National Trust for Historic Preservation, Woodrow Wilson House

The National Trust for Historic Preservation selected Henry Adams as the historic specialist to design the replacement/upgrade of the mechanical systems for the Woodrow Wilson House.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the home belonged to the former 28th President of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Built in 1915, the townhome consists of 14,200 square feet across four-stories and a basement. It now stands as a National Historic Landmark, which Woodrow’s wife Edith bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to serve as a monument. The home has been maintained much as it was in the 1920s including furniture, art, and personal belongings of the former President and Mrs. Wilson. You can now take tours of the historic museum and multiple spaces are available to rent for events.

The mechanical scope includes the installation of two VRF heat pump systems to provide heating and cooling to the building, one for the north half and one for the south half of the building.  The VRF controls will have a cloud/Wi-Fi feature to control the system remotely through an app. The electrical scope includes replacing the electrical service and equipment in the basement to accommodate the additional load of the new HVAC system in the building. The new system is sensitively designed to have a minimal impact on the home's interior and exterior visual character.

Some challenges faced during the project include routing refrigerant piping and locating indoor mechanical units to blend them within the historic fabric.