Thanks to Colonial Williamsburg, I was able to research 18th century fireboards (alternately also called chimneyboards) in the archives. Since our house is a historically accurate recreation of an 18th century Central Virginia plantation house, we want the fireboards to have historically appropriate scenes. How are they used? Colonial fireplaces did not have dampers to […]
Fire Boards
I am researching 18th century fire boards at Colonial Williamsburg and will visit the historical interiors collection later this week. They are also called chimney boards and were used to close off a fireplace opening during the summer when the fireplace was not being used. Kitchen fireplaces never had fire boards because that fireplace was […]
Learn about our unique gambrel roof structure
Learn about our unique true gambrel room structure on Gracefield Hall. Here is a stylized diagram of our roof structure. Some guests have inquired about how the roof was constructed. Rob Carter of Southern Traditions was able to have the roof designed so it could be a true colonial gambrel roof, with a knee wall […]
A Foggy Morning
A foggy morning at Gracefield Hall. All it takes is cooler overnight temperatures to create radiation fog. As soon as the dew point and ambient temperatures are about the same it seems to magically appear. It floated in over the trees beyond the east field behind the house but stayed above the ground. The sun is […]
Health and Food Inspections
We passed our annual health and food inspections this morning with flying colors. We keep Gracefield Hall in immaculate condition so we expected nothing less.
Deer Grazing in the East Field
Four or five deer grazing in the east field in the early evening. Two of them are fawns that still have most of their spots. The other three are doe and one is the mother of the two fawns. Sitting on the bench on the back porch, if you are quiet and don’t move, you […]
Glowing Review
A glowing review from Dean and Lisa Kropp, who spent four days at Gracefield Hall while they attended a friend’s wedding and did some sightseeing. What a fascinating couple! What do “YOU” get when you mix up a guy who’s; 1. A pilot; 2. Drives from Providence Forge, Virginia to Long Island – New York […]
Table Utensils
Table utensils can come in a bewildering array. A picture of a table setting at a B&B was posted on a B&B owners group Facebook page, showing numerous utensils. That brought out a discussion about the need for that many utensils and the usages. My contribution was: until the early 18th century it would have been […]
Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival started in the late 19th century, when interest revived in our colonial American history, and continued to the mid-20th century. What started as a return to simpler, purer days, soon turned into an architectural and decorating style. Consumerism was just beginning in the 18th century; but, only the upper one or two percent […]
Weeds
Weeds! After daily rain for an entire month, I have spent the last three weeks pulling weeds out of our country land, parking area, and brick walks. I can now state that everything is almost weed free! (Can you ever be weed free? I don’t think so!) Anyway, every thing looks great now; neat and […]
