In a message dated 98-07-01 00:27:56 EDT, you write:

> But going
>  from that to a state of affairs, which you seem to devoutly wish for, in
>  which the contribution of the craftsman isn't even desirable when it is the
>  cheapest solution, and/or the one most responsive to the goals of
>  preservation, is a long and perilous stretch.

On the 17th Cen. Clapboard/Vinyl Siding project crafts-level work was needed
to begin the project with careful installation of vinyl siding, and will be
needed again when the original clapboards are preserved. This treatment "used"
vinyl siding, but did not "depend" on it.  It was indeed a "long and perilous
stretch": in my ability to sell the idea of a 12 year outcome; in the owners'
risk taking; and in the struggle for 12-year follow thorugh when most "forward
thinking" these days is limited to about a month, if that.

John Leeke