Iredell County Courthouse
Statesville, NCCompleted in 1900, the Iredell County Courthouse in downtown Statesville is a yellow-brick Beaux Arts landmark. Designed by Hayden, Wheeler & Schwend, it became the prototype for many courthouses the firm later designed across North Carolina. Its central block is crowned by a clay tile cupola with round oculus windows and fronted by a two-story pedimented portico. Steep slate roofs, copper-trimmed dormers and clay tile wing roofs complete the roofscape.
In 2018, Iredell County selected Renaissance for Phase One of the Historic Iredell County Courthouse Exterior Restoration. After more than a century of service, the roofs, gutters and the timber framing beneath them had reached the end of their life.
The courthouse was added to the national register of Historic Places in 1979.
Work Included
- Complete replacement of the clay tile roofs with new Ludowici-Celadon French tile, including the curved surfaces of the cupola
- Complete replacement of the slate roofs with 24" x 12" Buckingham Slate
- Heavy timber carpentry: structural shoring, glulam and LVL replacements of rotted beams and hip rafters, and a rebuilt portico roof frame
- Custom-matched, historically accurate architectural sheet metal in Revere "Freedom Gray" zinc-coated copper
- Inlaid and ledge gutter systems, collector heads and downspouts
- Terne-coated copper ridge cresting, hip molds and finials matched to the originals
- Historic masonry restoration and pointing in key areas
THE CHALLENGE
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Once the old roofing came off, our team found the problems ran well below the surface. Decades of leaking built-in gutters had rotted the gutter decking, outlookers, and rafter tails along the eaves. Between the tile and main slate roofs, two large timbers — an 8" x 10" x 17' beam and a 26-foot 6-1/4" x 9" timber — had rotted badly, and the blocking beneath them had deflected. The beam carrying the cupola end wall showed rot 4" deep at its bearing, and the west hip rafters on the slate roof had failed. The courthouse sits on a tight downtown block at Center and Court Streets, next to the Government Center and Annex. Every phase had to be planned around public egress, staging space and an active civic campus. |
THE RENAISSANCE SOLUTION
Renaissance documented every condition and produced more than 20 custom shop drawings to guide the repairs. Working with consulting engineer Steve L. Knight, P.E., our carpenters shored the cupola with temporary braces and lift-support ribbons. They then replaced the failed timbers with 6-3/4" glue-laminated beams and installed new LVL hip rafters. Custom steel C-channels realigned the original timber truss web members to their chords.
The portico roof was reframed with new southern yellow pine rafters, knee walls, gutter lookouts and tension cables.
On the roofs, the crew installed new Ludowici-Celadon French clay tile, shaping each course to the cupola's arched and curved surfaces. The slate roofs were replaced with 24" x 12" Buckingham Slate over a double layer of 55# felt. Every hip, ridge and transition was detailed in copper.
The historic sheet metal was rebuilt from Revere "Freedom Gray" zinc-coated copper, using hidden cleats and hand-soldered seams. Highlights include:
- Inlaid gutters at the slate and tile roofs, with fully soldered anthemion ornaments braced against wind
- Flat-lock ledge and shelf flashings with counterflashing let into the masonry
- Terne-coated copper ridge cresting, hip molds and finials, matched in shape, size and profile to the originals
- Custom collector heads and downspouts anchored to the brick with lead-wedged reglets
Masonry crews restored and repointed key areas where the new flashings tie into the brick.
THE RESULTS
The Iredell County Courthouse once again has a complete, watertight roof system that honors its original 1899 design. With its framing structurally restored, Statesville's landmark is protected for generations to come.
