Shipwright Manni Portes works on the trunnel (tree nail) fastenings of the Morgan-inspired countertops built in the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard woodshop this summer.
IN WITH THE OLD MORGAN-STYLE
The Museum recently played a key role and backdrop for the Magnolia Network show In With the Old. The premise of the show follows designers, builders, and old-home enthusiasts on their journey of reimagining historical homes to give them new purpose. Unlike Fixer Upper, which featured the Magnolia Network founders Chip and Joanna Gaines’ journey to remodel homes for their clients in and around Waco, Texas, each episode of In With the Old follows the projects of homeowners through their own restoration experiences.
need of a larger table. The ultimate satisfaction is being able to see what often takes weeks of hard work, sweat, and sacrifice wrapped up nicely in just one hour.
Fans of home remodeling shows know that there is a relatively consistent recipe of elements for successfully drawing in and engaging the viewer: the audible sound of a hammer hitting nails, the demolition of a kitchen that has seen better days, and ultimately the evolution of what often seems like a hopeless disaster of a house into one’s dream home. Woven intricately between those scenes is the exploration of design elements, taking viewers on a journey as the host visits an antique shop to find perfect pieces that harmonize the home with its new owners, or visits a local woodworker to build a custom table that perfectly accommodates the needs of the expanding family in desperate
This summer, Scott Gifford, Project Manager and Lead Shipwright at the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard, spent the day in front of the camera as he explored design inspiration with Rebecca aboard the Charles W. Morgan and across the Museum. They looked at various species of wood, planking styles, and trunnel (tree nail) fastenings. This will culminate in a Morganinspired kitchen countertop crafted by the talented shipwrights at Mystic Seaport Museum and will forever link a local homeowner’s special old home with the Museum’s distinctive old boat!
The aesthetic antique shop visits can be viewed as the caulking of a boat. Where the actual wood and nails are necessary to form the structure, it’s the caulking that seals it tight and makes it seaworthy. When the producers of the show and local designer turned host, Rebecca Lineberry, reached out to the Museum to get inspiration for the kitchen countertops of a local Old Mystic historical home, we couldn’t think of a better way for the Museum to be involved than to be the metaphorical “caulking of the boat.”
Sophia Matsas, Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Museum News / 13
