Drennen-Scott House wins Jurors’ Citation Award in Historic Architecture

South Elevation

Photo by Henry Rinne

Our restoration of the Drennen-Scott Historic House (ca. 1840) was recently awarded the Jurors’ Citation Award in Historic Architecture, from AIA NOVA as part of the 2021 Design Awards.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the historic house was acquired by the University of Arkansas—Fort Smith as a home for their Historic Site Interpretation program. The goal was to restore the house and determine how the house evolved from the original one-room house to seven rooms over a span of 65 years. This process provided an opportunity for the U of Arkansas students to exercise their skills as tour guides, exhibit designers, and caretakers of a historic property.

MORE ABOUT DRENNEN-SCOTT HOUSE

View from Southwest, ca. 1895

John Drennen began his house in 1838 by building a single log-framed room. It evolved over the next 65 years as he and his heirs added to it during six separate building campaigns. In the 1970s, a final addition was constructed on the rear by the last of the heirs to occupy the house. The house is on the National Register of Historic Sites.

Pre-design services included a master plan, historic structure report and cultural landscape report, paint and wallpaper analysis, archeology, and dendrochronology. A goal was to determine how the house evolved from the original one-room to the present. The team’s archaeologist worked closely with the architects and his findings were invaluable.

The house suffered from extensive termite damage, serious enough that the wood sill on top of the stone foundation walls was destroyed. Because of this, many exterior walls had settled, resulting in damage or loss of interior plaster.

Significant family history material was found in various archives, but there was little documentation regarding the house. However, the building itself provided clues and as the design team peeled away the layers, the history of its construction became evident. A discovery that provided direction for the restoration was a major “remodeling” that had taken place in 1895. This remodeling unified the appearance of the house as seen today. There was no documentation showing the rear of the house prior to the 1970s addition. Rather than rely on guesswork, the team elected to leave the 1970s addition in place.

Restoration was accomplished in phases as funding became available. The plan called for restoration of the seven rooms built by John Drennen to serve as a historic house museum. Those rooms built later, but before the 1970 addition, were rehabilitated as exhibit spaces, and the 1970s addition was adapted to provide for the university’s academic needs—the family room, kitchen, and a bedroom were repurposed as a classroom, office, work space, and public restrooms.

Landscaping was undertaken on the five-acre site, part of which had included large formal gardens which largely disappeared after the Great Depression due to the family’s lost wealth. Aided by photographs and historic documentation, the team’s landscape architects recreated the historic landscape.

Master plan developed during pre-design

The remaining historic outbuilding was restored as an exhibit space, a building resembling the historic garage was reconstructed as a workspace for the Master Gardeners, and a new visitors center was designed. The fourth and last phase was construction of a parking lot adjacent to the visitors center.