Slate shingles await their return to the roof of the Shaker herb drying house. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

If you could judge the quality of a project by its scaffolding, then the current work on the Shaker herb drying house in Shaker Village would get high marks. Sturdy wooden scaffolding that protects both workers and building currently envelops the herb drying house. The attention to detail given this temporary structure is a clue to the obvious quality of the work behind it.

On a recent wintry day, Jonathan Feist, chairman of the Harvard Historical Commission, which has been spearheading the drying house restoration effort, pointed out the new cornices, trim, and almost-completed slate roof replacement by students of Boston’s North Bennet Street School preservation carpentry program. According to Feist, Harvard is getting first-rate preservation efforts for the cost of the school’s out-of-pocket expenses, an estimated saving of approximately $20,000.

“The herb house remains basically sound, but it needs some significant work if it is to survive,” said Feist. “Restoring the roof is critical. If we lose the roof, we lose the building. They say a slate roof is good for 100 years. Well, this one is about to turn 160.”

The stone building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed in 1848 to house a kiln used to dry apples, “pumkins,” roots, and many varieties of herbs. Shaker journals show that this architecturally unique building was central to the herb business that was essential to the economic survival of the Harvard Shakers.

After the Shakers left Harvard in 1918, the drying house remained vacant for several decades, until becoming a residence. It was given to the town in the 1990s.

The North Bennet Street School, with its mission to sustain traditional craftsmanship, won the peer-reviewed 2001 Commonwealth Award for Excellence in Education. Students in the preservation carpentry program, the only two-year preservation carpentry program in the country, get hands-on practice under the tutelage of Robert Adam, the program’s founder. Adams, an expert on Shaker architectural preservation and restoration, has done work for the Shaker museums in Hancock, Mass. and Canterbury, N.H.

Students from the North Bennet Street preservation carpentry program in Boston replace the rotted rake on the Shaker herb drying house. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

“Learning to do carpentry at this level of workmanship is fascinating,” said student Mike Hevenor, who enrolled at North Bennet Street to train for his third career, having just completed 20 years of army service, including five at Fort Devens. “This building is part of our heritage. The more we can save buildings like this, the more complete our collective memory of history is. This is the fabric of American history.”

“Having North Bennet Street work on our building is an extraordinary boon,” said Feist. “They are saving Harvard tens of thousands of dollars, and we are getting a superb product. We are very fortunate that they have taken an interest in this project.”

Future funding requests will be for replacing the disintegrated doors and re-pointing the stonework, including remediation of improperly executed earlier repairs done before the town took ownership. The Historical Commission also established a gift fund to receive private donations towards this restoration effort. Feist remarked on the “outpouring of volunteer efforts,” including help from the Boy Scouts and several local contractors, primarily assisting in cleanup and the removal of a rotted contemporary porch.

The Historical Commission’s experience with the Shaker herb drying house and other town-owned buildings has garnered knowledge useful to local residents with historic homes. For instance, 19th-century stoneworkers often used lime plaster. When re-pointed with Portland cement, a common building ingredient today, the earlier plaster and later cement contract and expand at different rates, sometimes causing more damage than before repairs.