Granite at Degas House

It is interesting that granite is found around the property at Degas House. Where did it come from?

Originally, there was a fence in the front of the home which had concrete and brick footing, a brick wall above the ground, and at the top of the wall was a thick cap of granite. Iron fence posts were inserted into the granite. When the fence was taken down around the 1920's, the granite was recycled around the property. Some of it was used as part of the front steps on the main Degas House. Much of it was used on the front porch of Degas House II. Though the houses had separate owners at that time, the contractor for both houses was the same, so he distributed the granite where needed.

When we recently installed the stone fountain in the front of Degas House II, it became a challenge to deal with the façade. We removed 92 years of paint on the granite. We knew that the top of the wall on Degas House II was the same granite used on the fence because it we could see the holes where the iron fence posts were inserted. We also discovered at that time that the wall behind the fence, which is the front of the porch on Degas House II, was not concrete blocks, as originally thought, but flagstone.

Edgar Degas was a French Impressionist artist

It makes sense that granite was used at Degas House because the Musson family was involved in shipping and granite was used as ballast on the ships. During the 1800s, there was a boom of building with granite from New York to New Orleans. Shown here are recent pictures taken as we continue renovations around the property.