100% of the towers exterior materials, all copper roofing, the eight louvers, and replace the gold leaf to the top dome as well as patch the stucco and masonry at the tower’s base. WEI first documented the existing conditions and created detail drawings of all components. The historic wood and metal was then removed, revealing the large original timber structure and blocking. Most of the historic blocking and framing was rotten and needed to be replaced. WEI also added full sheathing and waterproofing to the tower. Some historic details were altered or removed during previous renovations. WEI incorporated these historic details back into the design by creating new drawings and looking at historic images and some original architectural drawings. All new exposed exterior millwork and louvers where fabricated from composite materials to help preserve the bell tower. Components were fabricated and assembled off site as much as possible to try and limit joints in the millwork. All of the bell tower’s copper roofing and flashing was replaced with new, including the top dome. The dome along with the historic weathervane had gold leaf applied, returning this signature feature to the bell tower, which had been missing for decades.