Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

NORTH ELEVATION

THIS FACADE ALMOST COMPLETELY SYMMETRICAL

The north facade of the Alexander Purdie House (see pp. 7, 19, 26 for views of this) is, above the foundation level, unlike the corresponding elevation of the King's Arms Tavern, completely symmetrical. The porch and the entrance doorway sheltered by it are located on the center axis of the building. At either side of these are three windows each located at the same distance from the axis at its counterpart on the opposite side. Within each group 157 of three the distance separating the windows is uniform.

PLACEMENT OF DORMERS LIKEWISE SYMMETRICAL

Above the first floor level are five dormers, the center one and the two flanking this being located on the axis of the windows below. The end dormers depart from this rule of placing dormers over windows and stand above the wall spaces between the end windows and those adjacent to them.

The location of the two T-shaped chimneys athwart the roof ridge brings these prominently into view on this facade. The chimneys, likewise, are symmetrically located in respect to the center axis of the House and they stand at either side, in respect to their east-west position, "over" the space between the window nearest the door and the center window of each group of three.

BASEMENT GRILLES, HOWEVER, FOUND ONLY ON ONE SIDE

The single departure from symmetry of any consequence in the north elevation is the case of the grilled basement openings, the east side having two of these beneath the middle and end windows while the side west of the porch has, in lieu of them, two ventilation apertures located on the center lines of the corresponding two windows.

VERTICAL JOINT IN BRICKWORK MARKS EXTENT OF ORIGINAL BUILDING

It should be noted, that at a point approximately 18'-5" from the east end of the building a vertical joint has been left in the foundation brickwork to signify that an addition was made at some time to the original building, which lay east of the joint. This joint represents the position of the west face of the transverse wall which may be seen on the archaeological plan of the Purdie House, p. 42, this having been assumed to have been at one time the west exterior wall of the original building. The distance from the west face of this cross wall to the east face of the filled-in trench which gave the location of the east 158 wall was the distance west of the east end of the building at which the architects placed the vertical joint.

WHY DID EXTENSION OF PURDIE HOUSE NOT LEAVE IT ASYMMETRICAL?

In the case of the King's Arms Tavern the asymmetry of the north facade is traceable to two factors, i,e., the enlargement of the building at some period and the present use to which the structure is being put (see pp. 69, 70). These same considerations might well have affected the Purdie House in the same way, viz., made it asymmetrical, although the modern serving pantry, which occupies an area of considerable extent on the first floor of the Tavern, affects the Purdie plan very little. Why, in any case, was the facade made symmetrical?

ENLARGED BUILDING NEED NOT BE ASYMMETRICAL; BOTH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SOMETIMES REVISED IN COURSE OF EXTENSION

We could expect a central hall house built entirely in one period to have a symmetrical front elevation and a building built in two or more periods normally to be asymmetrical. There are, of course, as we have pointed out on p. 70, plenty of exceptions to the first rule and it is likely that many exceptions to the second could also be found. Enlargement of houses was of frequent occurrence in the eighteenth century and in almost all of the old examples of this in Williamsburg the resultant front elevation is asymmetrical. It is readily conceivable, however, that in many cases an owner whose fortune permitted him to enlarge his dwelling would also see fit to revamp the interior in the interest of greater convenience and serviceability and to rearrange the elements of the facades in conformity with the new plan and to improve the exterior appearance of the building. This is what is presumed to have happened in the case of the Purdie House which began its existence, probably, as a narrow, 18'-5" 159 wide building with its gable end turned toward the street. When the building was extended westward it was assumed that the roof and the north facade were radically modified.

REVISION OF FRONT FACADE OF TALIAFERROCOLE HOUSE IS PRECEDENT FOR ASSUMED ALTERATION OF NORTH FACE OF PURDIE HOUSE

Something quite similar to the above happened to the two-story Taliaferro-Cole House. If we examine comparatively the plans and elevations of the two stages in the development of this house we find that the building started out as a side hall structure with a north face 22'-2" wide. This was subsequently (in the first quarter of the nineteenth century) enlarged so that the north facade became over 40'-0" wide. In enlarging the house the plan, roof and north facades were extensively revised. In this case, it is interesting to note, the north elevation was originally symmetrical and was made asymmetrical by the change, an effect, in other words, opposite to that represented in the Purdie reconstruction. The Taliaferro-Cole House, nonetheless, remains a valid example of the remodeling of the plan and facades of a building in the course of its enlargement. In the case of its north facade no one of the original openings was left unchanged, the entrance moving a considerable distance toward the east and the positions of all of the windows being altered.

DORMER ROOFS OF HIPPED TYPE WITH SLOPES LIKE THAT OF MAIN ROOF

The dormers, unlike those of the Tavern, which are pedimented, are of the hipped (sometimes called "snub-nosed") type. This signifies that the front faces of the dormer roofs, instead of being vertical, are sloped, the angle of the inclination, about 47°, being the same as that of the side slopes of the dormer roofs and, also, of the main roof of the building. The dormer roofs are covered with the same type of round-butted asbestos cement 160 shingles used on the main roof of the house (pp. 33, 34).

SIDES COVERED WITH DIAGONAL BEADED BOARDS

The cheeks or sides of the dormers are covered with random width flush beaded boards which are placed diagonally and have the same inclination as the adjacent roof of the building.

MOLDINGS OF DORMER AND ITS SILL

The dormer window enframement (4 3/8" wide) is somewhat simpler than that of the Tavern dormers, consisting of a cyma reversa backband on the outside and a fascia, the bottom edge of which is beaded, toward the window opening. The sills are of the square cut variety and are similar to those of the Tavern dormers. They run the width of the frame (3'-1½") and receive the stiles of the latter.

The parts of the frame and the sill are held together by hand riven hardwood page, driven through mortise and tenon joints. A crown mold similar to that of the Tavern dormers (p. 47) and consisting of a cyma recta, fillet and cyma reversa, runs across the top of the frame and continues along the sides at the eaves live.

DORMER WINDOWS HAVE 15 LIGHTS; GLASS SIZE; MUNTIN PROFILE

The windows, like those of the Tavern, have 15 lights, being five lights high and three wide, and the overall dimensions of the opening are 4'8½" x 2'-4". Both the upper sash (two lights high) and the lower (three lights high) operate with the aid of cylindrical metal counterweights, and the sash are separated by hardwood parting strips. The glass size is 8" x 10 ¾" and the panes are made of salvaged old glass. The muntin profile is one of common occurrence and is similar to that used for the sash framework of the Tavern windows (p. 71). The parts of the sash frames are also joined by mortise and tenon joints, secured by hardwood pegs.

PRECEDENT FOR HIPPED ROOF OF DORMERS

The precedent for these dormers was found in Williamsburg. Original old dormers of the hipped type existed on the north roof slope of the John Blair House. These were repaired and left in place. The Moody House has on its south roof slope three hipped dormers, of which the two end ones are reconstructions of old snub-nosed dormers found in place.

DORMERS OF BLAIR AND MOODY HOUSES HAVE SIDE WALLS COMPOSED OF INCLINED FLUSH BOARDS; THEIR WINDOW FRAMES & SILLS

The sides of both the Blair and the Moody dormers are covered with random width flush beaded boards which are set on the diagonal and, in each case, have the same slope as the adjoining roof surface. The window frames of the Blair dormers have the same profile as the Purdie frames. The Moody frames are also similar except that the backband has, in addition to the usual fillet and cyma reversa, a bead along its outside edge. The sills in both of these examples are of the square cut type like the Purdie dormer sills.

CROWN MOLDS OF BLAIR AND MOODY DORMERS RESEMBLE THAT OF PURDIE'S

The crown mold of the Blair and Moody dormers serves the same purpose as its counterpart in the dormers of the Purdie House. In the Blair dormers the profile is the same as in the Purdie dormers but in the Moody crown mold a quarter round takes the place of the cyma recta as the top element of the profile.

PRECEDENT FOR 15 LIGHTS OF PURDIE DORMER SASH AND FOR MUNTIN PROFILE

The windows of the Blair dormers are five lights high and three wide like those of the Purdie dormers but the sash are, over against the latter, reversed top and bottom, the top sash being three lights high and the bottom two lights high. The dormer windows of the Moody House are only four lights high so that they can't be considered as precedent for our dormers. The dormer windows of the Bracken House, however, are five lights high and three wide with six lights in the upper sash and nine in the lower. The muntin profile in the case of the windows of both the John Blair and the Moody dormers 162 takes the same basic form as it does in the Purdie dormer sash.

MODILLION CORNICE OF PURDIE HOUSE SIMILAR TO THAT OF TAVERN

The main cornice on the north and south facades of the Purdie House is a modillion cornice of the same type as the main cornice of the King's Arms Tavern (pp. 48-50). Since it is composed of the same basic elements as the Tavern cornice the description of the latter given on p. 49 will apply to it in a general way, even though the sizes of the elements of the Purdie cornice are not the same as those of the Tavern cornice. Another point of difference lies in the fact that the modillion blocks of the Purdie cornice are somewhat smaller than those of the Tavern cornice and the molding which runs about the top of the blocks is "heavier" than that which in the same way ornaments the blocks of the Tavern cornice. The added height of this molding is due chiefly to the fact that a fillet is here combined with the cyma reversa molding used on the blocks of the Tavern cornice. The center-to-center spacing of the modillion blocks, 9", is 3/8" less than in the Tavern cornice.

COMPARATIVE SIZES OF THE TWO CORNICES; PRECEDENT THE SAME AS FOR CORNICE OF TAVERN

The total height of the Purdie cornice is 13 ¾" and its projection from the face of the weatherboarding about 14½" which means that this cornice is somewhat smaller than the Tavern cornice, both dimensions of which are about 15". The precedent sources cited on pp. 49, 50 as the basis for the Tavern cornice will apply equally well and the cornice of the Bracken House can be added to them. There is, by the way, in the Purdie roof no kick or change of direction at the eaves line as there is in the lower slope of the King's Arms roof.

CORNICE END BOARDS LEAVE MODILLION BLOCKS EXPOSED TO VIEW AT ENDS OF HOUSE

The end boards of the Purdie cornice which we will treat here since they are so intimately related to the cornice itself differ from those of the Tavern (pp. 92, 93) in one chief respect. Like the Tavern end boards they follow the profile of the cornice, but with two departures from this. First, the part covering the bed mold is a simple cyma recta which does not reflect the contour of the more complex molding back of it. Secondly, the horizontal edge of the end board which in the Tavern example drops low enough to hide the modillion block row from the sight of an observer viewing the building from one of the ends, is raised, so that it follows the line of the soffit board. The result is to leave the modillions exposed to view at the ends of the building. In consequence of this, also, the crown mold of the blocks which continues between them along the junction line of the soffit board and the lower fascia has nothing to stop it at the building ends and, consequently, it is returned against the fascia board. An old house in which the end boards follow the cornice profile but leave the modillion blocks exposed is Kempville, a brick building in Gloucester County.

CORNER BOARDS OF "ONE-WAY" TYPE EXIST ON ALL HOUSE CORNERS EXCEPT SOUTHWEST

Since there are in the walls of the Alexander Purdie House no special problems such as those created by the meeting of the brick east wall of the King's Arms Tavern with its wood north wall (pp. 79-81), the corner boards are of the simplest type and of normal size. These boards exist on three of the four corners of the house, the overlap of the pantry leanto eliminating the corner board at the southwest corner. The boards are of the "one-way" type with their 4 1/8" wide broad sides running parallel with the long elevations of 164 the building and their ¼" thick ends turned east and west respectively. The salient edges of these boards have been shaped into a bead, ½" in diameter.

PURDIE PORCH, INDIGENOUS IN DESIGN, IS IN SHARP CONTRAST WITH TAVERN PORCH

The north entrance porch of the Alexander Purdie House, as was noted on pp. 50, 51, can be characterized as Virginian since, in its detailing, it is so far removed from possible European antecedents as to constitute an indigenous form. It is, therefore, in marked contrast with its neighbor, the porch of the King's Arms Tavern which represents the "handbook" type of design in which almost every detail has its classic precedent.

ROOF IS SHED TYPE, COVERED WITH CEMENT SHINGLES

The roof of the Purdie porch is of the shed type, its single inclined plane being an extension of the main roof at a "flatter" angle (27½° as against the 47° of the house roof). The roof covering is the same type of round butted asbestos cement shingles used elsewhere on the roofs of the King's Arms - Purdie building complex (pp. 33, 34).

FOUR POSTS AND TWO THREE-QUARTER POSTS SUPPORT PORCH ROOF

The porch roof is supported by four free-standing wood posts and two three-quarter posts applied to the building. These posts are about 8'-0" high and, though the profile varies, the posts are square in section at every point in their height. The posts and three-quarter posts rest directly upon the wood floor of the porch.

DESCRIPTION OF POSTS

The form of these posts (see drawing, p. 166) is a development of the handicraft art of the Virginia carpenter. The attempt to give the posts refinement has made them more homespun than elegant in character. They have been left square-edged and un-ornamented up to a point about 2'-8½" from the floor. Here the 165 6½" square bottom stage of the post terminates, on each side, in a half circle, the faces of the next stage, the shaft, being cut back 5/8" from the four planes of the base.^* The shaft, which is about 4'-7½" high, diminishes upward to a width of 3 5/8" at the cap. The cap which is carved out of a block 5¼" square and 3½" high is joined to the shaft by a quarter round neaking.

POSTS OF PORCH OF KITTEWAN ARE PRECEDENT FOR THESE

This post type was of not infrequent occurrence in eighteenth century Tidewater Virginia. An instance of its use close to Williamsburg was on the porch of Kittewan in Charles City County, two photographs of which are shown on p. 166.

RAILING IS OF "BALLISTER AND BOARD" TYPE; THE HANDRAIL

A wood railing of unusual design is suspended between the bases of the posts. We have referred to this on p. 166 as a "baluster and board" railing since, between its top and bottom rails, it is made up of square balusters resting on beaded flush boards. The handrail, about 2 ¾" high, has a profile which was very commonly used in Virginia. A sketch of this is shown in the illustration on p. 60 and old local examples of it are also listed on that page.

DESCRIPTION OF MEMBERS OF RAILING

The balusters are 11½" high and 7/8" square and are spaced 166 PORCH OF KITTEWAN, CHARLES CITY COUNTY, WITH SQUARE-SECTIONED, TAPERING POSTS SIMILAR TO THOSE USED ON PORCH OF THE PURDIE HOUSE SHED-ROOFED NORTH PORCH OF ALEXANDER PURDIE HOUSE WITH ITS INDIGENOUS, VIRGINIA-STYLE POSTS, "BALUSTER AND BOARD" RAIL AND DECORATED SKIRTING BOARD. THIS PORCH STANDS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO THE CLASSIC-TYPE, PEDIMENTED PORCH OF THE TAVERN. FOR AN OLD EXAMPLE OF A SKIRTING BOARD SIMILAR TO THE ONE ABOVE, TURN THIS SHEET 167 SCROLLED SKIRTING OVERLAPPING OLD FLEMISH-BONDED BRICK FOUNDATION WALL OF GRIST MILL (NOW DEMOLISHED) AT PROVIDENCE FORGE, NEW KENT COUNTY. THE SKIRTING OF THE PURDIE PORCH WAS DERIVED FROM THIS DETAIL. 168 about 4½" center to center. They are turned on the diagonal like similar balusters of an old stair at Woodville in Essex County. The balusters are notched out at the bottom to fit over the top of the upper board which has been cut to a wedge shape. The boards, three in number, are joined by tongue and groove joints and their line of meeting is emphasized by 3/8" beads cut into the upper edges of the two lower boards. The three boarded panels rest on a bottom rail 3½" high, the top of which is also wedge-shaped. In addition to the chamfer this rail has on either side an ogee curve, a flat vertical face and a beaded bottom edge.

PRECEDENT FOR RAILING AND FOR ITS PARTS; BEADED FLUSH BOARDING

The particular assembly of elements which constitutes this railing was derived from sketches in the personal notebooks of Walter Macomber who used the same railing type on the front porch of the Custis-Maupin House which was reconstructed under his direction in 1931-32. The individual elements have their precedent in details of various Virginia buildings. The precedent for the handrail and balusters has already been given. Flush boarding, beaded at the joints, was frequently used for wall paneling, for exterior sheathing, for doors, window shutters, etc. in eighteenth century Virginia. Old railings with rails formed of spaced beaded boards running parallel with the handrail are likewise frequently found. An example of this in Williamsburg is the old railing of the stairway in the Nicolson Shop.

OLD RAILS WITH WEDGE-SHAPED TOPS

The bottom rails of two old porches of Bel Air in Charles City County have wedge-shaped tops, though the rails differ somewhat from each other and from the Purdie bottom rail in general design. 169 The sloping-sided rail top was, evidently, primarily a functional device to shed water and thereby aid in the preservation of horizontal wood members which were exposed to the weather.

PORCH PLATFORM & FOUNDATIONS

The porch platform is approximately 13'-3½" long by 6'-3" deep and its surface is elevated about 3'-6" above the surrounding sidewalk. The porch floor is composed of a single layer of 5" x 1¼" tongue and groove long leaf yellow pine boards running the short way of the platform. These are both blind and surface nailed to wood sleepers which in turn rest upon a concrete slab. The latter is combined integrally with the house foundation wall and with 8" concrete walls on the three other sides. These concrete foundations are faced with a 4" thick layer of brickwork laid up, like the facing of the House foundations, in English bond (pp. 35, 36).

SCROLLED SKIRTING AND ITS PRECEDENT

At the front of the porch, beneath the projecting edges of the floor boards and overlapping the foundation brickwork, is a wood apron or skirting about 7 ¾" high and ¾" thick. This is ornamented by scrolled cut-outs (see drawing, p. 166), the precedent for which was a similar skirting board found on the now demolished old grist mill at Providence Forge in New Kent County (see illustration, p. 167). A similar apron detail was found on one of the aforementioned porches of Bel Air, in Charles City County. A molding made up of a fillet and quarter round has been placed at the top of the skirting board to cover the joint between this and the underside of the floor boards.

PLASTERED CEILING OF PORCH

The porch ceiling which for about half its depth is horizontal and, for the rest, inclined at the angle of the roof rafters, is 170 plastered from the weatherboarding to the interior fascia which runs above the heads of the posts. Plastering of porch ceilings was not unusual in the eighteenth century. An old example of this work is the ceiling of the porch at the west end of the south front of the Coke-Garrett House.

CROWN MOLD, RAKEBOARD AND SHEATHING OF PORCH SUPERSTRUCTURE

A transition between the roofing material and the flat, beaded board which serves as a facing for the wood beam which supports the roof at the front is provided by a crown mold, similar to that of the main cornice and made up of a cyma recta, a fillet and a cyma reversa. This crown mold terminates at either side of the porch against a flat rakeboard, the lower end of which is cut to its profile. The rakeboard follows along the roof edge, diminishing in width from 4 3/16" at the bottom to 3 3/8" at the point where it strikes the crown mold of the house cornice. The rake board is a trim feature decorating the triangular tympanum or half gable which is bounded by the porch roof edge, the house and the open, lateral approach to the porch platform. This area on either side of the porch and on the inside of the latter, as well as the outside, is faced with flush, horizontal, random width boarding, unbeaded except in the case of the lower edge of the bottom board. The north wall of the porch is formed by the weatherboarding of the house wall and contains the main entrance doorway, placed on the transverse center axis of the porch.

PORCH PLATFORM APPROACHED BY STEPS FROM EITHER SIDE

The porch platform is approached from either side by a flight of five steps of which the upper four are of wood and are supported by open wood stringers. The lowest step on either side is an unmolded block of Indiana limestone, 6'-1" long, 1'-9½" wide and 171 about 7½" high. This supports the lower ends of the stringers or carriages which bear the treads and risers of the steps.

STAIR TREAD AND PROFILE OF STEP

The stair treads which are 1 1/8" thick and, with their nosings, a little over a foot deep, project about 1¼" beyond the risers and the outside face of the north stringer. The outside edge of the boards forming the treads has been shaped to a half round and has, set back beneath it, a molding made up of a fillet and quarter round. The nosing, molding and riser face form a step profile which, executed in stone or in wood, was in common use in Virginia in the eighteenth century. An old stair having this step profile is the main interior stair of the Tayloe House.

WOOD STRINGERS

The stair stringers are cut from boards 1 5/8" thick, the two lower edges of which are beaded. The two flights of wood steps have been left open beneath, which was not uncommon in Virginia where the free circulation of air beneath exposed wood members serves as a preventive against rotting.

STONE STEPS AND THEIR PRECEDENT

The Indiana limestone used for the two lowest steps bears, in color and texture, a close resemblance to the English Portland and Purbeck stones which were often imported for use in Williamsburg in the eighteenth century. The use of a block of stone at the base of a flight of wood steps, an effective way of avoiding the rotting of the lowest step, is illustrated in its use with a flight of wood steps at the north entrance porch of the Tayloe House. The original wood steps in this case had been replaced by newer ones but part of the old stone bottom step remained in place.

PRECEDENT FOR SHED ROOF AND LATERAL STEP ARRANGEMENT OF NORTH PORCH

The total assemblage of details used in this porch is not found in any old example in Virginia. The derivation of the 172 posts, railing and other details has been discussed. Shed roofed porches were common enough, two nearby examples being the porch roofs of Rose Garden in New Kent County and of Farmington, five miles east of Charles City Court House. In the former case the shed roof of the porch begins at a point a few feet above the eaves line of the main roof but in the latter the shed, like that of the Purdie porch, starts at the base of the main house roof. In both cases the shed roof has a lower inclination than the main roof. The arrangement of the porch platform with a straight flight of steps approaching it from either side has its basis in the porch of an old house which once faced the court House in Culpeper. Here the arrangement was the same as that of the Purdie porch, though the detailing was different. The scheme was derived from a post card reproduction of a Civil War period photograph of the house in question.

NORTH DOOR IS 6-PANELLED TYPE WITHOUT TRANSOM

The north entrance door of the Purdie House, located on the center axis of the porch, is of the six-panel type with two pairs of vertical rectangular panels below a pair of smaller rectangular panels placed with their long sides horizontal. Unlike the front door of the Tavern this door has no transom.

DIMENSIONS OF DOOR AND DESCRIPTION OF PANELS

The door is 6'-10 5/8" high by 3'-2" wide. The four larger panels are 2'-0" long and 1'-1½" wide and the smaller ones are 1'-1½" x 10". The door has the same stile and panel profiles on the exterior and the interior. The moldings are similar to those of the north door of the Tavern (see cross-section, p. 65), the single difference between the two lying in the fact that in the case of the Purdie door a quarter round is inserted between the 173 sloping surface of the panel tongue and the flat plane of the raised panel.

PRECEDENT FOR THIS DOOR

The particular arrangement of the panels of this door represents one of a variety of panel patterns found in the panelled doors of colonial Virginia. The old north entrance door of the Charlton House has six panels, the lower two pairs of which consist of equal vertical rectangular panels and the upper pair of smaller ones, in this case, being almost square. This door, however, has raised panels and moldings on the exterior only. The old east entrance door of Greenway, Charles City County, answers the same description. An old six-panelled door with the same panel treatment on both sides is the old door from the Chiswell House which now serves as the south entrance door of the Barraud House. This door, however, has a different distribution of panels, a pair of elongated panels being located at the top and the bottom with a pair of smaller panels placed between these.

DESCRIPTION OF DOOR FRAME

The exterior frame of the front door is of a type commonly used in colonial Williamsburg and consists of a cyma reversa backband followed by a fascia, a smaller cyma reversa, a smaller fascia and a bead. This frame differs in profile from the exterior frame of the Tavern front entrance door in having no bead at the bottom of the backband and in being ½" higher than the Tavern door frame (6" as against 5½").

PRECEDENT FOR FRAME

The precedent for the above frame with its particular sequence of moldings is readily found in old door frames of Williamsburg. There are a number of similar old frames in the Brush-Everard House, the Tayloe House, the Barraud House and elsewhere.

DOOR SILL

The Purdie door frame rests on a square out wood sill almost identical in design and size with the sill of the north door of the Tavern (see p. 67 for description of and precedent for the latter sill).

CONSTRUCTION OF DOOR AND DOOR FRAME

The parts of the door, and of the door frame and sill are set together with mortise and tenon joints secured in place by means of hardwood pegs driven through them. The stiles of the door, which run through from top to bottom, have the mortises in them. The tenons of the rails, which fit into these, pass completely through the stiles, so that their ends are visible on the side faces of the door.

DOOR HARDWARE

The door hardware consists of modern reproductions designed after colonial models. The items are a pair of wrought iron HL hinges similar to CW 13" (C.W. F-3) and one right hand brass rim lock, 6" x 10", with two brass knobs and four keys. The hinges are nailed in place in the same manner as in the case of the north door of the Tavern (p. 68).

LANTERN SUSPENDED FROM WALL BESIDE DOOR

The illumination of the north porch of the Purdie House is provided by a modern reproduction of a colonial lantern, suspended from a wrought iron lamp hook attached to the weatherboarding of the house front just east of the doorway. The lantern is described as being similar to Plainville Metal Works #11091. It is made of sheet metal with a flat black finish and has a candelabra base for an electric candle bulb. The wrought iron lamp bracket is similar to type 2, plate 11, C.W.I. hardware folder. The precedent for this bracket was an old bracket sketched by Singleton P. Moorehead at Nantucket, Massachusetts.

NORTH FACADE HAS SIX WINDOWS OF 18 LIGHTS, EQUIPPED WITH SHUTTERS

The north facade of the Purdie House has six 18-light double hung windows,^* each of which is divided into two 9-light sash which are separated by hardwood parting strips and slide vertically with the aid of metal counterweights. Each window is provided with panelled shutters. The windows have their precedent in the four old 18-light windows of the west front of the Brush-Everard House.

WINDOWS HAVE SYMMETRICAL ARRANGEMENT

The symmetrical placing of the windows in the facade in a group of three on either side of the centrally located porch, as well as the fact that within either group of three the windows are located at equal distances from each other, have already been discussed on pp. 148, 149. It remains for us to treat the windows in detail.

DESCRIPTION OF SASH, FRAME AND SILL

The window openings are 6'-1" high by 2'-6" wide. The size of the glass pane is 8½" x 10 ¾". The profiling of the stiles, rails and muntins is similar to that of the Tavern windows (see cross section, p. 71). The exterior frames are of the simple block type which is employed where shutters are used. These are also found on the north windows of the Tavern and they are fully described on p. 72. The width of the stiles and head of the Purdie frame is, however, only 3½" as against 4" for the King's Arms frame so that the dimensions of the parts are somewhat different from those of the latter. The sills are of the square-cut, block 176 type whose only ornamentation is the bead which runs along the bottom and lines up with the bead of the neighboring weatherboard. These sills are similar to the ones used on the windows of the pantry leanto and the precedent is also the same (p. 112).

SHUTTERS ARE PANELLED, WITH PROFILES LIKE SHUTTERS OF KING's ARMS

The shutters, as was stated above, are of the panelled type with moldings similar to those of the panelled shutters of the Tavern. For a discussion of these and their precedent and the subject of eighteenth century shutters generally, see pp. 73-76.

EACH SHUTTER DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS; DISTRIBUTION OF PANELS

The feature of these shutters which is of particular interest is the fact that each valve or leaf is divided in the middle so that half of the window can be covered and half left uncovered as desired. Each two part shutter is 6'-2½" high and 1'-4½" wide and has four panels, an elongated one at the top and bottom and two nearly square ones between them, so that, with the division in the center, each half shutter receives a rectangular and a squarish panel.

^{Dutch characteristic}

USES OF DIVIDED SHUTTERS

It is readily conceivable, in the case of a house such as this one located directly on the main street, that the lower halves of the shutters on occasion might, for privacy's sake, have been closed, cutting off the view of the interior from without but allowing light to enter through the upper sash. Or, in hot weather, it might have been thought desirable to exclude part of the light by closing the upper halves of the shutters, leaving the lower halves open for the sake of visibility from within.

PRECEDENT FOR THEM

The first floor windows of the east elevation of Marmion at King George Court House had divided panelled shutters in 1936 when 177 an architect of the Historic American Buildings Survey measured the mansion. These shutters had the same type and distribution of panels as the Purdie shutters. The manner in which such divided shutters might be used is illustrated in a photograph on p. 154 of The Early Architecture of North Carolina by Johnson and Waterman. The picture shows the front elevation of Hayes, a great plantation house dating back to 1801 at Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina. Here the lower halves of the shutters of the two main floors have been left open, while the upper halves have been closed.

SHUTTER HARDWARE

Since each of the Purdie shutters has two sections rather than one there are twice as many shutter hinges to each window as normally. These, like the remainder of the shutter hardware, are reproduced after colonial models. They are the 12" long, type 2 wrought iron pintel hinges which are shown on Plate 1-A of the C.W.I. Hardware Folder and, as suggested above, there are four pairs to each window. The other hardware consists of the following: three 6" long wrought iron cabin hooks and staples similar to CW F-21, two for use as hold-backs when the shutters are open and one to secure them to the sill when they are closed; two 5" long wrought iron surface bolts, CW F-18, one to each window, to lock the two halves of each shutter together when they are functioning as a unit and one wrought iron surface bolt, CW F-18 to lock the valves together when they are closed.

FACADE HAS TWO BASEMENT OPENINGS WITH WOOD GRILLES AND WINDOWS
BASIS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF GRILLED OPENINGS

There are two basement openings on the north facade located on the axes of the two easterly windows. These are equipped with wood grilles and frames and behind them are three-light wood basement windows, hinged at the bottom to swing in. These openings bring 178 light and ventilation to the Help's Dining Room in the basement. The remainder of the brick foundation of this facade forms the north wall of the Boiler Room where, due to the existence of the heating and air conditioning equipment, fenestration is not seriously needed. This distribution of basement windows in the north facade is based upon the probable basement window arrangement in the Purdie House in colonial times. We know that the approximately 18'-0" wide early east portion of the house had a three-foot deep basement since old steps were found at the southeast corner leading to this (see archaeological plan, p. 42). This basement would have required the light and ventilation afforded by grilled openings, so that such openings, five in all, were placed in the exterior foundation walls of this part of the reconstructed building. Since there is no evidence that a cellar existed under the addition to the west it was not felt that basement windows should be put in the brick walls enclosing this area, the openings there being confined to the ventilation apertures to be described presently.

THESE OPENINGS SPANNED BY SEGMENTAL ARCHES

Unlike the basement openings of the Tavern, which have horizontal heads (pp. 76-78), the grilled openings are round-headed, being spanned by brick segmental arches one brick course high with a radius of curvature at the soffit of 3'-6". Between the curved underside of the arch and the straight-headed grille frame is a flat board or tympanum.

DESCRIPTION OF GRILLE FRAME & SILL

The size of the grille frame is 3'-0" x 1'-10 3/8" and the stiles and headpiece of the frame are 4½" wide. The frame is ornamented with a backband composed of a fillet and a cyma reversa and, on its inside edge, by a bead ½" in diameter. The face of the frame lines 179 up with the tympanum above but the backband projects 1" beyond both of them. The sill is square-cut, its sides lining up with the outside edges of the backband, and it is brought out flush with the brickwork. The frame and sill are held together by mortise and tenon joints held secure by hand-riven hardwood pegs driven through them.

GRILLE HAS FOUR WOOD BARS PLACED HORIZONTALLY

The four wood bars composing the grille are square in section, 1" on a side, and are placed horizontally in such wise as to present an edge to the observer. They are let into the frame jambs at either side. Unlike those of the Tavern these grilles are not divided by a central mullion.

BASEMENT WINDOWS

The windows behind the grilles are 2'-4 1/4" wide and 1'-2 7/8" high. They are divided into three lights and have the same molding profile as the first floor windows above.

PRECEDENT FOR GRILLES AND WINDOWS

Several old grilled basement openings in Williamsburg which serve as precedent for these grilles have been discussed on p. 78 and the eight round-arched grilled basement openings found at Hillsborough in King and Queen County are a further example. The precedent for the use of windows behind basement grilles has been given on pp. 76, 77.

VENTILATION OPENINGS

In the basement wall, on the axis of the two westerly windows, are two ventilation openings 1'-3 3/8" high and 4½" wide. These run through the wall and are provided on its inside face with framed bronze screens as a protection against insects. These openings are similar to the ventilation opening in the south foundation wall of the wing.

BASIS FOR LOCATION OF CHIMNEYS; THEIR UPPER PARTS ARE IDENTICAL IN DESIGN

The location of the two chimneys in relation to the north elevation has been discussed on p. 149 and they are shown on the elevations, pp. 26 and 27. The east chimney was built at the approximate point where burnt brick fragments and wood ashes were uncovered in the course of the archaeological investigations (p. 42). There was no such evidence for the west chimney which was placed in a relation to the west wall similar to that of the east chimney to the east wall, on the assumption that the north facade of the building had been symmetrical. The parts of the chimney shafts which appear above the roof are identical, though they are, of course, reversed in respect to each other, the "stems" of both of the "T's" facing toward the center of the building. Within the building, the chimneys differ from each other in form as a result of the fact that the rooms they serve are different from each other.

SPACES SERVED BY EACH CHIMNEY

The east chimney serves a fireplace in the East Dining Room on the first floor (room #1 on plan, p. 197) and one in the "Office" (see p. 6) on the second floor. In addition to the two flues for these fireplaces it contains an attic vent. The west chimney serves fireplaces in the Middle and West Dining Rooms (#2 and #3) as well as one in the living room of the second floor apartment. It contains the three flues for these fireplaces and also a flue for the boiler in the basement.

CHIMNEY BRICKWORK

The brickwork of the Purdie chimneys has already been discussed, pp. 35, 36, 38, 41 and 43.

SHAPE AND DIMENSIONS OF CHIMNEYS

The two chimneys rise about 3'-11" above the roof ridge. They are T-shaped in horizontal section (see p. 86 for a discussion of 181 this chimney shape and p. 89 for precedent examples for it in Williamsburg). The dimensions of the chimney section at the attic level are the following: greatest width, 3'-11½"; total depth, 3'-3"; width of "stem" of "T", 2'-2" and depth of stem, 1'-1".

DESCRIPTION OF CHIMNEY CAP

The chimney caps are 2'-6" in height. "Reading" from the bottom, they are composed of the following elements: two courses corbelled out, the lower projecting 1" beyond the face of the shaft and the upper 1" beyond the lower; a band made up of two brick courses projecting 1" beyond the last-mentioned course; a surface composed of four brick courses sloping at an angle of 75° and, finally, two terminal brick courses with a cement wash forming a water shed atop the upper one. The faces of this band are again set back so that they line up with the faces of the shaft.

PRECEDENT FOR CHIMNEY CAP

The precedent for the chimney cap, which is rendered distinctive by the steeply-sloping sides, is found in the caps of old chimneys of Bathurst in Essex County and Wilton-on-Pianketank. Though the members of these caps are not identical with those of the Purdie chimney cap, they are closely similar in character to them. One difference in detailing should be pointed out here. In our chimney cap the sloping surface is composed of four brick courses laid horizontally. The slope is obtained by grinding the brick faces down to the required inclination. This method was the one followed in the caps of Wilton but in the Bathurst caps the slope was obtained by laying a row of bricks flatwise at the proper pitch, with the brick ends at the top and bottom. In this case wedge-shaped corner bricks resulted which were produced by grinding down normal brick.

EAST ELEVATION

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The east elevation of the Alexander Purdie House is symmetrical throughout (see elevation drawing, p. 27). It is a gable end modified by the presence of the half hip described on p. 30. On the central axis of the roof hip and the wall is situated, at the second floor level, a 15-light double hung window and at the first floor level are two 18-light double hung windows placed at equal distances north and south of the axis. In the basement wall, centered on the windows above, are two grilled openings backed up by bottom-hinged wood sash. This facade, like the others of the house, is covered by beaded weatherboarding. The grade adjacent to this face of the building slopes moderately toward the north—about 6" in the building width of 26'-2".

ELEVATION DESIGNED LARGELY ON BASIS OF PRECEDENT RATHER THAN EXISTING INFORMATION

Although an insurance policy of 1796 gave the width of this facade (26'-0") there was no documentary evidence other than this to aid in its design. Foundation remains (p. 42) confirmed the width dimensions of 26'-0" and contributed the information that a basement had once existed beneath the eastern part of the building and this lead to the placing of basement windows in the facade. These were the only facts concerning the east elevation which were available to the architects. The latter, therefore, designed this facade using existing colonial structures as precedent for the general arrangement and the detailing.

PRECEDENT FOR HALF HIPS; AXIAL LOCATION OF GABLE WINDOWS GENERALLY RESULTED WHEN CHIMNEY WAS PLACED ON INSIDE

The clipped gable ends of the Bland-Wetherburn House were followed in the design of the half hips (p. 31). The window distribution—gable window on axis, with two first floor windows off the axis but at equal distances from it—is a logical treatment of the end of a building the chimneys of which are located within the area of the house rather than at the ends. In view of 183 the fact that the second story of an A-roofed house is relatively shallow a single axial window was generally deemed sufficient in each gable, particularly where dormer windows were present to assist in the lighting and ventilation of the upstairs rooms. Gable ends having a pair of second story windows were more frequent in occurrence than those with single ones, however, since centered end chimneys, which were more numerous in Virginia houses than interior ones, required an off-center placing of the windows.

EXAMPLE OF GABLE END WITH SINGLE AXIAL WINDOW IN UPPER FLOOR

An example of an old dwelling with an interior chimney and single centrally-located second story end windows is a brick house on the Henley estate along the Mattaponi River. It should be noted that this scheme of gable end fenestration was also followed in the east end of the reconstructed east wing of the Peyton Randolph House, another building in the case of which the archaeological evidence indicated that an interior chimney had existed in the eighteenth century.

DETAILS ALREADY TREATED

The reader should consult pp. 155 and 156 for a listing of subjects already covered. Only such details of this facade as have not been treated elsewhere will be discussed here.

PURDIE RAKE FOLLOWS BOTH INCLINED AND HORIZONTAL ROOF LINES

The cornice end boards were covered in connection with the treatment of the north cornice (p. 163). Closely associated with these are, of course, the rake or barge boards. These are flat boards, beaded at the bottom, which follow the contour of the roof, usually diminishing in width as they rise toward the roof peak and merging at their lower ends with the likewise flat cornice end boards. In this case the rake follows the roof slope upward on either side until it strikes the eaves of the clipped gable, 184 whereupon it continues across the building horizontally. In this case the exposed width of the inclined boards is 4 5/16" at the point where they join the cornice end boards and they diminish somewhat in their ascent.

RAKE HAS MORE PROMINENT MOLDING THAN USUAL. SO IT IS CALLED "HIP CORNICE"

Some rakeboards are provided with a molding along the upper edge. Examples of this are the rake boards of the Orrell and Tayloe Houses. The rake of the Purdie end elevations, likewise, has such a molding at the top but in this case it is sufficiently prominent (2 5/8" wide) that the entire member—molding and flat board—is referred to as a "hip cornice." The molding in question is a cyma recta curve similar in size and contour to the upper curve of the crown mold of the main north cornice. This molding is returned at the bottom against the cornice end board about ¾" in from the outside edge of the latter. It should also be noted that the last 6½" of its length at the lower end is tipped at a slightly "flatter" angle than the remainder of the inclined molding, giving it a terminal "kick" which adds a touch of elegance to it.

PRECEDENT FOR HIP CORNICE

The precedent for this ornamented rake board or hip cornice is a similar member on an old wood dwelling called Bathurst in Essex County. This house is T-shaped with three end elevations all of which have clipped gables. Two of these ends have centered, fully exposed brick chimneys but they become detached slightly below the level of the hip cornice so that the horizontal part of this continues through without interruption.

WINDOWS OF FIRST FLOOR IDENTICAL WITH THOSE OF NORTH FRONT

We have already discussed the location of the windows in the facade (p. 182). The two 18-light first floor windows are in all respects identical with the first floor windows of the north elevation (see p. 175). The divided shutters are also identical with the 185 north shutters and have similar hardware (p. 176).

SECOND STORY WINDOW HAS SAME DETAILS AS THOSE BELOW

The 15-light window in the second story is divided into two movable sash, a lower one of nine lights and an upper one of six. The sash moldings and the frame and sill have the same detailing as the windows below. These windows are 2'-4" wide as against the 2'-6" of the windows below and 4'-10" high as against 6'-2½" of the latter.

PRECEDENT FOR GABLE WINDOW

Menokin in Richmond County has 15-light first floor windows divided into an upper sash of six lights and a lower one of nine. Frequently, contrary to our present day usage, it is the upper sash in eighteenth century vertically sliding windows which has the larger number of panes. Old 15-light windows in which this relationship obtained were the first floor windows of Kis Kis Kiack in York County, a building which has been destroyed by fire. In almost all colonial windows only the lower sash was movable. It was for this reason, perhaps, that the lower sash frequently had fewer lights, on the principle that the smaller the sash the easier it could be made to operate.

SHUTTERS OF GABLE WINDOW

The shutters of the gable window are undivided and have three panels—rectangular ones above and below a square center panel. The detailing of these shutters is similar to that of the shutters below, and the hardware is of the same type. Inasmuch as we have here two rather than four swinging members only two pairs of pintel hinges and pintels were needed and one 5" surface bolt to "lock" the shutters when closed. Three cabin hooks were used as in the case of the divided shutters (see p. 177).

BASEMENT OPENINGS

There are two basement openings centered on the first floor windows. These are precisely like the basement openings in the north foundation wall and have the same equipment (p. 177).

SOUTH ELEVATION

UNAUTHENTIC PANTRY LEANTO OVERLAPS THIS ELEVATION

This elevation is unauthentic in the respect that an element (the pantry leanto) which so far as we know never existed overlaps its west end for a distance of nearly 14'-0" (see elevation drawing, p. 26). This element has already been fully discussed (pp. 98-114) and will not be further treated here.

ANALYSIS OF SOUTH FACADE; ARRANGEMENT OF OPENINGS

If we consider the elevation as it would be without the extension of the pantry leanto, we can say that in the main it is bilaterally symmetrical. The two chimneys which "ride" the roof ridge have, of course, the same relation to the central axis as they do in the case of the north elevation. A porch carried by four posts and two engaged posts, as in the north facade, is located on the central axis and six dormers grouped in pairs (one dormer more than in the north elevation) are symmetrically placed in respect to it, the three on the east side corresponding in position with the three on the west side. With this the symmetry ends and we find on the first floor and basement levels several asymmetrical elements. In the first place, the center line of the entrance doorway, which opens in upon the stair hall, is located 4'-4" east of the central axis in consequence of the fact that the stair hall itself is east of this axis. The four first floor windows, all of which line up with dormers above, are placed in pairs on either side of the axis but the distances of these pairs from the axis are not the same. The two east windows line up with the two most easterly dormers but the two west windows are beneath the first and second dormers, counting westward from the center. The westmost dormer has no window under it since the extension of the pantry leanto usurps the wall space which this would normally have occupied.

BASEMENT BULKHEAD AND WINDOW

A basement entrance in an upright bulkhead, with its center about 3'-6" from the southeast corner of the house further qualifies the symmetry of the facade. In addition to this, there is, in the brick wall a few feet to the westward, a basement window which has no counterpart west of the central axis.

OLD BUILDINGS WITH DIFFERENT TREATMENTS OF FRONT AND REAR FACADES

The difference in the treatment of the south and north facades (see analysis of latter, p. 156) of this house, in which an attempt has, evidently, been made to maintain symmetry, is by no means without basis in eighteenth century building practice. We are referring, in this discussion, to houses which are not complicated by wings or other building features which make the conditions on one side radically different from those on the other and we are again leaving the pantry leanto out of consideration. The Allen-Byrd House which is a completely freestanding two story house without important modifications of its essentially flat facades and which in plan is divided into two equal sides by a central hall running through the house, has, for example, nine windows and a door on the north side and only five windows and a door on the south. Likewise, Carter's Grove in James City County, a two story and a half structure, has two tiers of five openings each on its north elevation and two tiers of seven openings each on the south. The dormer count is the same (five) on both fronts.

OLD BUILDINGS WITH SIMILAR TREATMENTS OF FRONT AND REAR FACADES

There are, of course, a great many colonial Virginia buildings with the same number of openings front and rear and of this state of affairs, the President's House and Brafferton Hall of the College of William and Mary; the George Wythe House, and Westover in Charles City County are good examples.

LISTINGS OF MEMBERS OF SOUTH FRONT ALREADY COVERED

A number of elements of this front which are the same on all four of the house facades were covered early in this report. See pp. 155, 156 for a listing of these. In the case of certain other 188 features which are identical with corresponding features of the north elevation, the discussion of these in the section dealing with that elevation will constitute a sufficient coverage of these members so that they will not be treated further in this part of the report. These elements with the page numbers on which they are treated are as follows:

THE FEATURES REMAINING TO BE TREATED

An examination of the elevation drawing on p. 26 will reveal that features similar to all those of the south elevation except the porch and the details related to it; the entrance doorway and the basement bulkhead have been handled elsewhere. We will discuss these remaining elements in the order just given.

SOUTH PORCH HAS SHED ROOF AND POSTS LIKE THOSE OF NORTH PORCH

The south porch of the Purdie House is of the same unpretentious, indigenous type as the north porch (p. 164, et seq.). Like the latter it has a shed roof but the inclination in this case is 23½° which is 4° less than that of the north porch. The roof is supported in front by four posts of the same design as the posts of the north porch (pp. 164, 165), although their height, 7'-6 ¾" is 6" less than that of the other porch posts. The base and cap are the same as those of the north posts, the height reduction taking place in the shaft. As in the case of the north porch, there are two three-quarter posts applied to the building opposite the end posts of the front row.

DESCRIPTION OF RAILING

The railing in this case is of a simpler, more usual type than that of the north porch. It consists of a molded handrail similar to that of the north porch (see p. 165 and illustration, p. 60), and, with a space of about 6" separating them from each other and from the handrail, two board rails, 5½" x 1 1/8" in size and beaded on each top and bottom edge. The railing, the top of which is 2'-8¼" above the porch floor, is mortised into the lower sections of the posts in the manner followed in the case of the north porch. It runs between the end posts and the engaged ones and between the end posts and the two center ones. The space between these center posts remains open to permit access to the porch which, unlike the north porch, is approached from the front. The beaded board rails of the old stair of the Nicolson Shop and of stairs in a now-demolished ell of the Travis House and in once-existent warehouses at Brandon, Prince George County and Urbanna in Middlesex County were the precedent for the two lower rails.

SKIRTING

The scrolled skirting of the north porch is missing here. The skirting is composed of a flat board about 7 3/8" x 1 7/8" in size, beaded on the outside bottom edge. At the top a quarter round effects a transition between the half-rounded overhanging floor boards and the vertical surface of the skirting.

PORCH AREA; PIERS WITH LATTICEWORK INFILL

This porch is larger in floor area than the north porch, being about 17'-0" x 8'-3" as against the 13'-3½" x 6'-3" of the north porch. The flooring is again 5" x 1¼" tongue and groove long leaf yellow pine boards running the short way of the porch. The construction beneath the flooring is like that of the north porch (p. 169) except that here, in lieu of continuous concrete foundations faced with brick, we have, in appearance at least, six brick piers, each 190 1'-5" wide, with five openings between them in which wood latticework, similar to that used between the piers of the porch leanto (pp. 103, 104, 108, 109), has been placed. The spaces between the piers are, in actuality, not open since a concrete wall runs behind the latticework. On the east and west sides in-swinging, bottom-hinged, steel basement windows of three lights each have been inserted in the concrete wall since the space beneath the porch accommodates, at the basement level, two toilet rooms. The remainder of these two concrete panels and the three of the south side have been painted black to make it appear that the space beneath the porch is open. The use of the concrete foundation wall was permissible here since it is effectively disguised and is detectable only upon close examination.

PORCH STEPS CENTRALLY PLACED; DESCRIPTION OF THESE

The porch is approached from the south by a flight of three riserless wood steps placed on its transverse axis. These are supported by two wood stringers into which the treads are mortised. These are the same in general character as the steps of the rear porch of the Tavern (pp. 104, 105) except that the two top edges are beaded. Another difference between the two sets of steps is that in this case the top edges of the treads do not project beyond the stringers. The precedent for these steps was a flight of two riserless steps which form the approach to the porch of an old house in New Kent County which was photographed in 1929 by Milton Grigg. The stringers of the New Kent steps are, it should be noted, unbeaded. Although the detailing of the New Kent porch is different from that of the Purdie porch, the former represents a precedent example of a centered porch approach.

PORCH FEATURES ALREADY COVERED

All of the features related to the roof—the south cornice, the rake boards, the flush-boarded sides or tympani and the plastered 191 ceiling—are similar in design to the corresponding features of the north porch, so that the coverage of the latter on pp. 169, 170 will hold good for these features of the north porch.

LOCATION OF DOOR AND WINDOW IN PORCH WALL

The weatherboarding of the house face, which is continued through to form the north wall of the porch, is interrupted by two openings, viz., the rear entrance door and a window east of this. The window, which falls opposite the space between the two west posts although it is somewhat east of the center of this space, is identical in character with the other three windows of this facade so that it needs no further attention here. The door does not line up with the entrance steps but is, rather, east of them, being in about the same relationship to the two east posts as the window is to the west ones.

SOUTH DOOR HAS TWO EQUAL VALVES; DETAILS OF DOOR, FRAME AND SILL LIKE THESE MEMBERS OF NORTH DOOR

The south entrance door is a two valve member 6'-7 5/8" high by 3'-2" wide. Each of the two equally wide valves has three panels—two equal rectangular panels 1'-10" high by 10" wide below—and a 10" x 10" panel at the top. The moldings, which have been placed on the inside as well as the outside of the door, are identical with those of the north door (p. 172) and the construction of the door is also the same as that of the latter. The two valves meet in a shiplap joint, the overlapping edge on either side of the door being ornamented with a bead ½" in diameter. The exterior door trim and the sill have the same profiling as the corresponding members of the north door (p. 173).

PRECEDENT FOR DOOR

The old Ritchie House in Tappahannock, Essex County, has a two valve, panelled entrance door with three panels to each valve, the lower ones being elongated vertical panels equal in size and the top one being "squarish."

DOOR HARDWARE

Each valve of this door swings on a pair of 10" wrought iron HL hinges similar to CW. F-3. The remainder of the hardware consists of a brass rim lock, 4½" x 8", two brass knobs and two wrought iron surface bolts 5" long and similar to CW F-19. The surface bolts are attached vertically to the inside face of the east valve of the door and are used as shot bolts to fasten the valve to the floor and ceiling. All of these hardware items are modern reproductions, copied after colonial originals.

PORCH LANTERNS

Hanging from the porch ceiling on 18" chains, one opposite the center line of the door and one about 8" to the right of the center line of the window, are two rectangular lanterns with metal frames and glass sides protected by crossed metal rods. These are wired for electricity and have a candelabra base for a clear type candle bulb. These lanterns are modern reproductions of a colonial lantern and are designated as Plainville Metal Works #11091, catalog #35.

BASEMENT STEPS AND BULKHEAD LOCATED ON SITE OF OLD FOUNDATION

The basement stairs with the bulkhead which houses them, as has been said before, are located in the position of old basement steps uncovered in the course of excavating the site (see archaeological plan, p. 42 and elevation drawing, p. 26). Only four steps were found and the depth of the old basement floor below the present grade was a little over three feet. One descended the four steps and, apparently, entering the house through a doorway in the foundation wall, found himself at the basement level. As matters now stand with the basement floor about 9'-6" below the grade level, many more steps are necessary to reach it. One now descends a flight of six steps directed, like the old one, north and south, arrives upon a landing and continues westward down a second flight to reach the basement floor. The excavations indicated that the old steps had 193 been of brick protected by hardwood nosings. The new steps are of modern reinforced concrete construction, since no attempt has been made within the bulkhead to maintain authenticity. The present steps now lead to a circulation corridor in the wholly modern, utilitarian basement. We will confine ourselves, therefore, to a discussion of the exterior of the bulkhead, the only part which follows eighteenth century precedent in its design.

BULKHEAD COMPARED WITH THAT OF TAVERN

The bulkhead is an A-roofed, gable-ended "cabin" set against the south wall of the house near the southeast corner. It is an upright bulkhead similar in design to the bulkhead of the King's Arms Tavern (pp. 119-123) and has asbestos-cement shingles as a roof covering, brick side walls and a wood front. It is smaller than the Tavern bulkhead, its dimensions being-height, 6'-7"; width, 3'-6" and depth, 5'-7" as compared with the following sizes for the Tavern—height, 6'-4"; width 7'-4½" and depth, 4'-9½". Its roof slope, 31°, is considerably steeper than that of the Tavern bulkhead roof which is 20°.

THICKNESS OF BRICK SIDE WALLS AND BASIS FOR THIS

In the absence of old bulkhead foundation walls to suggest by their size the material out of which the side walls were composed these were constructed of brick following the example of the Tavern bulkhead where the existence of old 18" foundation walls clearly indicated a brick superstructure (pp. 119-120). The same type of brick was used as in the adjacent house foundation walls and, like these, they were laid up in English bond (p. 41). The height of the walls required a thickness of only 8½".

DESCRIPTION OF WOOD DOOR

Since the width of the bulkhead is so much less than that of the Tavern bulkhead a single valve door 3'-1" wide was used. The door, which is round-headed, is composed of four random width, beaded 194 boards held together by two horizontal wood battens nailed to the back. The boards are held to the battens by nails with hand-wrought heads driven through the boards from the outside and clinched on the face of the battens.

HARDWARE OF DOOR

The door is hung from the wood framework of the front on two 32½" long wrought iron strap hinges and swings on two wrought iron pintels. These hinges are reproductions of old ones shown on Plate 8 in the CWI Hardware Folder where they are designated as Type 1. A wrought iron latch, 10½" long, shown on Plate 15 of the Folder and designated as Type 1, holds the door shut. The latter is locked by a rim night latch, 356RB with a wrought iron cover plate on the exterior. Like the hinges and pintels, the wrought iron latch is copied after a colonial model. The night latch and its cover plate are modern and without eighteenth century precedent.

WOOD FRAME OF SOUTH FACE OF BULKHEAD

The bulkhead frame is composed of random width boards and has a round headed opening to receive the door. The frame edges around the opening, as well as its two outside edges, are beaded. The frame extends far enough on either side to cover the ends of the two brick side walls to which it is attached in the manner followed in the case of the Tavern bulkhead (p. 121). Superimposed upon the wood facing along the roof edge at either side is a rake board which diminishes as it ascends toward the roof peak from a width of 4¼" at the base to 3½" at the top. The end of the board is cut straight and tipped at the angle of the lateral crown mold which it receives. This crown mold, which runs along the top of each brick side wall, is the typical cyma recta over cyma reversa molding used as the crowning member of the main cornice of both the Tavern and the House and elsewhere on the two buildings. Resting 195 on a brick foundation beneath the door and extending 5" beyond it at either side is a square-cut wood sill set flush with the door and the wood facing of the bulkhead front.

PRECEDENT FOR BULKHEAD

Since this bulkhead is of the same type as that of the Tavern the precedent example given on pp. 122, 123 for the latter will also serve for it. A reconstructed old bulkhead in Williamsburg should also be mentioned in this connection—the bulkhead which stands against the east side of the Taliaferro-Cole House. This bulkhead existed at the time the house was restored (1940-41) but its condition was so poor that it had to be rebuilt. In the course of this, however, the old lines were carefully preserved so that it may correctly be said to represent the appearance of an eighteenth century bulkhead. The bulkhead is of the upright type and has brick side walls and a wood front. It differs in certain respects from the Purdie bulkhead, however, among other things in having double doors and in that the ends of the brick side walls appear on the front face.

WEST ELEVATION

WEST FACADE IDENTICAL WITH EAST FACADE EXCEPT FOR OMISSIONS BROUGHT ABOUT BY PRESENCE OF SERVING PANTRY

Were it not for the fact that the unauthentic serving pantry extends into and fills roughly half of the 7'-0" wide space between the east end of the Tavern and the west end of the Purdie House, eliminating the south half of each of these facades below the roof level (see pp. 101-102 and elevation drawings, p. 27), the west front of the Purdie House would be identical with the east front. The reader, therefore, by consulting the discussion of the east elevation, p. 182, can obtain information concerning the facade design, detailing of the members and precedent for the work which is as applicable to the west facade as it is to the east. It should be remembered, however, that the west facade lacks all of the elements which are present at the first floor level of the east front from about the center of the house southward to the building corner. This includes an 18-light window; a basement grille and window with the brick foundation wall which holds these; the cornice end board at the southwest corner and the weatherboarding covering the wood wall of this part of the facade. In the eighteenth century these elements which are missing in the west elevation would have been present there for the serving pantry which, as has been said before (p. 1), was added for reasons of present day utility, would not have existed.