Historic Jamestowne Days

The restoration department is working at its home base on Jamestown Island late February and early March, addressing maintenance needs before Island events in May. The church foundations were brushed clean of moss and algae growth, then treated with a biocide to retard regrowth. This procedure is normally done annually and takes about two days.

The Yeardley house foyer floor is being replaced. The house is considered an historic structure, so the floor is being replaced in kind. Powder post beetle infestation ruined the existing, period, yellow pine floor. Some superficial plaster repair and paint was also done to the ceiling of Bly Straube's office in the Yeardley, while she is away in England.

Yeardley Flooring

Jon Miano stands, undaunted and ready apply varnish, in front of the drying rack where the Restoration Dept has placed the bulk of the new flooring for the Yeardley House foyer area. The existing yellow pine flooring had been riddled with powder-post beetle damage. It was sanded and refinished during the Yeardley's earlier renovation, but because of the beetle damage, normal foot traffic broke up its surface. The replacement floor copies the existing floor, tongue-and-grooved, clear yellow-pine, three-quarters of an inch thick with a three-and one-half inch exposed face. The pine is stained with minwax, "ipswich pine" stain and will be given at least two coats of oil varnish. The floor is being pre-finished to avoid disrupting normal Rediscovery activities as much as possible during the installation. The rack behind Jon holds 125 floor boards.

Got Snow?

The restoration dept went to the Hollow the week of 1/26/09 to clean out the detritus between the first floor ceiling and the second floor. There was about 4 inches of snow and ice that fell in Fauquier while we were there. We removed about 200 pounds of material (dirt and feces) from the voids. It was disappointing that we found no period artifacts when we sifted through the debris. It was a crappy job, but somebody had to do it.

1801 Reenactment takes shape at the John Marshall House

This Friday guests will get a chance to go back into time and experience John Marshall swearing in Thomas Jefferson as it was March 4, 1801. Marshall inaugurated more Presidents than any other Chief Justice----five heads of state resulting in nine inaugural ceremonies! Mark Greenough will portray John Marshall and Bill Barker will serve as Thomas Jefferson during the 11:30am event. Even Marshall's clerk, Jacob Wagner and his good friend Daniel Call will be in attendance. The ceremony will culminate with dancing by the Richmond Colonial Dancers. Parking will be available outside on Marshall and 9th Streets. Come early, as seating is limited and the response has been strong.

Taking Care of Company Business

Now that the Hollow job has been suspended for the winter, the restoration crew is working on company owned properties. In this picture, Jon Miano is putting the finishing touches on a sill replacement at the apartment located behind Farmer's Bank. This building is a modern reconstruction, so we replaced the heart-pine sill with a pressure treated yellow-pine one. We have noticed that the resawn heart-pine is not giving us the life expectancy that we were hoping for, so rather then use pricey material needlessly, we are going with an easily available and affordable alternative when we can. The crew also replaced the threshold at the carriage house of the Cole-Digges with pressure treated material. The door opening was a modern alteration to the carriage house, which once again enabled us to use material of our choosing.

Hollow season ended?

In the two weeks of November 10th and November 17th the restoration dept restored and rehung the badly damaged right front door and finished the installation of all the siding for the West gable end. Winter has set in in Fauquier, and the dept was unable to finish priming or painting. The crew is still waiting on the delivery for the siding necessary to do the back of the house. A tarp has been rigged over the chimney shoulders to prevent water entry until spring, when the mason can tuck point between the chimney and the siding. The restoration crew plans to make bed molding for the front of the house, consolidate the period bed mold for the back, and make backband for the windows and the center front door. The crew hopes to catch some good weather this winter to paint and install the aforementioned trim, but it may have to wait until the next phase of restoration in the summer of '09.

It's Halloween

APVA Preservation Virginia has come a long way in 119 years - at least our ladies smile now!!