Traditional Hand Ground Paint in the Stair Passage

We are on the home stretch in the Northwest Stair Passage. Each time I visit the project it looks a little closer to completion and its final designation as a functioning staircase. One of the most recent exciting activities that occured was the application of traditional hand ground linseed oil paint.

This paint was made by Erica Sanchez Goodwillie of Clinton, NY. Erica also spent a week here at Stratford Hall applying this special paint with the help of Jack Fisher of Plains, VA. The hand ground paint was made by hand grinding the pigments in the linseed oil. The pure pigments were then mixed with more linseed oil until a color match was achieved. At this point more linseed oil and chalk were added to extend the paint. Then, when it comes to applying the paint, it is a completely different beast than modern paint. When applying the paint you must be sure all surfaces are properly prepared or the paint will "flash," which means the paint loses its appropriate gloss. You must also be sure not to apply the paint too thick or it will wrinkle. These are only a couple of the differences between hand ground paint and paint we use today.

The colors used in this space were identified through Cross-section Paint Microscopy, done by Susan Buck of Williamsburg, VA. This is a process of taking small samples of paint and using a powerful microscope to analyze the paint history of the room's elements. We were lucky to have enough paint history retained in areas to provide us with an accurate representation of how the Stair Passage would have been painted during Light Horse Harry's time.

In the lower space of the Stair Passage, all the woodwork--including the chair rail, door archtraves and the mantel--was painted a light gray color. The stair elements (hand rail, balusters, risers) will be painted a "Spanish Brown". All the baseboards in the Stair Passage will be painted a dark black-brown. The most exciting color that was identified during the paint analysis was on the main floor woodwork. The color that was identified to be in place was Verdigris--this is a bright vibrant green color that you would have found in the nicer homes of this time period.

The processes of discovering the paint colors, having the paints made, and having them applied has been very exciting. I am looking forward to seeing this space complete with all the colors and woodwork in place, and I'm also very excited to hear the responses from you and our visitors to this restored space.

Behind the scenes: the curator in winter

What does a museum curator do in the depths of winter when her museum galleries and historic house rooms are closed to the public? Research and writing, of course! The quiet of these weeks since the new year have allowed me to focus on some major tasks that often fall by the wayside during our busy seasons.

One of my winter projects has been the detailed planning for the room settings in the upcoming Southwest outbuilding (you may have seen a Facebook video talking about the building, and read more about the project here and here). I've been planning for object conservation, reproduction objects like trunks and a bed, working with a private collector who will be lending a table for the chamber, and discussing textile options with an historic textile scholar. 

 

I've also been working on an object list and furnishing details for the Northwest Stair Passage in the house (which Phil Mark, our Director of Preservation, has touched upon quite a bit in his blog posts). There's not much floor space in this stair passage, but a few key objects will be on display: a clothespress (for linen storage), a folding bed (for overnight guests or servants), and a close stool (a toilet for, well, personal hygiene).

Another of my goals this winter has been to catalog a backlog of objects that have been sitting waiting for a little bit of research. We had two pistols, for instance, that were found by our accounting staff in a vault in our administration building. 18th-century pistols, I should clarify. Were they accepted for the historic collection and just never transferred over? I've been working with a firearms dealer to help with the identification of the pistols, researching their makers and the marks on them.

Directional Update from the Preservation Department...

It feels like lots of my time lately has been spent in a directional space here at Stratford Hall, these spaces being the Northwest Stair Passage and the Southwest Outbuilding. Each project is moving along, but it can be a little hectic trying to juggle the two and keep them both safely in the air.

In the Southwest Outbuilding, two of the three rooms are about 90% complete. In the workshop space I began to finish the cleaning and conservation of the chimney breast. I am continuing where the conservator left off so he can return to finish conservation of the horse mural. This cleaning and conservation consists of picking off the remaining paint with a scalpel and then washing the wall with distilled water and cotton. My intern, Abby Muse, helped me one day and the two of had so much fun it was difficult to contain ourselves...

The Northwest Stair Passage is also progressing. There have been a few recent snags, but nothing major. Every day, the spaces begin to look more and more like rooms again. The plaster contractor, Cooke's of Richmond, Va, has been hard at work plastering the spaces. They are almost finished with the lower level and will be moving to the Main Floor space next week. They have been very cooperative and respectful while working in the Great House. Our other contractor, Chuck Rackley, is getting closer and closer to wrapping his work up. He was here this week installing some beautiful door architraves that he made. His assistant, Billy, has also been a great help on the project. Next week we will be bringing in a ladder stair that Chuck and Billy made for access to the attic. When the ladder stair is in the room, the plasterers will be able to close everything up and finish the plaster work. Decisions on paint color have been made but I will save that for a future post, so stay tuned!

Northwest Stair Passage Update

The Northwest Stair Restoration is going at full steam and coming along nicely. Our restoration contractor, Chuck Rackley, has been hard at work and is making great progress. He started with reinstalling the floorboards of the main floor room and framing in the partion wall for the ladder-stair that leads to the attic. After the walls were framed, we began to install a hanging system to hold the load of the main floor after the sister joists were removed. This modern hanging system of steel rods, fabricated hangers, and structural LVL's will be hidden within the floor, partition wall, and attic. This system was neccesary in order to carry the weight of the floor after the floor joists were removed. How "Light Horse" Harry Lee carried the weight is one question that did not have a clear answer; however, we do know that the possible options of how he carried the weight were not acceptable by today's standards, especially being open to the public.

Next came the building of the actual stairs and reconstructing the missing elements. The missing elements include a newel post, hand rail, and various pieces of floor boards. Chuck has been working on finishing the fitting and installation of the stairs and trim elements. We are hoping to start plastering early next week. After the plastering is complete in the spaces, Chuck will return to finish the restoration.

One of the big finds during the project has been a door that can be linked to the Main Floor room of the stair passage. Through extensive paint analysis, conducted by Susan Buck, we have been able to confidently say this is the original door from the partition wall. The original graining of this door was covered with one overcoat of paint. Susan was able to remove this coat of paint while leaving the original graining in place. This door with its original graining and hardware will be reinstalled in its original location.

Update from the Preservation Department

It's been a while since I have been able to post a Preservation Department update. Sorry about that, but it has been a busy few months. I am currently juggling the Southwest Outhouse restoration project and the Northwest Stair Passage restoration project.

The interns and I have been working hard in the Southwest Outbuilding to get the restoration completed by the middle of October. My two summer interns restored one window, leaving one to be restored. I was able to employ a fall intern, who is currently restoring that final window. We have been scraping paint, repairing plaster, and even getting some finish coats of paint on windows. Within the next week we should be able to start putting finish coats of paint on the walls and trim. In what will be the workshop and the bedchamber, the walls be painted with a simulated whitewash, while the trim and windows will be painted with a dark brown, which would have been considered "Spanish Brown" in the 18th Century. Spanish Brown was often used for baseboards and used if an outbuilding's interior elements were painted with a color. This was the case because it was cheap and hid dirt well. The last room, which has wood paneled walls, will be painted a blue-gray color with Spanish Brown baseboards. The brown being used was identified on some baseboards in the Great House from the same time period.

The Northwest Stair Passage project has been picking up momentum over the past couple of months. Most of the lingering questions have been answered, but there will always be some questions and speculation with projects like this one. We have been working closely with the project architect and the Historic Resource Advisory Panel in order to restore the stair passage accurately. The final construction documents are at the State DHR for review and we are hoping to begin construction very soon.

More finds in the Northwest Stair Passage

There have been several discoveries in the Northwest Stair Passage since my last update. I have been busy removing plaster and other elements looking for evidence to support the restoration of the stair passage. The picture to the right shows the ground floor room of the Northwest Stair Passage before I began removing plaster and with the mock-up in place. The fragments that we have can also be seen in the mock-up. Just the other day I carried out over three quarters of a ton of plaster in bags from the Great House. I have identified some interesting and exciting things in the past few weeks. The most exciting (to me at least) is what I believe to be areas of plaster that are contemporary to Light Horse Harry’s stair passage. One area of plaster that would have been in the closet appears to have never received a finish coat of plaster. I believe this because the scratch coat appears to have been white washed. This white washed scratch coat was found under a layer of Portland-based plaster from the 1930s restoration. It appears that this type of original plaster also exists in the transition area between the ground floor and main floor in the stair passage opening. This discovery of 18th-century plaster gives me hope that other plaster escaped the earlier restorations and will be found throughout the Great House. The picture to the left shows the original plaster that was found on the south wall and some of the plaster and lathe that was removed.

When removing the floor boards of the main floor room, I also found a number of architectural fragments. Under the Parlor wall, on what would be the ceiling of the ground floor room, I found what is believed to be an original piece of chair railing. Other finds include wrought nails of different types--mainly lathe nails--a possible fragment of original plaster, and what appears to be a chandelier drop that remains undated. In the near future, the original plaster, chair rail fragment, and plaster fragments will have their paint analyzed to help date them and hopefully provide information in regards to the Northwest Stair Passage’s original finish types and colors.

The Answers Seem to Raise More Questions

This is my first post to provide an update on our Northwest Stair Restoration Project. We are currently trying to wrap up the architectural investigations within the two spaces that make up this passage. There are a few questions that still need answers before we can start the construction drawings and restoration. This has been an ongoing process and it seems that every time we answer one question, three more arise. Some of the remaining questions are minor, like how to deal with baseboards and modern HVAC vents, while some are more complex. For example, how was the weight of the main floor supported after the floor joists were cut and how will we cover the window that the stairs will bisect?

The investigation has included paint analysis, archival research, and the work of multiple architectural historians, preservationists, and architects over the past 20 years or so. Included is the only photo of the original stair case from Edith Tunis Sale's Colonial Interiors, published in 1930. Plaster has been removed, nail holes documented and analyzed, plaster ghosts discussed, and the reason a stud has been flipped and rotated has been debated. Basically, what I am trying to say is we are going to great lengths to make sure the restored stair passage is as historically accurate as the evidence will allow. No nail hole will go unanalyzed.

I will be back soon with a report of what I find between the ceiling of the ground floor room and the floor boards of the main floor room. In the meantime, read about the history of the Northwest Stair Passage and reasoning behind the project on our web page.

Great House Project Updates

Welcome to Stratford Hall's new projects blog! We've begun this site in order to update you on our progress for each of the projects we're working on. We look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions as we begin implementing our new interpretive plan, called the "Lee Heritage Interpretive Plan."

We're currently working on the Southwest Outhouse. This work involves the complete restoration and reinterpretation of the building. Visitors normally meet their tour guide here, and once the work is completed, this space will provide visitors with an orientation to Stratford Hall. Our main focus in this building will be on the Lee family's economic reliance on tobacco production.

We're also reconstructing the stair passage in the Northwest corner of the Great House. This image shows the room in which the stairs will be built. When "Light Horse" Harry Lee lived at Stratford, he added these stairs. They were removed in the 1930s, but will be reconstructed under our new Lee Heritage Interpretive Plan.

Future posts will contain additional information about ongoing and upcoming projects. Please check back frequently!