Lives and Legacies
The roof 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 roofing was done by Peter Post Restorations.
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.
In June, we visited Blue Ridge Timberwrights in Christiansburg, Virginia. We saw skilled craftsmen fashioning the timbers for the Washington house frame and talked with Sandy Bennett, president of Blue Ridge Timberwights.
Learn more about the Washington House here and view other videos, photos, and blog posts about the project here.
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.
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.
Lives & Legacies 