Delbarton School Art & Building Conservation

Located in Morristown, New Jersey, the Delbarton School is a private all-male Catholic school, serving students from seventh through twelfth grades. The school first opened in 1939 in the 1880s estate of Luther Kountze, an Omaha, Denver, and New York banking magnate. The sprawling grounds of Delbarton include several garden spaces, including an Italianate Garden, also known as the Formal Garden, to the west of the main house completed in the early in the 20th Century with a 300-foot pergola running along the rear border containing sculptures and salvaged architectural elements acquired by Kountze from his travels to Italy and elsewhere. The grounds also include a set of two towers, East and West, which connect the Old Main Building with a sculpture-filled loggia and frame the picturesque Senior Garden.

EverGreene was contracted by Delbarton numerous times over the last fifteen years to perform conditions assessments on and implement comprehensive treatment plans for the select architectural and artistic elements on the property. EverGreene worked closely with the Delbarton staff to realize their goals of preservation of all treated elements. Prior to beginning work, each piece was assessed to outline conditions and determine methods of treatment. Treated works in the collection include…

• Conservation treatment of four Vicenza stone Venetian Statues attributed to Giovanni Marchiori (1696-1778) in the Formal Garden—“Homer,” “Fortitude,” “Temperance,” & “Group”
• Conservation treatment of two Vicenza Stone sculptures Ares and Dancer in the Formal Garden
• Conservation treatment of the Saint Benedict Sculpture
• Conservation and resetting of sculptures in the North Tower (performed on more than one occasion)
• Conservation of one sculpture in the South Tower
• Conservation of select busts on the South Wall (performed on more than one occasion)
• Conservation of seven columns in-between loggia sculptures
• Conservation treatment of the Istrian Fountain
• Repair treatments to Hermes, one of the cast stone Pergola statues in the Formal Garden, which had previously fallen
• Conservation treatment of busts of Alexander, Trajan, and Woman

While each work had its own individual treatment requirements, typical range of treatments included: cleaning surfaces to remove atmospheric and biological soiling using detergents, biocides, low pressure water, hand tools, and micro-abrasion; reduction of calcium deposits; removal and replacement of failed and/or inappropriate previous repairs; disassembly, reinforcement, and reassembly of structurally weak elements; patching areas with missing material; injection grouting to fill cracks; removal and replacement of deteriorated mortar joints; reattachment of detached fragments; application of protective coatings.

In addition to conservation treatments at the school, EverGreene participated in two projects which addressed life safety issues at the school. First, the condition of the busts of Alexander, Trajan, and Woman located in the East Tower were determined to be so poor as to constitute a threat to bystanders and a potential falling hazard. The works were removed to the EverGreene studio and recast using Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), a lightweight, but durable material used to replicate the appearance of stone. EverGreene installed the new busts in place of the deteriorated ones.

Second, EverGreene was contracted to conduct an overall assessment of the East Tower after a quarter of the east wall exterior collapsed due to water infiltration and freezing. There was concern about the stability of the entire structure. The on-site investigation and evaluation concluded that the East Tower is experiencing a more extensive material deterioration than estimated before the study. The malfunction of the drainage system forced water to run within the masonry walls and gradually wash out binder in the original mortar, causing the cleavage of east wall, loss of adhesion in mortar especially within south wall, and pervasive efflorescence throughout interior surfaces. Based on EverGreene’s study and a separate engineering evaluation, a full-scale restoration of the tower occurred.