Sagamore Hill being restored to TR's time

The buzz of chain saws and wood chippers has filled the air in recent weeks at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, where workers are clearing trees and installing split-rail fencing and a new arbor at the pet cemetery.

The removal of 2 acres of trees and vines that have grown since Theodore Roosevelt lived on the Cove Neck property, and the reintroduction of objects that have been lost, represent the latest phase of a National Park Service initiative to return Sagamore Hill closer to its look when the 26th president lived there.

"It was used as a working farm for the entirety of the family's tenure from 1885 through Mrs. Roosevelt's death in 1948," Superintendent Thomas Ross said. "Over the course of 50 or 60 years, the fields were not farmed anymore, and what grew was in many cases nonnative scrub vegetation."

While the landscape work continues, the staff is gearing up for the site's biggest project in decades: a $5-million rehabilitation of the main house that will require closing it in late fall for two years.

"We're going to be rewiring the entire house; upgrading security, fire detection and suppression; putting on a new roof; and rehabilitating the entire exterior including all the windows and adding new storm windows," Ross said.

There will also be a new heating system and exterior lighting. An addition built on the back porch in the 1950s will be removed and the house will be made handicapped-accessible for the first time.

The landscape restoration represents a park service initiative to recreate much of the farm -- short of removing the parking lot, planting crops and bringing in livestock.

"This work is important in telling the story of how the site was used as a working farm and how the family used it for hikes and horseback riding," Ross said.

Last spring, 46 fruit trees were planted east of the parking lot to restore part of the orchard. New-growth trees and shrubs were removed from a section of the West Lawn and two farm fields southeast of the house and south of the parking lot and about 1,000 feet of split-rail fence was installed. A replica windmill constructed in the early 1970s was rehabilitated at a cost of almost $200,000.

This year more of the West Lawn has been cleared along with fields south of the parking lot. The original meadow on West Lawn will be re-created and meadows will replace what had been hay fields near the parking lot because planting hay is not considered practical.

The work will be completed this month, although it will take several seasons for the meadows to grow in fully and fully root out invasive species, Ross said.

Restorations

Under way this spring at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site:

OVERGROWTH. Removal of 2 acres of trees and vines that have grown in to create meadows where there were once meadows and hay fields.

HABITAT PROTECTION. Installation of 620 feet of split-rail fencing south and southwest of the parking lot.

ACCURACY. Installation of a more historically accurate replica of the pet cemetery arbor.

MAINTENANCE. First phase of exterior renovation of Old Orchard Museum.