Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE AND GARDENS VIEWED FROM THE AIR. THE BALL ROOM ADDITION, C. 1749-53, IS COMPLETELY OBSCURED THUS ISOLATING THE PALACE PROPER AND THE ADVANCE BUILDINGS AS THEY WERE BUILT 1705-1722. THE ARIEL PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN BY JAMES E. MAYS, JULY 24, 1952.

ARCHITECTURAL REPORT
PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS OF VIRGINIA
Block 20, Building 3A

Reconstructed on its original site between December, 1931 and April, 1934. The East and West Advance Buildings were reconstructed between March, 1932 and April, 1934.

The Governor's Palace architects were Perry, Shaw and Hepburn of Boston, Massachusetts, They were assisted by their Williamsburg staff consisting of:

• Walter Macomber, Resident Architect
• William A. R. Goodwin, Restoration Associate
• Arthur A. Shurcliff, in charge of landscape restoration
• A. E. Kendrew, Chief Draftsman
• Herbert S. Ragland, in charge of archaeological work
• Prentice Duell, Consulting Archaeologist
• Garry Lambert, Clerk of the Works
• Orin Bullock, Field Superintendent for the architects
• Todd and Brown, Incorporated, Engineer-Contractors
• Harold R. Shurtleff was Director of Research and Records in the Department of Architecture and was assisted by:
  • Rutherfoord Goodwin, Assistant Director
  • Mary Goodwin, Secretary
  • Helen Bullock, Research Assistant
  • Leah James, Research Assistant
• Susan Higginson Nash and James Cogar were responsible for furniture and furnishings. William Perry assisted in the selection of furniture, draperies, lighting fixtures and carpets.

The architects, Perry, Shaw and Hepburn were assisted in various divisions of the work as indicated:

• Preliminary sketches for both the exterior and interior were prepared by Thomas T. Waterman and John Barrows, under office supervision of Walter Macomber.
• John Zaharov made models of the Palace, while sketches were proceeding. These were first preliminary forms made in plasticine. After revisions through study the models were converted to plaster.

Following the crystallization of design solutions, the various details were drawn by:

• Plans, Elevations, Dormers, David J. Hayes
• Interior Elevations, Thomas T. Waterman, Richard A. Walker, Singleton P. Moorehead, J. Everett Fauber, John Barrows, Milton L. Grigg
• Interiors and Fireplaces, Washington Reed
• Ballroom Wing, Finlay Ferguson
• Outbuildings, Singleton P. Moorehead
• Door Details, Clyde Trudell
• Miscellaneous Drawings, George Campbell, Milton L. Grigg, Horace E. Henderson, J. Everett Fauber
• Drafting Room Supervision, A. Edwin Kendrew
• Checking by Richard A. Walker

Others who assisted as draftsmen, designers, etc:

• Lucien Dent, Samuel Macmurtrie, Albert Holdke, James M. Knight, Francis J. Duke, J. W. Jamieson, Joseph Geddes

Revisions:

• Ernest M. Frank, Ralph Bowers, John W. Henderson

This report was prepared by A. Lawrence Kocher, September 15, 1952.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

While no one builds palaces today, there is nevertheless an unusual historical and architectural interest attached to the Palace of the Governors of Virginia, erected over two centuries ago. Its life span from the start of its construction in 1705/6 until the time of its destruction in 1781 was no more than seventy-six years, yet during that brief time it witnessed a drama of events that would be considered momentous in the history of any country. It was during these few decades that the principles and declarations of democratic thought and human rights were being framed; it was before the gates of the Palace that American independence was declared. Virginia's leaders of the period included George Mason, George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. Two of these dwelt in the Palace for a time as Governor. Before the end of its life span it became a part of the Revolution that saw a new nation brought into existence.

This report is intended to serve as a record of the reconstruction of the Governor's Palace. It is an architectural account of the reasons for the adoption of its general and specific design features. Emphasis has been placed upon the whys and wherefores of its reconstructed design - why its wall are of brick, its roof covered with slate, its first floor windows, each with twenty-four lights, its interior with some floors surfaced with Purbeck marble, others with the local yellow pins. Then the basis for the plan of the building requires a reciting of architectural evidence as well as the testimony of early accounts and drawings. Some few questions remain unsolved riddles that historians of the future may possibly untangle; for example, we do not know the precise date when the Ball Room Wing was built; nor are we assured that one of the Advance Buildings ever existed as a Stable, the other as a Kitchen as the Act of 1705 specified. It was to such a problem as the latter that archaeology and artifacts offered a reasonable answer.

There is an abundance of collected records and special reports that cast light upon the building of the Palace, its numerous repairs and embellishments. We have restricted this report to an architectural context, not from a lack of interest in the social history of the period but from a want of time and space. Any student of the Palace, whether of its life or of its architecture, benefits by the aggressive energy with which documents and facts on colonial history have been assembled by the research and architectural staffs of Colonial Williamsburg, and made readily available to the public.

The Governor's Palace as it appeared, soon after its completion in 1934

ARCHITECTURAL REPORT
THE PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS OF VIRGINIA

Reconstructed on its original foundations between December, 1931 and April, 1934. The East and West Advance Buildings were reconstructed between March, 1932 and April, 1934.

There is abundant reason to believe that the House of the Virginia Governor at Williamsburg, with its numerous offices, its extensive gardens, court yards, parks and fish ponds, compared favorably with country seats of the mother country across the sea. It served as the exemplar upon which Virginia plantation houses such as Westover, Rosewell, and Blandfield were patterned. Even the most critical contemporary travelers consistently refer to the grandeur of the building, its gardens "beautified with gates and its magnificent furnishings." So costly was its construction and so elaborate its fittings and enrichments that in 1718 a complaint was sent by the Burgesses to the King, remonstrating against the "lavishing away" of the country's money. It was from these evidences of splendor that the building came to be called a Palace.^*

EARLY WRITERS GIVE THEIR IMPRESSIONS OF THE PALACE

Hugh Jones, professor of mathematics at the College of William and Mary, gives his impression of the appearance of the building in 2 1724. He observes that the house of the Governor stands at the end of a broad green, called Palace Street, and that it is "a magnificent structure, finished and beautified with ... walks, a fine canal, orchards, etc., and with a great number of the best arms nicely posted, by the contrivance of the most accomplished Colonel Spotswood."

Robert Beverley, historian of the colony, at almost the same time, refers to the three stately public buildings of the town. "The Governor's House," he remarks, "is by far the most beautiful of all the others, receiving its beauty and conveniency by the many alterations and decorations of the present Governor, Colonel Spotswood; who to the lasting Honour and Happiness of the country, arrived here, while this House was carried up."

EXTERIOR DESIGN OF THE PALACE

EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE AS IT APPEARED IN THE AUTUMN OF 1933, BEFORE COMPLETION OF RECONSTRUCTION. FOUNDATIONS OF THE OLD MATTHEW WHALEY SCHOOL ARE SHOWN IN THE FOREGROUND. A KNITTING MILL, SOON TO BE DEMOLISHED APPEARS IN THE DISTANCE, NORTH OF THE PALACE.

The exterior design of the Governor's Palace was a product of its time. The appearance of the building and its architectural features follow a manner of architectural construction that prevailed in the Virginia colony (and in England) during the opening decade of the eighteenth century. The design is Renaissance in spirit, orderly in its window spacing, and proportioned in its parts, according to the rules of ancient architecture. It is an architecture that is entirely free from the ornamental eccentricities of the Gothic. It was, indeed, a liberated architecture as expressed in 15 PALACE DESIGN PRECEDENT
THE FASHION FOR BUILDING DESIGN WITH AN ITALIAN CHARACTER WAS IN FULL SWING IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE BY 1700. THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT IN BELGIUM ABOUT 1700 AND PUBLISHED IN A PORTFOLIO VOLUME BY PIERRE POST, LES OUVRAGES D'ARCHITECHURE ORDONNEZ PAR P- P-. LEYDEN, 1715. DUTCH AND FLEMISH CRAFTSMEN WERE KNOWN TO HAVE ALTERED THE APPEARANCE OF ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENING DURING THE TIME OF WILLIAM AND MARY AND QUEEN ANNE. 16 the Capitol, the College Of William and Mary and the Palace of the colonial Governors. Even before 1700, architecture became free to emphasize and develop the interior Plans while externally its classical ornamentation, consisting of its cornices, doors, windows, roofs and cupolas, is represented with great severity, or, as it was expressed in 1710, with graviti. Inigo Jones who initiated the new architecture for England said: "In architecture ye outward ornaments oft (ought) to be sollid, proportionable according to the rules; masculine and unaffected." The Palace with its outward restraint met these ideals.

The Palace, by its example, located at the center of Virginia, was to influence the design of plantation houses throughout the Tidewater. Westover, Rosewell, Shirley, Carter's Grove and Wilton on the James are successors that benefited by the example of the Williamsburg Palace. The influence is seen in the manner with which the mansion and outbuildings were formed into a balanced group and related to an approaching entrance drive on what was termed the land side and also down to the river on the garden side. In this relation of house to the river (its highway for shipping) and to the fields of tobacco, corn and cotton, Virginia plantation architecture, including the Palace, achieved an indigenous quality of great distinction.

SLATE

The adoption of slate as the roofing surface for the Governor's Palace is implicit in the Act of 1705 which authorized the overseer to send to England for slate. Possibly because of construction delays or in shipping, Henry Cary, Overseer, reported April 26, 1709 that the slate received for covering the said house is "so broke that there is above on third not fitt for use."^*

INFLUENCE OF PALACE AT WILLIAMSBURG ON AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE

Silliman College, Yale University. This building was built fifteen years after the reconstruction of the Palace.

THE GOVERNORS HOUSE, WHEN FIRST COMPLETED AT WILLIAMSBURG IN 1721, WAS IN A STRATEGIC LOCATION SO AS TO EXERT AN INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE ON PLANTATION HOUSES THROUGHOUT THE OLD DOMINION.

Westover, as an instance, was built by William Byrd II around 1726, shortly after the completion of the Palace at Williamsburg, and can be recognized as possessing unmistakable influence of the Governor's House. "Strip Westover of its wings", says Professor T.J. Wertenbaker, "add a roof balustrade and a cupola and you have a close approximation of the Palace." Shirley, Belvoir, Mt. Vernon, and Mansfield also show Palace influence, particularly in the plot plan arrangement. The architect Thomas Mott Shaw gave his views on the Palace which he agreed was both a plantation dwelling and Governor's Seat. He thought that the Palace influenced the design of Rosewell, and on the other hand Rosewell probably influenced the design of the Palace Ballroom.

Roofs of slate, while never common in Virginia of the early eighteenth century, were soon to be found on buildings of plantation characters, such as at Westover and Menokin.^** It in of interest that the use of tile, so common in England, was rejected here in favor of "stone tile." It is recalled that the roof of Rosewell was of sheet lead.

DORMERS ARE SHOWN ON THE BODLEIAN PLATE

The Bodleian Plate shows five dormers across the front of the south facade of the Palace and additional ones facing east and west. The south dormers are grouped as three in the center and end ones with increased space away from the center group. It was from this plate that the window arrangement was derived, including the centering of all dormers over the windows below.

In developing molded details for the dormer design, use was made of measured dormer drawings of the Bland-Wetherburn House on Duke of Gloucester Street.

CORNICE

It was natural that many of the architectural details of the reconstructed Palace should have been derived from surviving buildings of the locality. As with the dormers, reported above, so also the cornice is in imitation of the cornice of a local building, namely, Brafferton Hall of the College. The cornice members, such as the crown molding, modillions and bed molding of the two examples are approximately identical. The architectural scale of the Palace 19 THE BODLEIAN PLATE
THIS IS A PART OF THE COPPER PLATE ENGRAVING, FOUND IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY AT OXFORD, ENGLAND, JANUARY, 1930.
THIS PLATE "DEPICTED THE PRINCIPAL FACADE OF THE PALACE, TOGETHER WITH ITS FLANKING OFFICES AND A PORTION OF ITS GARDENS."
THERE WERE NOW FOUR SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO GUIDE THE ARCHITECTS AND THEIR STAFF IN COMPOSING A CLOSE REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL PALACE.
THESE SOURCES ARE:
1. JEFFERSON'S MEASURED DRAWING OF THE 18TH CENTURY PALACE PLAN.
2. THE COPPER PLATE ENGRAVING FROM THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL PALACE FACADE.
3. THE EXCAVATED FOUNDATIONS WITH WALL FOOTINGS, PAVING AND A QUANTITY OF BUILDING FRAGMENTS. THE LORD BOTETOURT INVENTORY WITH ITS LIST OF ALL OF THE ROOMS OF THE PALACE IN 1770, ALONG WITH THEIR ITEMIZED CONTENTS. 20 cornice is somewhat greater than that of the less pretentious Brafferton.

GUTTER AND LEADER OMITTED AT ROOF EDGE

At the base of the east and west wall of the Palace there were brick remnants found during the process of excavation that were interpreted to be ground level gutters, intended to carry rainwater dripping from the roof to underground sumps. It was therefore decided not to provide gutters at the eaves and downspouts, but to rely on the method known to have been used at the Palace, when first built. A full account of the basis for using ground level gutters is included In the Palace Archaeological Report.

GROUND LEVEL GUTTER FOUND AT THE PALACE SITE

WALLS AND SURFACES

The Act of 1705, authorizing and providing specifications for the building of the Palace, clearly orders, "that the said house be built of brick." These were burned locally under the direction of Henry Cary, including molded bricks for watertable and ornamentation.

It was by the fortunate discovery of parts of the original wall, within the excavation, including a large mass of brickwork that had fallen in toto, that the reconstruction of the exterior facing of the Palace can be considered accurate. From these fallen sections the bond, pattern, jointing, brick sizes, nature of mortar and coursing of superstructure could be correctly detailed for the rebuilding.^* The brickwork of Brafferton and the President's House was closely imitated by the bricklayers working on the Palace who sought to achieve a similar result.

RUBBED AND GAUGED BRICK

From the recovered fragments of walls (arches, window jambs, etc.) were obtained samples of rubbed and gauged brick. These also were studied and followed in the treatment of brickwork as for the rubbed corners of building, window and door jambs, flat and rounded arches, watertable and belt course. It will be recalled that molded brick were produced in a local kiln for Henry Cary.^**

WATERTABLE DETAIL NOT FOUND AMONG BRICK FRAGMENTS

No fragments of a watertable were found in the excavated foundations.. nor is one shown on the Bodleian Plate. However, watertables were so universally a part of brick walls of any distinguished building of the early eighteenth century that a projecting watertable 22 bass was thought necessary and so was included in the restoration architect's design. This decision was supported by a study of Jefferson's drawing of the plan. This appears to have allowed a shelf of approximately 4" for this base. The wall bass of Stratford, in Westmorland County, served as precedent for the Palace watertable. For purposes of study, it is suggested that the architectural student investigate and compare the watertables of Virginia plantation houses, such as Carter's Grove, Stratford and Blandfield. A larger collection of these details has been assembled among the records of the Architectural Department.

WATER TABLES COMPARED

FRONT DOORWAY UNDER A BALCONY

The front doorway design is shown on the Bodleian Plate. A square headed door beneath a projecting balcony suggests a familiar parti, for which the details are supplied by contemporary handbooks. 23 The door frame and transom are close copies Of the John Blair House doorway.

Note: The height of the Palace doorway opening was determined by the height Of the window heads. Jefferson's drawing gives an idea of the generous width of the door and notes the 2'-3" wall thickness.

WINDOW LOCATION SHOWN OF BODLEIAN PLATE

The Bodleian Plate gives the location and shape of the window openings. It also indicates the grouping of windows at the façade center. Jefferson's plan was also an aid in determining window locations, particularly at the east and west ends of the building and for the rear-addition. This same plan notes the height of window stools above the floor, which, with the floor to ceiling height, gives a close approximation of the over-all window dimension. This estimate of vertical height was aided by comparison with buildings of the locality and of the same quarter century, such as Carter's Grove and nearby Brafferton.^*

Sash windows for the Palace were determined in part by their having been used at the Capitol. It became fashionable in Virginia to use sash windows about the year 1700. Most conclusively, sash windows were pointedly specified in the Act of 1705.

The window detail of Brafferton served as the pattern for the window frame, particularly for the sloped brickwork under the wood sill. Flat window arches were found at Blandfield to serve as 24 precedent, but with the flat arches slightly modified. The fragments of walling mentioned above served to show the degree of slope to the flat arch bricks.

SHUTTERS NOT USED ON THE EXTERIOR

There were no exterior shutters shown on the Bodleian Plate nor was there evidence for their existence on the exterior of the Palace. Interior shutters were used as will be found under the discussion of the Interior.

BASEMENT WALL

The exterior basement wall is discussed under Wall Surfaces. No basement windows were introduced except for two on the east elevation. These were introduced for ventilation and light. There may have been other (unglazed) openings into the basement that were removed when the cellar vaults were built. There is abundant evidence for openings in the side walls of the basement. The local President's House has an opening under the entrance platform. Rosewell with its high first floor had glazed basement window openings.

CONDITION OF OLD WALLS

Walls, below grade, of the rebuilt Palace are largely old and original. They constitute, for the Palace, the outstanding inheritance from the past from the standpoint of fine preservation of walls themselves. Then too, a large number of architectural fragments were used as a guide in the reconstruction of the building.

CHIMNEY DESIGN FOLLOWS BODLEIAN PLATE

The two chimneys were rebuilt as a pair. Their form was evolved from the Bodleian engraving which gives a good idea of their clustered character and of their built-up top. In addition, an old photograph in the Jones Collection shows one of the advance buildings with its chimney which must have resembled the ones on the Palace. This latter photograph proved to be a chief basis for the design of the chimney stacks.

WROUGHT IRON BALCONY

Balcony Evidence

• a.The existence of the balcony is proved by a Virginia Act of December 12, 1720, authorizing the "Altering the Balcony doores to hang on the Outside."
• b.The Bodleian Plate has a clear representation of the balcony, placed directly over the entrance doorway and composed with it. The plate indicates a terminal ornament or knob at each end of the balcony railing.
• c.Precedent for the wrought iron work of the balcony is found in contemporary pattern books for ironworkers. Most important of these: Tijou, Jean, A New Book of Drawings ... of Ironwork, &c... London, 1693. Batty Langley and Isaac Ware both offered illustrations of balconies, gates and fencing for the ironworker, before the middle of the eighteenth century.
• d.The interior railing of Drayton House, Northants, England, was studied (Thomas T. Waterman) while the balcony was being designed, He mentions the Town Hall at Wallinford, England for general design treatment.

STEPS TO PALACE BUILT ON ACTUAL FOUNDATIONS

The steps to the Palace, both at the front and west Side are built on existing foundations. Their exact original size and location were repeated. It is of some interest that both of these entrance steps remained unaltered throughout the life of the Palace. The Bodleian Plate was again useful in that it shows the steps precisely as they were discovered by excavation. The steps at the west side were reconstructed with treads that fan outward, in the same manner as with the original steps to the President's House. Stone fragments from both steps were found in the excavations at the site.

The reconstruction of the steps (with iron clamps) follows the building practice exemplified in Brafferton and the President's House.

BALUSTRADE AT ROOF

The roof balustrade of wood has its chief design source in the Bodleian engraving. This shows a balustered handrailing, supposedly as protection at the edge of the flat roof of the Palace. The flat roof is specifically mentioned in a Petition of Henry Cary in regard to the Governor's House, 1709. (Palace Book, P. 41.)

Precedent for the balustrade and also for the previously mentioned balcony are found on the facade of Ashdown House, designed by John Webb, about the middle of the seventeenth century.

CUPOLA AND WEATHER VANE

The much used Bodleian Plate was again the precedent and design source for the cupola and weather vane of the Palace.^* Design details were found among cupola illustrations in eighteenth century handbooks. Pierre Post published his Les Ouvrages d'architecture ordonnez in 1715. This work illustrated in this report was probably used by the architects during the reconstruction of the Palace. See Tipping, H. A., English Homes, 1649-1714, for mansions of the period, 1690-1710 and for specimens of cupolas then popular as a device for admitting light into the center of a house.

GENERAL

The design of the Governor's Palace is similar to many of the English mansions of the time of Governors Nicholson and Spotswood. The Virginia colonial Palace, as is to be expected, was somewhat less grandiose than the English prototype. There were few evidences 27 of Palladianism in early Virginia; the local building was usually of lesser size and with a very limited external use of columns or of stone as window or door trim. Brickwork was represented here with the utmost skill of workmanship, including rubbed brick as trim.

EAST, WEST AND NORTH ELEVATIONS

The foregoing remarks on design apply also to east, west and north elevations, except that as the Bodleian Plate only showed the front facade, the details for the rear were a matter of repeating the windows, doors, cornice, etc., around to the sides, spaced as in Jefferson's plan.

The west elevation with its side entrance was essentially similar to the south facade. The door location was dictated as we have indicated by the scheme of Jefferson. It was provided with a single leaf door, but of the same paneled type as for the front.

Note: A large fragment of fallen wall encased a part of the south jamb of the west doorway and the north jamb of the adjacent window. This fortunate discovery enabled the restorers to locate the south window of the west side with exactness.^*

Three second floor windows at the center of the north side of the original Palace must have been closed when the Ball Room wing was built. Their location was preserved in the reconstruction as bricked up and closed openings.

BALL ROOM WING IS BASED UPON JEFFERSON'S PLAN

All of the elevations of the Ball Room wing are conjectural. The over-all dimensions and arrangement were taken from Jefferson's plan, checked by the excavated foundations. The placing of the windows and the location of a doorway on the main axis of the north COAT OF ARMS ON NORTH GABLE OF PALACE SEPT 3 1941
Garter Background and Petals of Thistle #411
Flower Sprays and Antiquing Glaze Color #410
Upper Right and Lower Left Quarters Background #408
Cloth in Crown, Upper Left and Lower Right Quarters Background, Motto Background, Mouths of Lion and Unicorn, Red Jewels in Crowns #409.
Unicorn, Small Horse in Lower Right Quarter, Aluminum Leaf.
Rose opposite Thistle, The outer petals have a background of Perfection Red, Pale, which is touched over in shadows with sample #409. The center petals are in aluminum Leaf, while the Center is Gold Leaf.
Thistle leaves and Stem, Green; Jewels in Crowns, Chrome Green, L with Varnish. Bulb of Thistle, Burnt Sienna with Varnish.
Note: Gold leaf was put on the entire Coat of Arms all colors being applied over it
Given Mr. Little by Mr Griffin 28 elevation was shown on Jefferson's plan. The window opening along the two sides are closely similar to those of the main building in width and height. The window heads, however, have the soffits of the flat arches out to a segment of a circle, as at Roswell in Gloucester County, and also as at the Nelson House at Yorktown. The keystones that exist at the two places cited an precedent were END OF BALLROOM-SUPPER ROOM ANNEX, SHOWING POLYCHROME COAT OF ARMS IN PEDIMENT, PRECEDENTED BY HOLDEN CHAPEL, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. THE DOORWAY WITH ITS MOLDED BRICK ENFRAMEMENT IS SIMILAR TO THE MAIN DOORWAY THAT ONCE EXISTED AT ROSEWELL, GLOUCESTER COUNTY. 29 omitted at the Palace. The slight change in design, seen here as compared with the Palace proper, was intended as an expression of the change in architectural design as between 1705 and mid-century.^*

The sunk panels beneath the window sills and above the watertable are similar to those at Larkfield, Bradbourne, Kent, England. The architectural notes on walling, on the main building, apply here too. The wide rubbed dressings used at corners and jambs are a local touch borrowed from Wilton on the James (1754). This latter detail was also intended to indicate the difference in period from the main building. It was decided that chimneys would not be feasible on this wing, even though stoves were known to have been installed in 1770. It was entirely possible that flues for these Dutch stoves were built within the thickness of the outer walls without projection into the room. Since stove heating was not considered necessary, the wall flues were omitted.

NORTH DOORWAY TOWARD GARDEN

The elaborate doorway at the north facade is both an expression of the regal character of the Governor's House (1750) and of the relationship of the Palace to the garden.

Its design with use made of rubbed brick to form pediment brackets and moldings was an indigenous design practice in Virginia where brick became, in a sense, a substitute for stone. While stone such as Purbeck, Portland stone, Rygate and Italian marble was imported from abroad, nevertheless, its architectural use was limited 30 largely to paving, mantel ornamentation and grave stones. Brickwork was elevated to a new function as a sculptor's medium and by its use as built-up brick pilasters, pediments, cornices, etc. Many Virginia churches (Lamb's Creek, Abingdon, Ware's Creek) offer examples of this refined treatment with brickwork. Carter's Grove and Rosewell have doorways with similar molded trim.

Doorway Precedent

• General design from Rosewell.
• Bolection wood trim from Rosewell.
• Door filling whole opening without transom, from Carter's Grove.
• Pilaster details are from Longbridge, Farnham, Surry, England.

PORCH

A porch is mentioned in the Lord Botetourt Inventory.^* This is interpreted to be a projecting and unprotected landing at the north end of the Supper Room.

Foundations were found for this porch but without clues to indicate the nature of its superstructure. There is, however, precedent in the existence of a porch on the west side of the Wren Building. The wrought iron rail also has its precedent example in the Wren Building of the College and Carshalton Houses, Surry, England.

GABLE PEDIMENT

This detail of the exterior design is entirely conjectural for the Palace. There was no document or drawing to indicate the nature of the north end of the Ball Room annex. It is an example of created architecture, done in the spirit of a period. Locally there are some suggestions to inspire the pediment treatment. The Nelson House, for example, has pedimented gable ends, with a cornice 31 at its bass. The James Semple House is a late example of pediment usage (at the east and west ends), Berkeley on the James shows a third instance of pediment-gable character.

The Holden Chapel, Harvard University, was turned to an inspiration for its striking, polychromatic wood carving within the pediment end. For details of the coat of arm design, see color files of the Department of Architecture, Colonial Williamsburg.

CORNICE

The cornice of the Ball and Supper Room addition is typical of mid-century cornices for buildings of importance. It is "modillion type" consisting of crown molding, fascia, brackets and bed moldings. An instance of this type of cornice is found in W. Salmon's, The London Art of Building, Palladio Londinensis, Plate VI, Third Edition, 1746.

PLAN

The plan of the building was unmistakably determined by the existing foundations and further supported by the sketch plans of the Palace made by Jefferson in 1778-79, The uses to which the rooms were devoted are shown by the furniture allocated to the two rooms in the Lord Botetourt Inventory of 1770.

VIEW OF PALACE DURING CONSTRUCTION. THE BALL ROOM WING IS AT LEFT.

GOVERNOR'S PALACE FROM THE NORTHEAST, SHOWING THE BALL ROOM-SUPPER ROOM ANNEX IN THE FOREGROUND. THE DOOR TRIM, ROUNDED PEDIMENT AND SUPPORTING BRACKETS WERE FASHIONED OF RUBBED BRICK. THE PORCH WAS PRECEDENTED BY ITS MENTION IN THE INVENTORY OF LORD BOTETOURT.

INTERIOR OF PALACE

THE PALACE FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS
As revealed by eighteenth century documents, including the Inventory of Lord Botetourt

FURNITURE FOR THE PALACE PURCHASED IN THIS COUNTRY AND ABROAD, 1710

It is probable that no other dwelling of large size in colonial America, whether for administrative or private use has more complete records of its original furniture and furnishings than the colonial House of the Governors at Williamsburg. Pieces of furniture for its rooms were placed on order as early as 1710, a full decade before the completion of the building. In that year the House of Burgesses granted the sum of "two hundred and fifty pounds to be expended in buying necessary standing and ornamental furniture." It was specifically stated that the overseer should place the order in this country or in Great Britain. This was a striking gesture of recognition of the colonial craftsman at this early date.^*

VARIETY OF PALACE FURNITURE

As was remarked by traveler J. F. D. Smythe, "The glory of the House of the Governors was its embellished interiors." Furniture, rich draperies, brilliance of color and accessories were needed as a complement to its elaboration of dados, paneling, bracketed cornices, marble chimney pieces and its carved staircase. The catalog of furniture and fitments prepared at the death of Lord Botetourt has become an eighteenth century design index. There were tables of great variety for dining, writing, card playing, for tea or breakfast folding, sectional and single; chairs for smoking, dining and for the "parlour." These were of walnut for the early century and mahogany before 1730. "Red damask Elbow chairs" are listed and 99 "leather smoking chairs," each related to masculine or feminine character-of-the-room use and its architectural treatment.

Some mention should be made of the characteristic interior woodwork of the time when the designs of the Palace interiors were being created. The quarter century following the date 1700 was a time of distinct architectural restraint, with severity in the treatment of interior decoration. Ceilings for the most part were left in plain white plaster or with occasional areas of plaster ornamentation, as used above the Palace staircase. Walls were wainscoted to chair rail height and often to ceiling, usually of pine or the local walnut.

PANELING IS OF THE LATE PERIOD OF WREN

The paneling of the Palace is of the late period of Wren, with a series of narrow panels above the dado. Before the addition of the Ball Room, paneling was to become wider and eventually to disappear. The place of paneling was usurped by rich wall hangings in fabric, Chinese ornamentation and with use made of leather (as for the Great Middle Room of the second floor) and attempts in imitation of masonry, represented in chiaroscuro and classical cartouches.

THE WALL DADO SUCCEEDS WALL PANELING BEFORE 1750

The dado of woodwork at the base of walls, in place of over-all paneling was an economy measure. The dado consists of a range of panels below the window sill, surmounted by a horizontal molding which made the circuit of the room, thus dividing the wall, in classical fashion, into base, vertical walling and cornice. Most of the lesser rooms of the Palace are treated in this manner with dado and with plaster and cornice above.

Walnut paneling, of course, was left natural, while woods such as pine and poplar were painted. The painted walls in pearl, grays 100 and shades of blue formed a background for the carved walnut furniture of Queen Anne and the mahogany of the early Georges, upholstered furniture with needle point, damask and moire fabrics gave a sparkling richness and color to the movable objects in the Palace rooms.

INTERIOR TRIM OF LOCAL WOOD

Woods, such as the American walnut, pine, poplar, chestnut and cypress were chosen for their special qualities, such as poplar for the making of turned balusters, cypress for window sills, cedar for shingles, pine and poplar for paneling while walnut, the joiners favorite wood, was reserved for stair railing, balusters and paneling. The local lob-lolly pine was an all-purpose wood adopted for most house framing, floors and trim.

Moldings of the time when the Palace was first designed belong, as we have noted, to the late period of Wren. These remained heavy, both for the Palace and for the Wren Building of the College. We expect to find the boldly projecting bolection molds, a holdover from the seventeenth century, for the framing of panels and as surrounds to doorways and fireplaces.

SKILL OF GOVERNOR SPOTSWOOD IN ARCHITECTURE

Governor Spotswood won a deserved reputation for his taste and skill in interior design as well as exterior architecture.^* Much of final appearance and interior architecture of the Governor's Palace must be credited to the Governor. The Great Hall of the first floor 101 was made magnificent by an arrangement of small arms, "nicely posited (in the form of a wheel) by an ingenious contrivance of Governor Spotswood."^*

INFLUENCE OF PALACE ON PLANTATION ARCHITECTURE AND FURNISHINGS

The influence of the Palace on the plantation architecture of Virginia has been pointed out elsewhere in this report. It likewise set the pattern and directed the fashions in furnishing. A single instance will suffice to convey our meaning. Mr. Samuel Athawes of Blandfield wrote, 15 April, 1771, "I have been some time employed in building an House, & as I am desirous of fitting it up in a plain neat Manners, I wd willingly consult the present Fashion, for you know that foolish passion had made its way, even into this remote Region. I observed that Ld. Botetourt had hung a room at the Palace with plain blue paper & bordered it with a narrow strip of gilt Leather, wch I thought had a very pretty affect. I shall also want some Chimney Pieces of gray Marble, perfectly plain, upon the model of several I have seen imported here of late years .... &c."^**

THE PALACE GREEN

EVIDENCE FOR EXISTENCE OF AN AVENUE BETWEEN CATALPAS

There has never been serious thought that a centrally placed roadway led directly toward the Palace and between the double rove of catalpas. Jefferson in his Palace plan tells us of the "rows of trees 100 f. apart, ranging with inner fronts of offices," He also records the oval grass plot 47 ½ feet Long & 33 f. wide" at the head of the avenue, but fails to describe the carriage approach. John R. Thompson writing from mid-nineteenth century (1854) speaks of "the approach to the palace ... through an avenue of catalpas." The use of the word "through" prompted an investigation of the surface of the Green in order to discover any evidence for or opposed to a central avenue. The archaeologist for Colonial Williamsburg, Herbert S. Ragland, was instructed to acquaint himself with the ground surface on the axis of the Palace. He reported (June 23, 1933) "having dug a trench at the center of Palace Green, noting existence of original ground, with top soil 12" to 18" underlaid with clay, exactly like the ground in which former trenches were dug ...." This he accepted as "proof that the present surface of Palace Green is the original or colonial surface and that there was no road along its center line on the main axis of the Palace." (Correspondence Files, Colonial Williamsburg)

THE COST OF THE PALACE

EXPENDITURES FOR ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIRS TO THE PALACE

An attempt was made by Harold Shurtleff and his research assistants in 1933 to translate the original and continued appropriations for construction and repairs^* of the Palace, authorized by the Virginia 113 Council, into terms of dollars and cents. From the day when the land on which the Palace stands was purchased in 1701, detailed records of appropriations for building, repairs and furnishings were kept with meticulous care and preserved to this day. There was a summing up of costs from time to time during the century which gives us some idea of the mounting costs.

Sir John Randolph was alarmed at the sums spent and severe in his criticism of the building committee. In a communication in the Virginia Gazette, 22 April, 1737, Randolph (looking back a decade) states that the overseer of the work, Henry Cary, appointed by the Assembly, was discharged and that Governor Spotswood undertook its completion. He further said that the amount already expanded, as of that date, was upwards of 6,600 pounds, sterling, double the amount of the original appropriation.

Using five dollars as a rate of exchange and placing the comparative buying power of money of that time and the date 1932 (period of the depression) as one to five ratio, the Research Department of Colonial Williamsburg arrived at the following cost conclusions:

COST OF THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE

Appropriations, 1705-1776	£7679/11/6 ($38,395. in dollars $191,975 in dollar purchasing power)
Repairs, 1722-1776	£7604/16/6 ($38,025. in dollars, $190,125 in dollar purchasing power)
Total repairs and alterations, 1705-1776	£15,284/8/0 ($76,420. in dollars $382,100 in dollar purchasing power)

Then too, sums from the Governor's private purse and additional sums from the revenue of 2 shillings per hhd. tax were expended for 114 AN EARLY CONJECTURAL STUDY OF LAYOUT OF THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE, BASED ON SYMMETRICALLY LOCATED AXES. THIS THEORETICAL SCHEME WAS MADE (1932) BY A. G. LAMBERT, ARCHITECTURAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PALACE. DRAWING BY S. P. MOOREHEAD. HERBERT S. RAGLAND WAS ARCHAEOLOGIST. IT WAS AN ASSUMPTION OF MR. LAMBERT THAT PLAN FEATURES WOULD BE REPEATED IN A PERFECTLY BALANCED MANNER, SO THAT HAVING, ONE OUTBUILDING, THE SAME WOULD BE DISCOVERED EQUIDISTANT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM THE MAIN AXIS. A DETAILED REPORT ON THE LAMBERT THEORY MAYBE CONSULTED IN THE C.W. FILES. 115 construction, with unavailable records for these.

WERE ADDITIONS TO THE PALACE CONSIDERED "REPAIRS"?

The large total cost assigned to "repairs" is subject to interpretation. The one is the acknowledged injury to the building by exposure to the weather, due to a long delayed completion. Henry Cary repeatedly asked for funds so as to enclose walls and roof. This he said was necessary in order to prevent further injury to the fabric. It is also probable that additions made to the Palace were paid for by sums listed as repairs. It has not been possible to discover other authorized appropriations to cover the cost of the Ball Room and Supper Room annex.

Tryon's Palace built after 1767 at a cost of £24,000 ($100,000) was considerably in excess of the cost of the House of the Virginia Governors, built early in the eighteenth century.

It is of some interest to us today, in these years of excessive building costs, to learn that the total cost of the reconstruction of the Palace, carried out under the skillful direction of the architects and of Todd and Brown, Engineers, (not including outbuildings, nor landscape treatment, nor furniture) cost $233,782. This figure could only have been possible during the depression years of the early 1930s.

PAINT COLORS
THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE

PAINT COLORS USED IN THE PALACE ARE BASED IN PART ON COLORS DESCRIBED IN THE RECORDS

The paint colors applied to exterior wood trim and to interior woodwork of the Palace did not have the benefit of matched color samples from the original building. Since all of the Palace and outbuildings were completely destroyed, it was necessary to rely upon color references in documents to establish at least some of the wall colors. Others were the popular colors of Williamsburg and surrounding locality, selected because of their indigenous nature or for having been advertised for sale in local shops, or sent for to London through John Norton & Sons. An instance of color selected from a local source is found in the original deep blue from the second floor, Southeast Chamber of the Palace. This popular color was found in an eighteenth century house across the river from Yorktown. The paint color that was imitated was a first coat and it had never been painted over again.

What is undoubtedly our closest approach to authentic paint colors appears in the minutes of the Virginia Council, May 2, 1727.^* It was "ordered that the great Dining Room and Parlour thereto adjoining be painted, the one of pearl colour the other of cream colour, and that the window frames, outer doors and eaves be also new painted."^**

PRECEDENT FOR THE USE OF COLORS AT THE PALACE

The moot question among decorators, whether to apply color to Venetian blinds is answered at least in part by the Inventory mention of "1 blue Venetian blind" in the second floor Library (with its single window).^*

Some paints were stored in the rooms of the Palace: "3 kegs with some small quantities of Colour" (Third Floor Store Room), also, "Part of a bag of black lead, and an Box with a little whiting in it,... A Paper of Prussian Blue."

Whitewash was used on the ceilings and on all of the plaster walls. This was done because of numerous references to whitewashing found in connection with the maintenance of the Palace. The following items support the theory that whitewash was a common practice during the eighteenth century:

"White washing the passage and private stairs and mending the plastering..." December 12, 1?20, Journal of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, p. 297.

"To white washing 2 rooms at the Palace...." August 19, 1779.

PAINT COLORS SELECTED BY MRS. SUSAN H. NASH
COLONIAL PAINTER'S RANGE OF COLORS
USE OF PAINTS ESTABLISHED BY LISTS OF PIGMENTS AND OILS ADVERTISED FOR SALE

The paint colors used at the Palace (exterior and interior) were selected by Mrs. Susan Higginson Nash of Boston with the actual painting work done by Edward K. Perry and his Boston staff of assistants. Color mixing and application was done as closely as possible in the old manner, using those pigments, lead and oil known to have been available in Virginia, in the eighteenth century.^**

Mrs. Nash reveals her doctrine of color usage in a paper that appeared in the Architectural Record, December, 1935. Quoting Mrs. Nash: 118

"The color and texture of this colonial background give it meaning, life and variety. Thus, the study of color and texture must precede execution and be so considered that it shall include the scheme of the foreground, and the scheme of sequence from room to room.

In Colonial Virginia, the painter's range in choice of colors was restricted. In comparison with the wide range at his disposal today, the painter could depend only upon such pigments and those mentioned in the informative papers of William Allason, a wholesale merchant at Falmouth, Virginia, 1760-1790. Allason's numerous orders to his London and Glasgow merchants are definite proof of the pigments available then. For example, he lists as sold to one of his customers:

• 'Linseed Oil
• Fig Blue
• 1 Bble. Lampblack
• 1 Cask Spanish Brown Paint
• 1 Cask of White Lead Prussian.'

In his 'invoice books' are listed from time to time such inventories as:

• 'on hand - Copperas, 16 pounds
• Indigo
• Light Blue
• Chalk
• 10 Casks White Lead
• 1 Cask Red Lead
• 1 Cask Spanish Brown
• Red Paint from Maryland
• Linseed 0il. 10 gall.'

"The use of these paints as staple commodities is established by the facts - first, they were ordered and reordered; second, they were advertised for sale; and third, by their actual sale as attested by their existence upon the buildings that have survived to this day."

PAINTS FOR ROSEWELL CONSIDERED FOR PALACE

Records relating to Rosewell in Gloucester County contributed to our knowledge of paints for the Palace. In a letter from John Page, Jr., of Rosewell, in 1771 to John Norton and Sons of London an order for paints was entered with instructions:

"As my house is very much out of repair…I shall…be much obliged to you if you will send me the following articles…

• 100 lbs. White lead
• 20 lbs. yellow ochre
• A Brl of Oyl
• 20 lbs. of Venetian Red
• 2 gallons of spts of Turpentine
• 5 lbs. of Red lead
• 3 lbs. lamp Black
• 2 lbs. of white Coperas."

"Certain of the early paints have the Quality stains," observes Mrs. Nash, "and are only recognized as paints by analysis - despite their appearance and deeply penetrating effect on woodwork ... Early colors were ground and mixed by hand and that, whether applied with water or oil, they dry out with an interesting surface that is more crude than that procurable otherwise.

"The best way, therefore, to simulate the old effect has been found to repeat the method of colonial painters and to reproduce their materials as closely as possible. These methods include over lays of successive colors, sometimes, of course, as dictated by fashion from time to time. The result of these overlays is often startlingly beautiful - a result that seems procurable by no other method. The sequence of successive over-painting has naturally followed usage and one finds generally a first coat of gray, green or of red ochre or Spanish brown, and superimposed coats of blue, yellows, greens, grays and finally, pastel shades and white. It is unsafe to generalize; - if one did so one would classify white as a treatment appropriate only to later work. No such error should be made. The balustrade of the original Slave Gallery of Bruton Church is white today. Originally it was red. During its life it had been painted alternately white and red eight separate times."

A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS DURING THE EXISTENCE THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE

THE PALACE WAS AN EXPRESSION OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 1705-1781

The House of the Governors of Virginia was a product of Virginia history. Its existence as the home of its colonial Governors was brief -- from 1705 until 1781. Since the Palace was not completed until after 1721, there were approximately sixty years of actual occupancy. In that brief time, however, it saw the passing parade of Virginia colonial life at its best. Its destruction by fire in December, 1781, after the Virginia government had moved to Richmond, and when it was being used as a hospital for the wounded of General Washington's Army at Yorktown, was symbolic of its intimate and dramatic connection with the Revolution that brought a new nation into being. The two smaller buildings that flanked its forecourt survived the fire and remained to be used as private residences until the Union Army destroyed them about 1863.

This chronology of events relates to the architectural life history of the Palace. The recital will keep before us the events that happened and the notable personages who were associated with the building during the momentous years that preceded the formation of our American Government.

1698

Colonel Francis Nicholson was commissioned Lieutenant Governor of the Virginia Colony on July 20, 1698.

1702-1714

Reign of Queen Anne, daughter of James II.

1704

May 1. Governor Nicholson is temporarily lodged in the College of William and Mary for want of a Governor's residence.

AUGUST 15, 1705

Edward Nott arrived in Virginia to serve as Lieutenant Governor on August 15, 1705. He died in Virginia a year later, August 23, 1706.

OCTOBER 1705

Act Directing the building of a House for the Governor of Virginia. "...it is hereby enacted That an House for the Residence of the Governor of this Colony and Dominion be with all convenient Expedition erected, built, and finished upon the Land bought of Henry Tyler, joining the City of Williamsburg. Henry Cary appointed as Overseer to inspect, oversee, and provide for the Building aforesaid, with full Power to begin, carry on, and finish the same, according to the Directions of this Act .... "

OCTOBER 1705

The building which housed The College of William and Mary destroyed by Fire, eleven years after its foundations were laid. Sir Christopher Wren, credited with the design of the College, was 72 years old at this date.

1710

The laying out of a Court yard for the Palace, proportionable to the said house, authorized.

1710

Alexander Spotswood arrived as Governor of Virginia in June 1710, and finding the work at a standstill, caused the passage of two expediting Acts, one in 1710, and another in 1713, for finishing the Governor's House. Proposed that the Land belonging to the House, being about 60 acres., be enclosed with a Ditch & Fence for a pasture.

1714-1727

Reign of George I, son of Elector of Hanover. It was during the years of Governor Spotwood's administration, from 1710 to 1722,^* that the Palace was finally finished, furnished, and ornamented with its gardens, fish ponds and other improvements.

1711

March 1st. "a Platt or Draught of a Church [Bruton Parish]received from the Honble Alexr. Spotswood."

1716

Governor Spotswood returns from his ULTRAMONTANE EXPEDITION. He institutes, in honor of his adventure, the order of the "Knights of the Horseshoe."

1720

The delayed completion of the Palace debated in the House of Burgesses.

1724

Hugh Jones in his Present State of Virginia was seemingly the first to refer to the House of the Governor as "The Palace."

SEPTEMBER 8, 1727

William Gooch appointed Lieutenant Governor. He held his office in Virginia for a relatively long period, from 1727 until 1749

1730

The building of a "Covered Way", from the Offices belonging to the Governor's House into the said House, authorized.

1736

"Last Saturday being his Majesty's Birthday, [Wm. Gooch, Lien. Gov. 1727-1749] the same was observed here with firing of Guns, Illuminations and other Demonstrations of Loyalty; And at Night 131 there was a handsome Appearance of Gentlemen and Ladies at his Honor the Governor's where was a Ball, and an elegant entertainment."

DECEMBER 12, 1739

Reverend George Whitefield, who, with the Wesleys began the Methodist movement, "arrived in Williamsburg and dined at the Palace, Saturday, December 12, 1739."

NOVEMBER 7, 1749

"Much damage done by the late storm to the Governor's House, gardens, etc...has been Viewed and examined by our most Skillful Architect and he reports that the necessary repairs will cost £1259-6 Current Money."

1749

The Virginia Council found the Palace "in Ruinous condition thought proper that it should be surveyed by some skilful Persons & an Estimate made by them of the Charge of putting it in good Repair."

1749-51

Addition of the rear wing (Ball and Supper Rooms).

1751

Alterations and Repairs to the Palace authorized.

1751

Carter-Saunders House purchased for the [interrum] use and accommodation of newly arrived Governor Dinwiddie.

1752

"The Week (November) arriv'd in Town the Emperor of the Cherokee Nation, with his Empress, to renew the Treaty of Friendship with this Government .... There was a Ball, and a very elegant Entertainment, at the Palace, where were present, the Emperor and Empress of the Cherokee Nation.

1758

Francis Fauquier appointed Lieutenant Governor.

1760-1820

George III, grandson of George II, called to the throne of England for one of the longest reigns in history.

1768

Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, appointed as Governor.

1769

William Tryon Esq; Governor of North Carolina, and his Lady, arrive at the Palace in this City, in a visit to his Excellency Lord Botetourt.

1769

"52 dined with me yesterday, and I expect at least that number today." Wmsbg, 10 May, 1769 Lord Botetourt correspondence.

1770

Lord Botetourt died at the Palace, October 15 1770, and "with general Mourning and the greatest Solemnity his Remains were laid at rest in a Vault beneath the chancel of the Chapel of the College."

1771

John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, made Governor of Virginia.

1773

"Sunday last [Sept. 9,1773] his Excellency Robert Eden, Esquire, Governor of Maryland, arrived in this City ... On Tuesday morning his Excellency the Governor arrived at the Palace, in Good Health, from a Tour through the back Parts of the Province."

1773

"Monday last [October 28, 1773] being the Anniversary of the Accession of his present Majesty… the Governor gave a Ball and elegant Entertainment at the Palace, to a ... brilliant Company."

1774

"Last Saturday Evening the Right Honourable the Countess of Dunmore, with Lord Fincastle, arrived at the Palace .... to the great Joy of his Excellency the Governor ... who made a general illumination upon this happy occasion."

1775

January 21,1775. The Earl of Dunmore celebrates the birth of the King with a ball and elegant entertainment. The same day 133 his Lordship's youngest daughter was baptised by the name of VIRGINIA.

1775

Last Monday, May 26, between 2 and 3 o'clock a severe hail storm [occurred] ... a great number of windows [of the Palace] were broken (400 panes). The gardens likewise sustained a good deal of drainage…

1775

The Palace became virtually an armed fortress (May 1775). On June 8. Lord Dunmore and family fled from it to the protection of the Fowey Man-of-Way laying in the York River.

1776

Patrick Henry, elected as Governor of the Virginia Commonwealth, June 29, 1776. Later in the same year, with his large family, he made the Palace his place of resident.

1776

Monday, July 22. Ordered (by Patrick Henry) that the Declaration of Independence be proclaimed ... at the Palace.

1776-83

Thomas Jefferson makes studies for the proposed remodeling of the Governor's House. One scheme included the addition of a pediment, the 60 foot extent of the Palace front.

1779

Thomas Jefferson succeeds Patrick Henry as Governor of Virginia and occupied the Palace from June, until February, 1780. He continued as Governor to June 12, 1781.

The removal of the Seat of Government from Williamsburg to Richmond authorized.^*

1781

The Governor's House used as a hospital. "On the night of the 22 (December, 1781) ... a Fire broke out at the Palace, where the General Hospital was keept, and the whole Building was consumed...."

1782

"The lands belonging to the Palace reported (Mr. Andrews, W. Southall, Mr. Harwood) to have been considerably pillaged of its timbers."

"The Governor's house at Williamsburg is burnt down and many of the walls have tumbled. The Executives have given ofers for the sale of the Tricks ... the outhouses are going fast to destruction and will soon be in ruins.

1839

"The centre of the Palace where the governor resided has long since fallen down, and even the traces of its ruins are no more to be seen. Two small wings which formed part of the range of offices, are still standing."

1862

May 16, 1862. "Directly back of the camp of Col. Averill's 3rd Penn. Cavalry are two wings of an old mansion, formerly used in the old colonial times, as the Governor General's mansion.

1885

The viceroyal palace faced the northern extremity of this beautiful Palace Green .... On part of the foundation now stands the Matty school, and the only vestige of the palatial establishment is a half-subterranean, circular building, which no one in these days can tell us of. [presumably the icehouse.]

1930

January 10. Radio photo of copperplate #30 Rawlinson Collection of The Bodleian Library, Oxford, England, sent from London by Miss Mary F. Goodwin to Mr William Perry, January 10, 135 1930. This plate showed, as an engraving, the early 18th century appearance of the Palace, Capitol and Wren buildings of Williamsburg and served as the basis for their reconstruction.

1931

Reconstruction of the Palace on its original site started in December, 1931 and completed in April, 1934.

1934

Opening to the public of the reconstructed Governor's Palace, April 23, 1934.

WHAT WRITERS, TRAVELERS AND RESIDENTS OF VIRGINIA, DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, THOUGHT OF THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE

Characterizations of the Palace during its early days by Robert Beverley, historian of Virginia, and Hugh Jones, chaplain to the Assembly and professor of the College, give us our clearest picture of its splendor.

1722 ROBERT BEVERLEY

Robert Beverley says, in speaking of the public buildings of the town: "The third is a house for the Governor, not the largest but by far the most beautiful of all the others. It was granted by the Assembly in Governor Nott's time ... but received its beauty and conveniency from the many alterations and decorations of the present Governor, Colonel Spotswood; who to the lasting honor and happiness of the Country arrived there while this house was carrying up." Robert Beverley, History of Virginia, 1722, p. 234.

1724 HUGH JONES

Hugh Jones appears to have been the first of the commentators to apply the name "palace" to the house of the Governor. He writes: "The Palace or governor's house is a magnificent structure, finished and beautified with gates, fine gardens, offices, walks, a fine canal, orchards &c. with a great number of the best arms nicely posited by the ingenious contrivance of Governor Spotswood's. It likewise has the ornamented addition of a good cupola or lantern illuminating most of the town upon birthnights. These buildings [the College, the Capitol, the Governor's House and the Church] are Justly reputed the best in all English America and are exceeded by few of their kind in England."

1759 ANDREW BURNABY

Andrew Burnaby who visited Virginia before 1759, in describing Williamsburg, mentions the Governor's Palace as the only tolerable good public building. He records meeting Lord Fairfax at the Palace on the occasion of a reception to Governor Fauquier.

1765 ROBERT ROGERS

"...the Governor's House, an elegant seat is being enclosed with beautiful walks of trees and is elegantly furnished inside and out..."

1787 J.F. SMYTHE

J. F. Smythe described the Governor's residence in the same words of others that it was "large, commodious and handsome."

"The Palace is not handsome without but it is spacious and comodious within; is prettily situated, and with the grounds annexed to it, is capable of being made an elegant seat."

A LATE RECEPTION AT THE PALACE, JUNE, 1780

Even at the end of the Revolution and the departure of the English governors, there were remnants of splendor at the Palace. Mrs. Edward Carrington, in a letter to Mildred Smith of Winchester, writes:

"On the second day after our arrival we received invitations for a ball given at the Palace .... The entertainment in itself was like most of the entertainments of the present time, simple and frugal as to its viands, but for the brilliancy of the company too much cannot be said; it consisted of more beauty and elegance than I had ever witnessed before, and I was transported with delight at being considered a distinguished personage."

1781 TIMOTHY PICKERING

...Travelling from hence thirty-six miles, you arrive at Williamsburg. This is a pleasant town.... It has one very spacious 138 street, said to be a mile in length.... About the centre of this street, but retired perhaps two hundred yards, with a large court in front stands the palace, the residence of their Governor. It is two stories high, and has a decent appearance outside, but nothing magnificent. The rooms were finished in a rich and costly manner; but, since the war, they are wholly defaced. In the centre of the Capitol, and encircled by iron pales, stands the grand marble statue of Lord Botetourt....

In a building near the palace are to be seen the remains of the richly ornamented state coach, which was brought over with Lord Botetourt, and once used by him to carry him from the palace to the Capitol. 'Tis a clumsy machine, and enormously heavy, perhaps equal to two common wagons. It is gilded in every part, even the edges of the tires of the wheels. The arms of Virginia are painted on every side. The motto of the arms led me to remark how peculiarly disposed the Virginians have been to adopt ideas of royalty and magnificence .... The motto is, En dat Virginia quartam, - that is, 'Virginia gives a fourth quarter to the world.'

1796 WILLIAM WINTERBOTHAM

The skillfully planned town, as well as its buildings, seemed 1796 to have impressed William Winterbotham in 1796.

"Near the center of the town there is a pleasant square of about ten acres, which is generally covered with delightful verdure; not far from this at the extremity of a small plain stretching to the north, stood the Governor's Palace, as it was called; though not 139 very handsome it was spacious and in every respect pleasantly situated."

TYLER'S NOTES ON THE PALACE

The Palace was made by law a two story building (Hening's Statutes). There were three rooms below besides the garret rooms (Dinwiddie Papers). The rooms below were doubtless constructed on the same plan as the President's House at the College-two of them large enough for two ordinary rooms and the third the reception rooms, running half the front and the entire depth of the building. The garret rooms were so called because they were next to the roof, but they were so in name only, the roof being nearly flat (Map of Williamsburg about in 1790, College Library). There were no dormer windows and the upstairs rooms were doubtless four in number and very large and commodious. Then there were the closets, probably one for every bed room, and the Halls which were large enough to hold Lady Gooch's house in London.... There were convenient cellars underneath. [The Palace] was lavishly ornamented within and without, had extensive grounds, gardens, and out-houses, among them two offices standing up to the war, each of which contained two large rooms below and two above with dormer windows.

ACT DIRECTING THE BUILDING AN HOUSE FOR THE GOVERNOR OF THIS COLONY AND DOMINION

CONTAINING AN ARCHITECTURAL SPECIFICATION FOR THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE

"We, her majestys most dutifull and loyall subjects, the burgesses now assembled, having taken into our serious consideration her majesty's commands concerning the building of an house for the Governor of this her majestys colony and dominion, and how it is that such an house be built without any further delay, and have cheerfully and unanimously given and granted unto her most excellent majesty, the am of three thousand pounds, to be employed, made use of and expended according to the directions of this act hereafter mentioned, and do humbly pray your excellency it my be enacted.

And be it enacted by the governor, council and burgesses, of this present general assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That an house for the residence of the governor of this colony and dominion, be with all convenient expedition erected, built and finished upon the land bought of Henry Tyler, joyning to the City of Williamsburgh, or upon so many of the next adjacent lotte laid out for the City of Williamsburg as to the directors of the said city shall seem most fitt and convenient, or upon either or both of them, and that the said land containing sixty-three acres, and lying on the north side of the said city, together with the forementioned lotts, and the said houses, and all 141 and singular the appurtenances, shall from time to time, and at all times hereafter, be hold and enjoyed by the Governor or comander in chief of this dominions,...

And that the said house be built of bricks, fifty-four foot in length, and forty-eight foot, in breadths from inside to inside, two story high, with convenient cellars underneath, and one vault, sash windows, of sash, glass and a covering of stone slates and that in all other respects the said house be built and finished according to the discretion of the overseer, which shall be employed by virtue of this act to take care of the same, under the direction of the governor and council.

ACT AUTHORIZING THE BUILDING OF THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE

1706

Act authorizing the building of the Palace, passed June 22d, 1706. [See Journal of Hs. of Burgesses of Virginia, 1702-1712, p. 234.] "... it is hereby enacted [by the General Assembly] That an House for the Residence of the Governor of this Colony and Dominion, be with all convenient Expedition erected, built, and finished upon the Land bought of Henry Tyler, joyning to the City of Williamsburg, or upon so many of the next adjacent Lotts laid out for the City of Williamsburg, as to the Directors of the said City shall seem most fitt and convenient, .....sixty-three Acres, and lying on the north Side of the said City,....

"And that the said house be built of bricks, fifty-four foot in length, and forty-eight foot, in breadths from inside to inside, two story high, with convenient collars underneath, and one vault, sash windows, of sash, glass and a covering of stone slates and that in all other respects the said house be built and finished according 142 to the discretion of the overseer, which shall be employed by virtue of this act to take care of the same, under the direction of the governor and council.

"And be it further enacted, That a Kitchen and Stable, suitable for such an House be likewise built upon the Land before mentioned, according to the said Overseer, and by the Direction aforesaid.

"And be it further enacted, That for the more easy and better Building and Finishing the aforesaid House and out Houses, the said Overseer have full Power to send to England for Iron Work, Glass, Lead, Stone, Slate, or any other Necesearys to be made use of in or about the said Buildings....

"And be it further enacted, That Henry Cary be appointed, an Overseer to inspect, oversee, and provide for the Building aforesaid, with full Power to begin, carry on, and finish the same, according to the Directions of this Act...."

ACCOUNT OF FOUNDATION EXCAVATIONS AT THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE

June 30 to September 5, 1930
By Prentice Duell,^* Archaeologist in Charge and
Herbert S. Ragland, Field Superintendent

The following account of the excavations at the site of the Palace was written at the end of the summer season 1930, following the first digging at the location where the Governor's Palace Group was supposed to have been located. All physical evidences of the buildings had been completely obliterated by time. The Matthew Whaley School was found to have been built partly over the Palace foundations and two streets were built above the footings of the two Advance Buildings.

From the start a large number of architectural fragments were discovered. There were fifty boxes of miscellaneous "finds" set aside for study at the end of the season. These included numerous objects of metal, glass, china and building stone.

An account of the excavations at the Palace site as prepared by Mr. Duell follows:

The Governor's Palace area, examined and excavated, only in part during this first attempts included the Palace location, the supposed outbuildings and gardens, and the extensive areas across the streets to the east and west of the Palace.

THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE
OUTBUILDINGS AND GARDENS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A Partial Listing of Books consulted during the period of study, in preparation for the reconstruction of the Palace. Early documents, artifacts and photography are included.

The importance for the Palace restoration architects of architectural books, old photographs and research data is indicated by the extent of the architectural drafting room library and by the decision of Colonial Williamsburg to set up a division of Research and Records within the Architectural Department. With the accumulation of records and reports, and the continuing need for verified historical information, a research library was a natural outgrowth and addition to the Division of Research. Shortly thereafter, archives were created for the safekeeping and indexing of letters, records, drawings, photographs, manuscripts, etc.

The following letter from the Colonial Williamsburg files, written September 20, 1930, as work on the Palace designs were about to start, is further evidence for the use of books as a tool as well as a mine for the architect. Joseph W. Geddes wrote Perry, Shaw and Hepburn in Boston from Williamsburg (1930) asking that books be sent, for the drafting room. "Some of the books which we feel would be useful are as follows:

• Belcher and Macartney, Later Renaissance Architecture in England, particularly the volume on period 1660-1720.
• Books on Dutch Architecture (showing exaggerated cupolas).
• London Houses and other books on English panelling other than those illustrating the richest type of paneling."

A listing of books consulted during the years 1930-34, while research on the Palace and Capitol was being vigorously pursued, is included (in part) with this report. To make a complete bibliography would require more space than is available with this report.

• Beverley, Robert. History of Virginia, second edition, London, 1722. Letter Book, 1761-1793; manuscript division of Library of Congress.
• Blanchard, Claude Journal, 1780-1783 New York, 1876
• Botetourt Papers - manuscript Virginia State Library archives
• Bright, Robert S, Letter to H. R. Shurtleff December 28, 1931
• Brock, Robert A. Manuscript Note Book, privately owned, Virginia and Virginians, Richmond, 1888.
• Bruce, Philip Alexander Virginia Plutarch North Carolina, 1929
• Burk, John Daly History of Virginia Petersburg, 1804
• Governor's Palace Manuscript in Research Library, Colonial Williamsburg; extracts from documents, authors, records, relating to the Governor's Palace
• Burnaby, Rev. Andrew Travels ... 1759-1760 London, Second edition, 1775 Calendar of State Papers, America and the West Indies London: 1880-1930
• Calendar of Virginia State Papers 11 volumes, 1652-1869 Richmond, 1875-1893
• Campbell, Charles, Editor Bland Papers Petersburg, 1840 154
• Magazine of American History, 14 volumes New York, 1877-1893
• Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. Special reference to data on Williamsburg, Virginia, and its buildings.
• Nelson, William, of York Letter Book, 1766-1775 Manuscript, Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia
• Oldmixion, John The British Empire in America London, 1740
• Palace Lands, Deeds, Transfers, etc., Manuscript collection Colonial Virginia, library
• Public Records Office London, C. 0. 5
• Public Records Office London, Transcripts, Library of Congress
• Rochambeau, Comte de Correspondence. Archives Historique de la Guerre… Paris, France
• Rochambeau Papers Original letter Books, in 9 volumes, 1780-1784 Manuscript, Library of Congress
• Schoepf, Johann David Travels in the Confederation, 1783-1784 Edited by Alfred Morrison Philadelphia, 1911
• Southern Literary Messenger, 38 volumes Richmond, 1834-1864
• Spotswood, Alexander Official Letters, 1710-1722 Printed from the MSS. in the Collection of the Virginia Historical Society, 1882
• Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazines, 32 volumes Richmond, 1920
• Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, Williamsburg Thomas Nicholson, Editor
• Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, Williamsburg James Hayes, Editor 155
• The Virginia Gazette, 1736-1780 Williamsburg, Virginia
• John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia Papers from their Counting House, 1750-1795. Edited by Francis Norton Mason, Richmond, 1937
• Correspondence of Alexander Spotswood and John Spotswood of Edinburgh, edited by L. J. Cappon in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, April, 1952.
• Bruce, Philip Alexander, Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, 2 volumes, New York, 1935
• The Virginia Gazette Index, 1736-1780 by Lester J. Cappon and Stella F. Duff, 2 volumes, Williamsburg, 1950
• Virginia Historical Index by Earl G. Swem, 2 volumes, Roanoke, Virginia, 1934
• Shurcliff, Arthur Asahel, 1870 A comparison of the Williamsburg palace grounds layout with the layout of English places of the same general type and period ... Manuscript, Department of Architecture, Colonial Williamsburg
• The Gardens of the Governor's Palace, Williamsburg, January, 1937 Volume 27, No. 2. pp. 55-95 in Landscape Architecture
• William and Mary Quarterly First Series - 27 volumes Richmond, 1893 Second Series Williamsburg, 1921
• York County Records
• Virginia Magazine of History 42 volumes Richmond, 1894 Virginia Manuscripts from the British Public Record Office Transcripts, Virginia State Library
• Virginia Papers - manuscript New York Public Library from State Paper Office
• Washington, George Letter Book, Varick Transcript Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
• Print Collection of Library of Congress
• Map Division of Library of Congress
• Calendar of State Papers 156
• A History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Philadelphia, 1860
• Carter Papers - Manuscript Virginia Historical Society
• Coleman Collection - Manuscript, in research library of Colonial Williamsburg
• Charles, John S. Recollections of Williamsburg Typed manuscript, Department of Research and Records
• Colonial Papers, manuscript, 1710-20 Virginia State Library Archives
• Colonial Records of North Carolina Tryon's Letter Book
• Dawson Papers - manuscript division, Library of Congress 2 volumes, 1727-1775
• Corbin, Richard Letter Book - manuscript Virginia Historical Society
• Eddis, William Letters from America ... 1769-1777 London, 1792
• Emmet Collection - Manuscripts New York Public Library
• Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 1680-1739 Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1925-1928
• Feilde, F. Letter to Dr. McKenzie - manuscript Huntington Library, California
• An Historical Review of and Directory of North America ... Cork, 1801
• Harve, Henry, Historical Collections of Virginia Charleston, S. C., 1848
• Hening, William Waller Statutes at large, 13 volumes. 1619 Richmond and Philadelphia, 18l9-23
• Harwood, Humphrey Manuscript Ledger, Department of Research and Record
• Gooch Papers - transcripts 2 volumes, Virginia Historical Society 157
• James City County Tax Books Virginia State Library Archives
• Jefferson, Thomas Notes on the State of Virginia London ... 1787
• Kimball, Fiske, Thomas Jefferson, Architect Boston, 1916
• Keith, William, A History of the British Plantations in America London, 1738
• Journal of the House of Delegates, 1781 Charlottesville, printed by John Dunlap and James Hays
• Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; begun and held at the Capitol in the City of Williamsburg & 1777 Richmond, 1827
• Journal of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 13 volumes, 1619-1776 Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1905-1915
• Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia, 1776-1777. Edited by H. R. McIlwaine. Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1931
• Jones, Hugh, M.A., The Present State of Virginia… London, 1724
• Kimball, Fiske Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies ... New York, 1922
• Lanberdiere, General de Journal of the Army under the Orders of Count Rochambeau 1780-83 in North America, French MSS. Notes in Research Library
• Lewis, General Andrew The orderly Book of that Portion of North America stationed at or near Williamsburg … from March 18th, 1776, to August 28th, 1776. Edited by Charles Campbell, Richmond, 1860
• Lossing, Benson J. The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution New York, 1855
• Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 3 volumes, 1680-1775 Richmond, Virginia State Library, 1918-1919
• Ludwell Papers, manuscript Virginia Historical Society 158
• Howe Historical Collection
• Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia
• Prints, Furniture and Furnishings by Mrs. Susan Higginson Nash (A manuscript, 21 pp.)
• Architectural Record, December, 1935, p. 447-458. Paints, Furniture and Furnishings by Mrs. Susan Higginson Nash
• Kocher, A. Lawrence and Howard Dearstyne Williamsburg Its Buildings and Gardens
• Correspondence re: painting of Palace Mrs. Susan H. Nash and Harold R. Shurtleff and James McCutcheon and Company S. P. Moorehead notes on Virginia (Tidewater) architecture
• Report on colonial paints and paint colors made by the Research laboratories of the National Lead Company of New York.
• The Book of The Palace, a compilation of data on the history of the Palace, its architecture, furnishings and design basis.
• Virginia Gazette Files; Index compiled by Lester Cappon and Stella Duff
• Vestry Books of Virginia Churches
• Goodwin, Rutherfoord, A Brief and True Report Concerning Williamsburg in Virginia, W Williamsburg, 1940
• Ware, William Rotch, Editor, The Georgian Period 3 volumes, Boston, 1901
• Waterman, Thomas Tileston and John A. Barrows, Domestic Colonial Architecture of Tidewater Virginia New York, 1932
• The Mansions of Virginia Chapel Hill, N. C., 1946
• Photographic Files of Colonial Williamsburg Archives (Niveson, Holmes, Lincoln, Matter)

In tracing the design of the Palace to its source, it is of considerable importance that we take notice of the kinds of published works on architecture that were available as a "guide" to 159 builders, amateur architects, overseers, bricklayers and carpenters who prepared the specifications and drawings for the Palace and who undertook its construction. The time when the Palace design was made, c. 1700-1705, was in advance of the many published (English) architectural works, first sponsored by Lord Burlington, such as Vitruvius Britannicus by Colin Campbell, 1717-1725; Design's of Inigo Jones by William Kent, 1717; Andrea Palladio by Giacomo Leoni, 1715-1720. It was even earlier that the deluge of architectural pattern books by Halfpenny, Langley, Hoppus, Ware and Salmon appeared.

There was actually a dearth of builder's handbooks in the period of 1700. One that did appear in 1700, First Book of Architecture, by Godfrey Richards^* includes remarks on the scarcity of Books on Architecture in English ... "we have but few Books which we can recommend to you, besides the Excellent Discourses of Sir Henry Wotten and John Evelin, Esq., the former on the elements of Architecture; the latter, in his Account of Architecture and Architects, added to his elegant Translation of the 'Parallel' where they have comprised fully and clearly the most weighty observations of the art in general."

It is clear that the men who set the now architecture of the late seventeenth century were Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren. They were responsible for the codification of a new building manner. These two architects provided actual buildings designed by them, as well as formulae for the orders, for doorways, mantels and other details.

In the early part of the eighteenth century, or while the building of the Governor's House was progressing, the colonial builders of Virginia merely adopted classical details for individual features of their buildings, such as, cornices, doorways, windows. This was done without any columnal or general classical treatment beyond a rigidly symmetrical arrangement. It was not to be for another half century in America that public buildings, churches and finally dwellings assumed a monumental and columnar character,

It is well to keep in mind the idea of the craftsmen (carpenter, Joyner, brick and stone mason) as responsible for the early building designs in the colonies. This is true for both building exteriors and for their interior woodwork, stairways, cornices, panelling. Our search for the name of the architect who designed the Williamsburg Capitol, Palace, Carter's Grove or Mount Vernon is a futile quest. There was probably no responsible architect for any of these. Jefferson was awarded the designation "architect" as a sort of honorary degree by writers on architecture of the past two generations. One can be quite sure that Samuel Rhoads, Robert Smith and Thomas Jefferson never attached the title architect to their name. Both Rhoads and Smith were satisfied to call themselves "Builder" or "member of Carpenters' Company."

The attached list of architectural books includes a fairly complete listing of architectural works and handbooks, published in England before 1705 - at the time when the House of the Governors of Virginia was under construction.

• Kip (Johannes), Engraver, 1653-1722, and Knyff (L.), draughtsman. Britannia Illustrata; or views of all the King's palaces, several seats of the nobility and gentry. 1714-16. This book is of considerable value to landscape architects responsible for the reconstruction of the Palace and other gardens. Its architectural illustrations however, are mostly of seventeenth century (Elizabethan, Jacobean) buildings. We do not find any structures that resemble the Palace. The work was first published in November, 1707; second edition, 1726.
• Evelyn (John)
  A Parallel of the Ancient Architecture with the Modern … made English from the French work of Freart, Roland. To which is added an account of architects and architecture, London, 1664; another editions 1680.
• Prick (Robert)
  The Architect's Store-house, being a collection of several designs of frontispieces, doors and window-cases, ceiling pieces, &c. London, first edition, 1674; another editions 1700.
• Maxon (Joseph)
  Vitruvius, a translation of, by J. Moxon, London, 1703.
• Mechanick Exercises: or the doctrine of handy-works ... &c. Third edition, 8 vo., London, 1703.
• Peake (Robert)
  Architecture &c. [English], The First (to the fifth) books of Architecture, &c., London, 1611.
• Le Muet (Pierre) Palladio, Andrea, The first book of architecture ... with an appendix touching doors and windows. First edition, 1668; other editions down to 1733.
• The Art of Fair building, represented in ... uprights of houses, &c. Published in English by Robert Pricke, London, 1670.
• Manclerc, Julien
  A New Treatise of Architecture according to Vitruvius, &c. set forth in English by Robert Pricke, London, 1669.
• Wotton, Sir Henry
  The Elements of Architecture collected ... from the best authors and examples. London, 1624
• Scamozzi, Vincent
  The Mirror of Architecture: or the ground rules of the art of building ... laid down by Vincent Scamozzi, London, first edition, 1669; fourth edition, 1700, whereunto is added a compendium of the Art of Building by William Leyburn. Also contains Wooton, (Sir Henry), The Ground-Rules of Architecture… now contrasted. 162
• Aldrich, Henry
  Elements Architecture Civilis ad Vitruvii … etc., c. 1690. Oxford, English translation by Philip Smyth, The Elements of Civil Architecture, made in 1789, Oxford.
• Wilsford (Thomas)
  Architectorice. The Art of Building: &c. London, 1659.
• Leeke, John
  Barozzi (Giacomo) da Vignola, The Regular Architect. Rendered into English by John Peake, London, 1669.
• Shute, John
  The First and Chief Groundes of Architecture, &c., London, 1563.
• Berbier, Sir Balthazar
  A Brief Discourse Concerning the Three Chief Principles of Magnificent Buildings, & c., London, 1662.

As you requested I am listing some comment about the design of the subject item:

During the extensive archaeological investigation of the site of the Governor's Palace, the foundations of the triple north gate were uncovered and found to be well preserved. Both the large flanking brick gate posts were clearly defined as were the supporting walls for intermediate uprights and brackets to strengthen them, all of which indicate a triple gate arrangement. The excavation brought to light scattered fragments of decorative wrot iron by which the character of the deign of the scroll-work and leafage could be determined. It was know that these gates were fabricated in England especially for the Palace. Fortunately, at Westover, not far from Williamsburg, are still preserved in place a series of magnificent early 18th Century wrot iron gates which were also made in England. With these nearby examples and the findings at Williamsburg it was possible to design anew the Palace gates by referring to well know English examples of the correct period and character.

A review of salient features of the Palace Garden and their plant materials, prepared by Mr. Alden Hopkins, Landscape Architect, is given on the following pages.