Lives and Legacies
In this video, we learn from Curator Meghan Budinger about how we will furnish the Washington house reconstruction, we see a corner cupboard for the house being built, and talk with Master Joiner Ted Boscana from Colonial Williamsburg about making the cupboard.
Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.
Over the past several weeks, following the timber framing and while the shingling of the roof was taking place, The George Washington Foundation’s carpenters Steve Chronister, Tom Rainey, and Josh Schwenk installed the Washington house windows and the beaded weatherboard, enclosing the house and shifting most of the work from the exterior to the interior.
Read “Washington house replica rises on riverbank” from the past Wednesday’s edition of The Free Lance-Star and plan to attend George Washington’s Birthday Celebration tomorrow and Archaeology Day on Monday to see all the latest progress on the Washington house replica! Visit ferryfarm.org/events for event details.
The timber framing of the Washington house is complete. In this video, we get a close-up view of the construction of the house’s timber frame. For a timelapse view of the timber framing, watch this video. To see how the beams in the frame were fashioned, watch this video.
Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.
This past autumn, workers from Peter Post Restorations lead by Peter himself added the shingles to the roof of the Washington house at Ferry Farm. The handmade riven shingles were sawn from a tree trunk, smoothed on one side, and decoratively scalloped. Because they were handmade, each shingle was a different width. The roofers laid the shingles in a pattern to compensate for the different sizes and then nailed them into place.
The most challenging aspect of roofing the Washington house was shingling where the roof met the dormers. In the 18th century, roofers curved the wood from the roof to the dormers creating “swept valleys” that are gorgeous examples of historic craftsmanship.
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.
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.
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!
Learn more about constructing the Washington house interpretive replica here, here, and here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Learn more about constructing the Washington house interpretive replica here, here, and here.
Lives & Legacies 