Restoring the Pavilion goes beyond the building itself. Part of the adaptive reuse plan involves returning objects to their historic locations within the building whenever appropriate, and some of those objects need their own restoration and adaptation to make their return possible. Perhaps the best example in the Pavilion collection is the centerpiece of the entryway, a 19th-century chandelier. Renowned interior designer Sister Parish selected this chandelier to replace a smaller fixture in 1963 because it set the appropriate tone of understated grandeur for the stately summer home.
Often referred to as the Cooper chandelier because it came from the house of James Fenimore Cooper, author of Last of the Mohicans, in Cooperstown, New York, Sister Parish purchased two chandeliers from the author’s descendants, installing one in the White House library for the Kennedys and the other in the Pavilion. Thanks to our generous supporters, the chandelier is undergoing conservation treatment where it will be repaired, restored, and rewired before resuming its place to greet new generations of guests in the Pavilion.
Stay tuned here and on Fort Ticonderoga’s Facebook page for updates on the restoration of the Pavilion, new discoveries, and more from Fort Ticonderoga every week.