Lives and Legacies

Tag: colonial craft

  • Video: Building George’s House – Laying the Stone Foundation

    In this video, we see how stonemasons Ray Cannetti, Robert Hall, and Kevin Nieto laid the handmade Aquia sandstone foundation stones around and on top of the Washington house’s concrete cradle foundation, which protects original architectural remains underground.  Watch these videos about the concrete cradle and the oyster burning process.

    Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.

  • Photos: Building George’s House – East Chimney

    building-the-east-chimney-18

    Brickmasons Ray Cannetti, Robert Hall, and Kevin Nieto recently finished building one of three chimneys for the Washington house at George Washington’s Ferry Farm. Located on the house’s east side and made from hand moulded brick by the Old Carolina Brick Company, this chimney is the smallest of the three.  The brick-laying work took about two weeks.

     

  • Video: Building George’s House – Timber Frame Timelapse

    The timber frame – from floor joists to roof sheathing — of the rebuilt Washington house at Ferry Farm was recently completed.  The work was done by tradesmen using a mix of 18th century building methods and 21st century equipment.  The timbers were fashioned by Virginia-based Blue Ridge Timberwrights.

    Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.

  • Photos: Building George’s House – Timber Framing Finished

    Expert craftsmen from Blue Ridge Timberwrights recently completed constructing the timber frame of the Washington house interpretive replica at Ferry Farm.  This collection of photographs documents the their work and begins a week into the process. You can see photos from the first week of work here.  What’s next? Shingles!

    Adding rafters.
    Sunlight between posts.
    Wooden pegs.
    Chiseling a peg.
    Tools.
    Joists above and below.
    Sawing.
    Second floor rafters in place.
    Visitors hear about the timber framing work.
    Rafters and shed roof beams all in place.
    Placing roof sheathing.
    Framing and roof sheathing complete. Shingles will come next.

    Learn more about constructing the Washington house interpretive replica here, here, and here.

  • Video: Building George’s House – Lime Rick Burn

    In this video, you’ll see a lime rick burn that recently took place at George Washington’s Ferry Farm and expert artisan Kenneth Tappan will explain the ins and outs of building and burning a lime rick.

    Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.

  • Photos: Building George’s House – Lime Rick Burn

    Recently,  expert artisans Bill Neff and Kenneth Tappan along with staff from The George Washington Foundation built a lime rick — a large crib of wood and oyster shells — at George Washington’s Ferry Farm.  This past Saturday, the rick was lit on fire to produce lime for stone and brick work as part of constructing the Washington house.

    In eighteenth-century Virginia, near the coast, oyster shells were abundant and commonly burned in one-time-use oyster ricks – different than lime kilns constructed of brick – to yield the lime required for brick and stone masonry. After heating, the burnt shells are slaked with water, causing them to break apart into lime. Mixed with sand and water, as well as sometimes brick dust, clay, charcoal, and bits of shell, lime was the binder in early mortar.

    Here are photos of the building and the burning of the lime rick.

    Bill Neff bundles together small branches and other kindling into the lime rick’s wick around which all the larger wood will be placed.
    Firewood ready to be assembled into the lime rick.
    The oyster shells that will be burned.
    Placing the wick.
    With the wick set, work to build the rick itself began the next morning before dawn.
    The first layer of wood is placed.
    The first layer of shell is added.
    Kenneth Tappan throws a log…
    …onto the rick.
    Bill Neff adds some smaller firewood.
    Spreading out the top layer of oyster.
    9:50 a.m. – The lime rick is ready to burn.
    10:05 a.m. – The wick is lit and slowly burns down lighting the ends of the logs on fire.
    10:40 a.m. – A lot of smoke at first.
    10:50 a.m. – Flames appear.
    Burning a lime rick of oyster shells to make mortar.
    11:30 a.m. – As the rick burns, it collapses in on itself.
    12:30 p.m. – As the wood burns, the pile gets ever smaller.
    3:00 p.m. – The shell would smolder for hours and remain hot into the next day.
    On the next day, the burned and brittle shells were ready to be sifted to remove the ash and stored in barrels. Water must be added to break the shell down into lime.

    Read more about the lime rick burn in this article by The Free Lance-Star.  Learn more about constructing the Washington house interpretive replica here, here, and here.

  • Video: Building George’s House – The Cornerstone

    Stonemason Ray Cannetti tells us the story behind the cornerstone of the Washington house interpretive replica being built at George Washington’s Ferry Farm.

    Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.

  • Photos: Building George’s House – First Week of Timber Framing

    Expert craftsmen from Blue Ridge Timberwrights arrived last Tuesday, September 6 to build the frame of the Washington house.  This collection of photographs documents the first week of their work and begins with pictures of the finished concrete cradle and Aquia sandstone blocks ready to serve as the foundation for the timber frame. Over the past several months, the wood for the frame was carpentered in the Blue Ridge Timberwrights’ shop before being brought to Ferry Farm and pieced together to form the house.  Timber framing work will continue for another few weeks.

    The concrete cradle and stone foundation…
    …awaits the timber frame.
    Hand-carved sandstone blocks
    Inside the Washington House cellar, new foundation stones rest on top of the original stones.
    Timbers arrive from Blue Ridge Timberwrights in Christiansburg.
    Unloading
    Staging materials.
    Placing a beam.
    Checking the plans.
    Placing a floor joist.
    Refining a cut.
    A section of completed floor joists.
    Placing the first vertical post.
    Checking a measurement.
    Wood shavings
    Wall framing for the front portion of the house is nearly complete.
    Early in the timber framing process.
    Taking measurements.
    Marking the measurement.
    Chiseling.

    Learn more about constructing the Washington house interpretive replica here, here, and here.

  • Video – Building George’s House: Making the Foundation Stones

    In this video, we learn how Stonemasons Ray Cannetti, Kevin Neito, and Robert Hall split and dressed Aquia sandstone into foundation stones for the Washington House interpretive replica at Ferry Farm.

    Learn about the special concrete cradle the foundation stones will rest on in this video and read more about the Washington House project here.

  • Video: Building George’s House – The Foundation Stones: Dressing the Stone

    Master Stonemason Ray Cannetti dresses a stone that will be part of the foundation of an interpretive replica of George Washington’s boyhood home being constructed at Ferry Farm in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Watch Part 1: “Splitting the Stone” here.

    The George Washington Foundation is undertaking a multi-year venture to build this interpretive replica of the Washington house on its archaeological footprint.  The first phase of the project will also reconstruct the kitchen, the enslaved quarters structure, and an outbuilding as well as recreate the period landscape.