One of the nation’s oldest plantation houses is getting a face- lift in hopes that it’ll look just like it did 40 years ago. Built in 1739, Drayton Hall was remarkably preserved by its founding family for generations before it was sold to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the 1970s. But requirements that the building be left in the shape it was when handed over has provided unique challenges for the Trust. It’s the thin line between restoration and preservation. “Drayton Hall is being preserved ‘as is,’ so you’re constantly trying to figure out how to save the house and do a lot of work without looking like you’re doing anything at all,” says Matthew Webster, the site’s preservation director.
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