Quarry Farm

The Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College selected Johnson-Schmidt & Associates to create a Historic Structure Report (HSR) for Quarry Farm. This significant site is closely associated with Samuel L. Clemens, the literary genius best known by his pseudonym, Mark Twain. Clemens wrote many of his most beloved works in Elmira at Quarry Farm, where he and his family spent many summers.

The site comprised three 1880s Italianate revival buildings: a house, a barn, and an outdoor study. In the 1970s, Twain's Octagonal Study was relocated to the Elmira College campus. As part of the HSR, J-S&A identified upgrade/preservation issues and planned phased projects to restore the historic structures to their original condition with necessary modern modifications. The scope of work included new exterior downspouts and a gutter system, repairs to the roofs, restoration of windows, design and fitting of period-appropriate storm windows, the strategic insertion of a new fire suppression misting system, and conducting paint microscopy studies to analyze the history of applied interior finishes.