Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

SOUTH ELEVATION:

The three-bay facade is composed of two windows ranged on either side of two Page 17 central doorways. The second floor windows and door are aligned exactly above those on the first floor. The effect is one of balanced scale and proportion.²⁰

As noted above, the details of the south elevation are almost entirely original. Only the porch, front door, roof framing and shingles are new.

The character of the entrance porch was chiefly determined by evidence that the second-story exterior door was an original feature and by the discovery of outlines of halved newel posts and pilasters on weatherboards covering the south face of the building. Though similar in design to a nineteenth-century porch it superseded, the new porch was based on an example existing in Williamsburg. Architectural precedent was taken from the entrance porch at the Semple House, using eighteenth-century builders' handbooks as supplementary reference. The classical details of both porches reflect the pervasive eighteenth-century interest in Greek and Roman cultures.²¹ Colonial builders were eclectic in copying English and Italian variations of ancient architectural motifs and often indiscriminately mingled aspects of the different orders. The Geddy House porch represents a typical vernacular adaptation of the classical idiom. In contradiction of strict classical rules, fluted Doric columns and pilasters are used in combination with an Ionic pulvinated frieze. A reproduction wrought iron handrail extends between the two columns at the south side of the porch.

The occurrence of a doorway on the second floor, leading to a balustraded porch, is unusual in eighteenth-century architecture. A detail of the doorway--the four-light transom above it;-is not an uncommon feature in Williamsburg, for many original examples have been found in local eighteenth-century houses. This, however, is the sole instance of a^{n original} second-story transom. Two conditions justify the location and use of the Geddy House transom. As a design feature, it allows continuance of the door trim up to the bottom of the cornice, exactly in line with Page 18 the tops of the second floor windows. Functionally, it provided an exterior light source for the original second floor passage, which was window-less.

In 1931 the sheathing around the entrance door was modified. To accentuate focal emphasis upon the doorway, the beaded weatherboards within the inner porch perimeter were overlaid with flush, random-width, quarter-inch beaded boards.

WEST ELEVATION:

The west elevation is the longest side of the original building. It is virtually unadorned and is relieved only by six windows. The three second story windows are directly above those on the first floor. The fenestration is uneven, but the spacing was an unavoidable consequence of the chimney location and interior plan. The pair of south windows is widely separated from the four north windows. From the interior it can be seen that the north windows were placed symmetrically in the rooms they light. The south windows were pulled as far as possible toward the back walls of the first and second floor southwest rooms in order to diminish the gap between the three sets of windows and improve the exterior appearance. The first floor middle window on this elevation may have originally been a door. (see page 10).

Three ^Several minor details on the west elevation were missing in 1930. The south basement grille and frame are new. Two shutters are replacements (the south shutter on the first floor south window and the south shutter on the second floor middle window). As already noted, the roof framing and shingles are substitutions. otherwise the features are original, or at least old.

NORTH ELEVATION:

Because of the L-plan, the north elevation of the house has two sections: the north end of the ell and the north side of the arm of the building that lies parallel to Duke of Gloucester Street. Most of the eighteenth-century features on the north side of the house had disappeared by 1930. The cornice, weatherboards and Page 19 cornerboards are duplicates of originals on the south and west elevations.

NORTH ELL: The gable end of the roof appears on this elevation. A heavy, nineteenth-century molded cornice, returned at both ends, was mounted along the roof line when restoration began. The original rake boards, tapered and beaded on the lower edges, were found in place under the cornice; they were repaired and retained. Curved end boards copied from typical colonial models, were applied against the ends of the east and west cornices. Two windows occur in the center of the elevation. Both window frames and the lower window sash are new. The basement grille and frame are also reproductions.

^{insert "South Portion" from p 20}

EAST ELEVATION:

Like the north elevation, this elevation has two separate portions: the east side of the north ell and the east end of the south arm of the house. As stated before, the cornice, weatherboards, cornerboards and chimney stack are copies of surviving original features. The roof framing and shingles are new.

NORTH ELL: When restoration began, there were only two windows, located near the north corner, on this elevation. Both were in such poor condition that only the sash of the second floor window were retained. Two new windows were installed near the south corner. Investigation in 1967 revealed that the first floor south window was unsubstantiated by framing marks, so it has been removed. The authenticity of the second floor south window is questionable.

A bulkhead entrance was cut through the foundation wall near the north corner during the last quarter of the eighteenth-century. The bulkhead was apparently abandoned within a few decades and has not been honored with a reconstructed feature.

^{louvre: attic ventilation}

EAST END: The rake boards here are copies of original ones found on the north elevation of the ell. The original east chimney rises against this elevation. The chimney stack alone is unobscured, for the middle shop is attached to the east Page 20 end of the house. (See page 29 for discussion of the middle shop.)

^{Put on p. 19}

SOUTH PORTION: ^{This elevation}section ^has Two windows and a door penetrate. The frames and sash of both windows are new. The doorway, which has a new frame, is unusually low. The door opens directly under the stair landing in the first floor passage, ^where the height of the landing allows only a six-foot clearance for the door. It is Interesting^ly that the second floor structural timbers above the door are framed for the inclusion of a window that was never inserted.

A bulkhead, validated by archaeological evidence, was added near the east corner in 1930. It is a sloping bulkhead, typifying the sort that was prevalent in Virginia in the eighteenth-century. The only access to the basement beneath the original house is through this entrance.

An open shed-roof porch, occupying the angle between the north and south projections of the house was built in 1930. (The longest dimension of the porch was attached against the east elevation of the ell. It was approached by wood steps at the north end.) Though arbitrarily constructed for practical reasons,²² it was copied from a porch at Fauntleroy, near Aylett, King William County, Virginia. It was removed in 1967 because recent archaeological findings determined that a porch of this kind did not exist during the colonial period. There is proof that an eighteenth-century shed-roof addition did extend across the north elevation in an east/west direction, so an appropriate feature will be reconstructed after further research. A temporary wood stoop (like the one at the back of the middle shop) will suffice until the authentic addition is rebuilt.

BASEMENT:

The original basement was small, comprising part of the area below the first floor stair hall and southeast room. It extended from the east end of the house to a cross wall situated slightly east of the east foundation of the north ell. The north BASEMENT PLAN
900
JAMES GEDDY HO. AND ADDITION
Page 23 segment of the cross wall, which was all that remained in 1930, was removed during restoration. The earth was then dug out below the first floor southwest room creating a full basement under the south portion of the house. Currently the cellar is filled with mechanical equipment.

A shallow cellar was excavated underneath the north ell in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, but was in-filled in the early 1800's. In 1930 a concrete floor was poured there. The crawl space under the ell is about three feet high.

FIRST FLOOR:

Southeast room (Counting Room): The room is lit ^lighted by two windows, located centrally in the north and south walls. There are two doors, both near the south corners on the east of ^and west sides of the room. The southeast door which is not original, was inserted at an uncertain date (possibly during the eighteenth century) in place of an original closet beside the fireplace. A chair board, beaded on the top and bottom edges, encircles the room. The mantel piece consists of a three-member architrave set on beveled plinths and mounted against a flush board backing. The mantel shelf, a detached member applied at the upper edge of the board backing, has moldings reminiscent of an exterior cornice. It is returned at either end and trimmed with dentils. Most of the dentils were missing in 1930 and their replacement was guided by marks in the paint. The trim is painted gray.

PASSAGE:

The Passage, like the southeast room, has a chair board in lieu of a chair rail. Original beaded cornerboards protect the plaster at all external angles. Five doors open into the passage: two from the exterior and one from each of the first floor rooms.

The narrow, U-shaped stairway is finished in a conventional eighteenth- FIRST FLOOR PLAN
1300 Page 24 century manner. It is a closed string stair. The first run rises against the east wall, terminates in a cantilevered landing that extends almost the full width of the stair hall, and the second run continues in reverse direction to the upstairs passage. Except for the treads, the stairs are entirely original, The turned balusters have a typical eighteenth-century profile, as do the square, flat newel caps which rest atop unpaneled, square newel posts. The profile of the stair rail repeats that of the newel caps. The stringers, beaded on the upper edge, match the baseboards in the house. A curved end board, similar to those normally found trimming exterior cornices, is mounted on the string board behind the base of the newel post at the termination of the second run. A nineteenth-century wrought iron hook, for the support of a light fixture, was found in the soffit of the second floor newel in 1930. It was replaced with a suitable eighteenth-century facsimile. The most unusual stair detail is the second floor outer newel, which rises from floor to ceiling. The square portion at the bottom is topped with a turned post. Marcus Whiffen, in The Eighteenth-Century Houses of Williamsburg, cites this feature as speculative evidence for an early eighteenth-century construction date for the Geddy House, pointing out that it "is a throwback to the scheme from which English open well stairs evolved..." It may be that the newel post was reused from an earlier building on the site. At Walnut Valley in Surry County, Virginia, the same kind of original newel is still in existence.

A closet originally existed against the north wall of the passage under the stairway. The space was converted to a basement staircase prior to the restoration and because of its usefulness, was not changed in 1930. In 1966 the area was rebuilt as a closet.

Woodwork is painted the same color gray as ^{used in} the Southeast room.

SOUTHWEST ROOM (CHAMBER):

^{Purchased by John Christoffel (ca. 1968). [Demolished 5/31/68] (Bl. 36, #9)}

This is the only room in the house decorated with a chair rail, cornice and dado. The cornice is not an elaborate feature, as it has only a crown mold, beaded fascia and soffit. The break in the cornice over the mantel was effected to conceal the brick arch supporting the hearth in the room above. The dado has raised panels of varying sizes, some of which are replacements. The mantel, which has a new shelf, is similar to a marble mantel formerly at Wheatlands ^{and also black marble mantel in Wetherburn's Tavern (storage) which was original to Chiswell House} in Williamsburg.^{(North Henry Street) NB} Its moldings are of a character usually executed in marble rather than wood. It is possible that the mantel was originally intended to be marbelized, though no traces of such painting were found. The origin and connotation of the name "E-Shield", carved crudely in the upper left side of the architrave, are unknown. The woodwork is painted gray, a slightly darker color than appears in the passage and southeast room.

An original closet remains in the north wall, west of the fireplace. Its six-panel door and the door in the center of the east wall (opening into the passage) are the only two doors in the room. One window is located in the middle of the south wall and another is situated in the west wall close to the north corner (see Page 16).

NORTH ROOM (HALL):

In the north room the cupboard, or closet, is the only unusual decorative detail. The cupboard was undoubtedly converted from an original closet like the one behind it (in the southwest room), using woodwork from another source. The date of the alteration is ambiguous. A door architrave, resting on beveled plinths, surrounds the cupboard. Its upper portion is set within a window frame; the pulley blocks and sash grooves still remain in the pulley stiles. The inner architrave in the upper part is an arch, trimmed with two crude pilasters and a keystone. The arch enframes three butterfly shelves, which are built against a vertical board backing. Two paneled doors are fitted below the arch and the space between is finished with a molding resembling a chair rail segment. The makeshift Page 26 quality of the cupboard implies that it is a product of carpenter construction. Two similar eighteenth-century cupboards exist at the Benjamin Waller House, flanking the fireplace in the west wall of the northwest (living room). Like the Geddy House cupboard, those in the Benjamin Waller House resulted from alteration. During the restoration of Bassett Hall, the remains of a related closet were discovered in the studding of the northwest (living) room. Framing and paint marks revealed that its character was nearly identical to the design of the Geddy House cupboard, which served as reference for its restoration. ^{(e.g.) Griffin House}

The door from the Passage is located in the south wall at the corner opposite the cupboard. Unlike the other six-panel doors in the house, this one has four-panels. The fireplace is also in the south wall of the room. The mantel, which is very much like the one in the first floor southeast room, is not spaced equidistantly between the door and the cupboard, but is off-center to the east. A two-member architrave surrounds the fireplace opening. Another molding extends from either side of the mantel shelf to ^{and terminates on} rectangular plinths at the base. The dentils below the mantel shelf, as in the case of the mantel in the southeast room, were largely missing in 1930 and were replaced according to paint marks. The woodwork in the room is painted tan, a tone which tends toward an ochre shade.

The room was never trimmed with cornice, chair rail, chair board, dado or paneling. It has been conjectured, from the absence of woodwork, that the walls were originally papered. The Curator's Department has recently hung antique wallpaper in the room.

The room has four windows: two on the west wall, one at the north end, and one in the east wall. A south window in the east wall, added in 1930, was deleted in 1968 (see page 20). As already noted, the southwest window may be a conversion of an original doorway (see Page 10). The depth of the reveal of the north window shows that the end wall is thicker than others in the house. It was SECOND FLOOR PLAN
1360 Page 27 furred out in 1930 for the accommodation of heating ducts.

SECOND FLOOR SOUTHEAST ROOM:

The room is almost identical to the one below. It does not, however, have a chair board. The mantel matches the one in the first floor southeast room with two exceptions: the architrave has two members instead of three and the missing dentils below the mantel shelf have not been replaced. Since the room is on the second floor and not subject to general view, it was felt unnecessary to reproduce the dentils. The board-and-batten door south of the fireplace was added in 1930 when a closet was built into the room. The closet was removed in 1954 to provide an entrance to the room above the middle shop. The door at the southwest corner was also also added in the 1950's. The original doorway is in the west wall, but the door itself (an eighteenth-century door) was taken from an unauthentic partition in the first floor north room in 1930 and rehung here. The floor nails are original. The paint color on the trim is gray.

Passage: The second floor passage is narrower than the one on the first floor, because it was shortened in 1950 by a partition across the south end, it is smaller than its original size. These conditions and the absence of any exterior light source make it a dark, cramped hallway. The original attic scuttle is located near the southwest corner; when the ^a new scuttle was built in the north room, this one was permanently sealed. The gray paint color is the same that is used on the woodwork in the first floor Passage.

SOUTHWEST ROOM:

^{The East/West dimension of} this room is slightly larger ^greaterthan ^{that of} the one below it^{of the first floor S.W. room}. Instead of a mantel piece, an original molded mantel shelf is set above the fireplace. The original fireplace opening was smaller ^largerthan it now appears; the disparity between its width and the size of the hearth shows the extent of the reduction. The closet west of the fireplace is original, though the door in its Page 28 back wall, connecting the room with the bathroom, is not. A new door was cut through the east wall in the 1950's and in 1966 another door was inserted beside the fireplace in the north wall. The original door is approximately in the center of the east wall. The floor nails are original. The woodwork is painted a dark beige.

NORTH ROOM:

Because of the provision of a bathroom at its south end, this room is appreciably smaller than it was originally. The closet and doorway in the southeast corner date from 1930, though the door is original to the north room. An attic scuttle in the closet ceiling was added in 1930. The baseboard on the south wall is new. The floor nails are original. When the house is opened for exhibition, this room will be used at ^asthe hostess room. The trim is painted the same dark beige that is in the southwest room.

BATHROOM:

The window architrave and the baseboard on the south wall are the only original trim in this room. All other features are new. A short Passage east of the bathroom was built in 1966 to connect the bathroom and southwest room with the second floor Passage. The woodwork is ^paintedblueish-gray.

RECONSTRUCTION:

When restoration of the Geddy House began in 1930, the east end of the building (a two-story section beyond the east chimney) was believed to be a nineteenth-century addition. In the process of dismantling the segment, its one-and-one-half-story, eighteenth-century nucleus was found (see Page 9). At the time, it was thought that the colonial portion was a domestic wing of the Geddy House and not until several years later was its original shop function interpreted from historical records. Enough structural evidence remained to verify the original form of the structure, but its eighteenth-century components were inadequate for restoration.

The exact dimensions of the shop were deduced from the extant foundations. The wing, however, was only partially reconstructed in 1930. Its east end was aligned over the north/south foundation wall located about eight feet east of the original dwelling's east chimney (See Page 6). The original brick pattern, English bond, was readily evident and was matched in repairing the south and west foundation walls. (The west foundation is the east wall of the Geddy House.) The north and east foundations were entirely rebuilt. Ground gutters, like those around Page 30 the Geddy House, were laid on the north and south elevations. No basement originally existed under the 12' x 15' portion of the shop, so the ground was left unexcavated. (See Page 6). Structural markings encased within the section authenticated the shop's eighteenth-century characteristics. The pitch for the A-roof was established from an outline of the original roof peak discovered on the east face of the east chimney. The sash design was derived from eighteenth-century sash remnants unearthed beneath the floor of the razed portion. In general, the exterior details were copied from the Geddy House. Precedent for the box cornice was taken from an eighteenth-century cornice at the Moody House. The materials used in the reconstruction were new, except for scattered structural timbers and window panes and eighteenth-century floorboards salvaged from the dismantled east end and from diverse local sources.

EXTERIOR:

The exterior of the wing was faced with beaded weatherboards. Cornerboards like those on the Geddy House were installed. End boards, cut to follow the profile of the cornice, were mounted on the east and west elevations. As the original roof ridge extended in an east/west direction, only the east gable end was visible on the reconstructed wing. Tapered rake boards, similar to original ones found on the north ell of the Geddy House, were affixed along the east roof line. Square-butt, cement-asbestos shingles were used as roof covering. An eighteenth-light window, matching the first floor windows in the original house, was installed in the center of the south elevation. Its louvered shutters were reproductions of originals on the Geddy House. A basement grille was centered below the window. The back door vas placed in the middle of the north elevation. The door was designed with nine window panes over four panels. A simple wood stoop, classified as a adaptation based on colonial details, was Page 31 constructed in front of the door. Colonial Williamsburg has designed a series of similar stoops for the convenience of modern residents. A four-light window was placed east of the north door. An identical window was inserted on the east elevation for attic ventilation.

INTERIOR:

The first floor interior was fitted as a modern kitchen. Eighteenth-century pine floorboards were laid, but all other architectural features were based on colonial precedent. A 3' x 4½' pantry was created on the west side of the room in the location of an original closet which has been converted to a doorway before 1930. A new closet was built on the north side of the chimney. The space under the roof was left as an unfinished storage closet.

In 1936 a one-story "lean-to" was built on the north side of the wing. It measured about 11½' x 11½' and contained a maid's room, bathroom and passage. Though loosely based on eighteenth-century precedent, it was an unauthentic feature. The addition was removed in 1954.

ENLARGEMENT:

The middle shop was amplified in 1954 to reinstate its accurate original size. The east end was lengthened by about three feet and a full basement was dug beneath the shop. Several changes were made to the exterior. A new east window matching the one in place, was inserted on the south elevation. Beneath it was added another basement grille. An uncovered wood stoop was replaced on the north elevation. (The one built in 1930 was removed in 1936 when the "leanto" was constructed.) A sloping bulkhead, exactly like the one on the north elevation of the Geddy House, was put at the northeast corner of the shop. The roof covering was changed to round-butt, cement-asbestos shingles. Two gable JAMES GEDDY HOUSE
South Elevation-Restored
1930 Page 32 dormers were framed into the roof: one dormer was built in the center of the south r slope; the other was added on the north elevation. The details of the dormers include tapered rake boards, flush boarded tympana, diagonal, beaded flush boards covering the cheeks and fifteen-light, double-hung sash. Similar original A-roofed dormers are found at the Dr. Barraud, Braken and Coke-Garrett houses. As a result of the alteration, the floor area was increased in the modern kitchen on the first floor of the shop. The second-story room was finished with typical colonial details and connected to the original house as a bedroom.

EXTERIOR:

As part of the 1966 project, several features were altered on the exterior the middle shop. The west window on the south elevation was converted to a rectangular bay window, copied from an original shop window at the Printing Office.²³ Bay window were typical features of shop buildings in the eighteenth-century. The window was topped with a pediment gable, harmonizing with the gable end of the east Geddy Shop (see Page 55). The use of a pediment as a window detail denotes a late eighteenth-century embellishment. The motif occurred frequently in Southern and New England architecture and original examples are found, for instance, at the Edward Dexter House in Providence, Rhode Island, the Governor Woolcott House in Litchfield, Connecticut, and the William Gibbs House in Charleston, South Carolina. The projection of the Geddy House bay window allows sash and glass on three sides: the front has twelve lights and each side has a vertical row of four panes. To enclose the three sides of the shop window, four-valve paneled shutters, hinged and secured with a wrought iron Page 33 bar, were fashioned following a model at Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia. The profile of the shutter panels was copied from shutters that were placed on the southeast window of the east shop in 1954. For reasons of security, paneled shutters were commonly used on shops and stores in eighteenth-century Williamsburg. The east window on the street elevation of the middle shop was changed to a door in 1966. A wood stoop, like the one on the north elevation, was constructed in front of the door-way.

A wood gutter was suspended from wrought iron straps against the cornice on the north elevation. The occurrence of wood eaves gutters in eighteenth-century Williamsburg has been documented, but examples are rare.

A roughly finished, pine fire ladder was installed on the roof of the shop. It was reproduced as a double ladder and, straddling the roof ridge, it has rungs on both the north and south roof slopes. Fire ladders were liberally scattered throughout Williamsburg in colonial times. A French traveler commented in 1781 that "upon [nearly all] the roofs are to be seen fire ladders."²⁴ The purpose of the ladders was to provide speedy access to roof fires ignited by chimney sparks falling on the combustible wood shingles. The ladders were permanent, though moveable, features and could be reached by secondary ladders on the ground or from second story windows.

The exterior of the middle shop was repainted in 1966 with the same three colors used on the Geddy House: gray-green, light gray and red (see Page 16).

INTERIOR:

Changes to the first floor room in 1966 involved removal of the modern kitchen fixtures and installation of authentic shop furniture. Architraves for the new door and shop window in the south wall were copied from original examples in the Geddy House. The other basic trim was already of appropriate colonial character. The woodwork in the room was painted a pale green color. Shelves were fitted into the 34 the shop window for the display of silversmith wares. Two walnut hanging cabinets were designed according to eighteenth-century precedent and mounted on the east and west walls. The doors across the front of both cabinets were finished with glass panes. Two jeweller's benches and a draw bench, pieces of moveable furniture, were reproduced for the room. The poplar jeweller's benches have heavy, kidney-shaped, gum tops and are fitted with leather aprons. Eighteenth-century prototypes were reference for the design of the work benches. Diderot's The Book of English Trades ^{Diderot's Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire [illegible] des [illegible] Arts des [illegible]}, published in London in 1821 ^{Paris in 1762}, contains drawings of similar benches.²⁵ The furniture was given a natural wood finish ^{, except that the lower portions of the work benches were painted pale green.}

No attempt was made to complete the second floor with authentic appointments. Modern cabinets, shelves and work benches were built along the walls of the room, so that it could be used for storage when the shops become craft exhibitions.

RECONSTRUCTION:

The original foundations, in conjunction with the 1760 deed of lease, revealed many fundamental aspects of the original shop. Specifically authenticated were the dimensions of the shop and its rooms, the circumstance of a north addition, the size of the basement, the locations and measurements of the north chimney and JAMES GEDDY HOUSE and SILVERSMITH SHOP
South Elevation-1954 35 south bulkhead, the bond of the foundation brickwork, and the placement of stone steps on the south elevation. Otherwise, the design of the shop was based on typical eighteenth-century precedents. New materials were used in the reconstruction.

EXTERIOR:

The foundation walls were rebuilt in English bond. Beaded weatherboards were used as facing. The cornerboards were replicas of originals on the Geddy House. Indicative of original ^{eighteenth-century}alterations at different periods, the south cornerboard between the two shops was left in place and cornerboards were applied on the east and West elevations about ten feet from the north end. The same profile of the box cornice on the intermediary shop was carried over to the new cornice. The end boards on the north elevation were transposed from the east end of the middle shop.

The ridge of the A-roof was set at right angles to the roofs over the Geddy House and middle shop; consequently, the gable ends were oriented to the north and south. Tapered rake boards were mounted along the north roof line. On the south elevation a pediment gable was created by continuing the box cornice along the roof eaves and horizontally across the front of the shop. The tympanum was finished with horizontal, beaded flush boards. A similar pediment gable facing Duke of Gloucester Street occurs on the original, brick Prentis Store. The Geddy Shop roof was covered with square-butt, cement-asbestos shingles. Two dormers, exactly like the ones added to the middle shop, were framed into the roof on the east elevation; another dormer was built into the west roof slope.

Two features on the south elevation, the stone steps and the bulkhead, were confirmed by archaeological evidence. The sloping bulkhead was modeled after the one reconstructed on the north elevation of the Geddy House in 1930. American cut stone, a blue stone with split face approximating English stone imported in the eighteenth-century was used for the steps. The stone segments were arranged with a return on 36 the west side and were secured together with mortared joints and wrought iron cramps imbedded in lead. The steps were abutted against the bulkhead on the east side. An eighteen-light window, duplicating the original first floor windows in the Geddy House, was placed near the southeast corner. In contrast to the original louvered shutters on the Geddy House, paneled shutters were installed. Similar three-panel shutters are found at Wales in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. A twelve-light, double hung window, without shutters, was inserted in the tympanum near the roof peak. The front door was put on the west side of the south elevation. It was enframed within a three-member architrave and decorated with a four-light transom. The design of the doorway aesthetically links the original house and the shop, for it relates to the second story doorway on the south elevation of the Geddy House. The feature is typical in the locality; at least twenty original doorways with overhead transoms exist in Williamsburg.

On the west side, the south portion of the shop was attached to the middle shop. This left only the west elevation of the north room visible. A ten-light window, with a board-and-batten shutter hinged at its south side, was framed into the north room's west wall. An identical window was placed opposite on the east elevation. Below the east window a basement grille was built into the foundation wall. A wood gutter on the west elevation was joined to the gutter at the back of the middle shop.

An exterior chimney was replaced over original foundations at the center of the north elevation. Its lower portion was laid in Flemish bond and the T-shaped chimney stack was laid in common bond. The chimney cap differed slightly from the original design of the ones on the Geddy House, though it followed a common colonial pattern. Above the band of cement wash, a single row of bricks was set at the top of the cap. Casey's Gift, an eighteenth-century building formerly in Williamsburg, had identical chimney caps, which served as precedent for a number of reconstructed chimneys in town.

INTERIOR:

The interior of the shop was arranged as a modern residence in 1954, though the architectural features were based on colonial details. Eighteenth-century pine floorboards were used. Though they shared a common wall, no connection was provided between the larger house and the east shop. The shop was planned as a detached dwelling.

REVISION:

Few exterior modifications were requisite in preparing the east shop for exhibition in 1966. The stone steps in front of the south door were rearranged, omitting the return. A wrought iron hand rail was added on the west side of the steps. The alteration to the steps is evident in the sliced cramps which remain on the east and west sides. The hand rail reflects the design of the wrought iron railing spanning the south end of the Geddy House entrance porch. A sign for the Geddy Silversmith Shop was influenced by shop signs depicted in various eighteenth-century prints. It was copied specifically from a silver cup made in London, ca. 1738, by Peter Archambo. The chalice is owned by Colonial Williamsburg and is displayed at Craig's Golden Ball. Signifying James Geddy, Jr.'s., ownership, the sign was inscribed with the initials "I.G." It was mounted on the cornerboard between the two shops. The exterior paint colors used in 1966 on the Geddy House were repeated on the east shop.

Because no pretense was made in 1954 to reinstate the east shop's original interior shop arrangement, the floor plan was wholly remodeled in 1966. An archetypal eighteenth-century shop plan is illustrated in Joseph Moxon's Mechanick Exercises, published in England in 1703.²⁶ The plan is rudimentary and presents the essential attributes of a well-organized shop. It consists of a front, sales room supplemented with a rear work, or counting, room. The back room only is heated with a chimney. Archaeological investigation of the east shop's foundation clearly showed that its plan resembled Moxon's pattern, as did many of Williamsburg's eighteenth-century PLAN of SHOP or STORE
Joseph Moxon
Mechanick Exercises
London, 1703 38 shops. In renovating the east shop, the first floor south room above^alone was returned to authentic shop appearance. The first floor north room and the second floor were equipped with facilities for back-up silversmith activities. Two doorways were cut through the east wall of the shop (one on each floor) to give access to the rest of the building. The stairway was put in the north room.

The side walls of the south room have no windows and are sheathed with horizontal boarding. A similar sheathing is original to the first floor south^west room of the Market Square Tavern, Shelves, counters and cabinets were designed on eighteenth-century basis and installed along the north, east and west walls. Shelves were also fitted inside the southeast window. The woodwork was constructed of pine, poplar and gum and painted pale green. The gum counter tops were given a natural finish. A false scuttle was built into the ceiling near the north wall and a ladder attached beneath it. The exigencies of modern safety and utility required the inclusion of an actual stairway in the building, but it was considered suitable to include the scuttle in the exhibition room since it would have existed ^thereoriginally.

^{WORKSHOP KITCHEN:}

The first kitchen (reconstructed in 1932) was dismantled in 1966 to enable reconstruction of the later kitchen. The second kitchen was determined coeval with James Geddy, Jr's. occupancy of the lot. Since the original house was being restored to that period for exhibition, the representation of the outbuildings had to concur.

The general appearance of the kitchen outbuilding was derived from evaluation of its original foundations. The brick pattern vas English bond. An east/west cross wall, which seemed to mark a shed addition, divided the 30'-1½" x 23'-10" outbuilding into two sections. A large interior chimney foundation, with two fireplace openings, rested approximately in the center of the south portion. Judging from the fireplace locations, facing east and west, there were two rooms in the south area. The east fireplace opening was 6'-4" wide; the west fireplace was 5'-3" in breadth. Evidence of paving and stone fragments suggested three entrances: two doors on the south elevation and another near the northwest corner on the west elevation. Archaeological findings in 1967 indicated that a fourth door originally existed on the north elevation, so the present northeast kitchen window will be replaced with a door in 1968. ^{insert on page 40}

The discovery of the two large fireplaces greatly influenced the reconstructed character of the second kitchen. The existence of the fireplaces and the nature of their hearths suggested that the outbuilding had served as both a kitchen and workshop in the eighteenth-century. It was decided to sublimate the kitchen function of the outbuilding in favor of adding metal-crafting on an original site to the expanded exhibition program.

JAMES GEDDY WORKSHOP & KITCHEN

SOUTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

The workshop-kitchen was rebuilt as a one-story frame building, designed to harmonize with the original Geddy House. Its saltbox shape expressed the circumstance of a north addition. The saltbox is usually considered a colonial New England architectural form, but it is equally native to this locality. The north addition and the chimney location were factors influencing the roof design. It was framed with the roof ridge. Centered over the east/west axis of the south segment. The chimney foundation conditions dictated a T-shaped, or double-stack chimney above the roof ridge. The roof was covered with round-butt, cement-asbestos shingles matching those on the Geddy silversmith shops. The exterior facing, beaded weatherboards, was copied from the Geddy House. Double-sheathed exterior doors, appropriate to eighteenth-century shops and outbuildings, were installed. Alberene stone steps, validated by archaeological findings, were placed before the east door on the south elevation and the door on the west side. A brick stoop, also authenticated by excavation ^archaeology, was laid in front of the west door on the south elevation. Seven^Four fifteen-light windows, of typical colonial character, were inserted on the first floor. They were ranged in the following manner: one on the south elevation, one on the east elevation, two on the west side and Three ^{twelve-light windows were placed} across the north elevation. (The northeast window will be deleted before the building is open to the public^{See page 39.}.) Two eight-light windows were fitted in the gable ends at attic level (one on the east elevation, the other on the west). Board-and-batten shutters, reproductions like those on the east shop, were hinged at the first floor windows. The exterior paint scheme of the Geddy House was repeated on the workshop-kitchen.

The interior was fitted as a workshop, to demonstrate the silversmith and brass founding crafts. The north and southwest rooms, which will be used as exhibition areas, were finished with typical eighteenth-century features. Horizontal 42 wood sheathing was applied to the walls and ceiling of the north room and its floor was paved with bricks. The walls of the southwest room were sheathed with the same kind of pine boarding and the floor was brick-paved, but hand-hewn joists were left exposed on the ceiling. In contrast to the horizontal sheathing in the east silversmith shop, the boards on the walls of the workshop-kitchen are not beaded. A 9" x 9" oak bressumer was laid above the fireplace opening in the southwest room and the hearth was elevated 2'-6" above the floor. An operative forge was built into the fireplace²⁷ Appropriate workshop furniture was reproduced for both rooms. The first floor southeast room was given authentic eighteenth-century details, anticipating future exhibition needs. The room will not be open to the public, but could be converted to an exhibition area in the future. A ladder to the unfinished attic was built in the northeast corner of the room.

Archaeological excavation in the summer of 1967 exposed vestiges of additional eighteenth-century outbuildings in the area north of the original house. These included a dairy, smokehouse, necessary house, and brass founding shop. Two eighteenth-century wells were found; one was situated a few feet north of the existing wellhead, the other straddled the east property line. Between the latter well and the southeast corner of the workshop-kitchen an exterior forge, or oven, was discovered. Remnants of three brick drains were unearthed. They were located south of the Geddy House, west of the present wellhead and extending outside the west property line. A quantity of brick paving and marl was uncovered generally concentrated in the area between the house and workshop-kitchen. On the basis of these recent archaeological findings, the dairy, smokehouse, and necessary house will be reconstructed in the immediate future.

Landscaping will also be accomplished within the next few months, replacing features which definitely existed in the eighteenth-century and cultivating plants appropriate to the period.