Hardman Farm Restoration

The restoration of Hardman Farm in the Nacoochee Valley focused on preserving the integrity of the site's historic structures while ensuring their long-term stability. Lord Aeck Sargent worked closely with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and other partners to implement a preservation strategy that emphasized minimal intervention. The project adhered to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, aiming to retain and conserve the original materials and features of the house, which had remained largely unaltered since its construction in the 1870s. Careful cleaning, conservation, and repair techniques were employed to protect the building's historic fabric. Advanced analytical tools, such as computational fluid dynamics modeling, were used to inform decisions about climate control, allowing the team to minimize modern mechanical systems and rely on the building's natural passive systems. This approach not only preserved the historical essence of the structure but also ensured its continued use as an interpretive resource for understanding early 20th-century farm life.