Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

THE LIGHTFOOT (NIGHTINGALE) HOUSE
AND OUTBUILDINGS

BLOCK 11, COLONIAL LOTS 13 & 14, BUILDINGS 14, 14A, 14B, 14D, and 12B

THE LIGHTFOOT (NIGHTINGALE) HOUSE AND OUTBUILDINGS

Block 11, Colonial Lots 13 & 14, Buildings 14, 14A, 14B, 14D, and 12B

The Lightfoot House, Dairy and Smokehouse were restored by the Williamsburg Holding Corporation under the direction of Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, architects.

The Lightfoot Kitchen and Wellhead were reconstructed by the Architectural Department of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. Perry, Shaw and Hepburn acted as consultants.

A Research Report on the Lightfoot property was written by Mary McWilliams in 1942. A more comprehensive report was prepared by Mary Stephenson in 1949.

The Archaeological Report was prepared by Herbert S. Ragland, March 12, 1931. Archaeological Drawings were made by James Knight, March 11, 1931.

This Architectural Report was prepared by A. Lawrence Kocher and Howard Dearstyne for the Department of Architecture (Architectural Records) September 2, 1947

LOCATION

The present Lightfoot plot is located on the south side of Duke of Gloucester Street. It extends from the present Kyger lot line (approximately 50 feet to the east of the street line of Queen Street), eastward approximately 125 feet to the boundary of the present Barlow property. It is about 142 feet in depth and is bounded on the south by Restoration property and property owned by Elva G. Kyger. Colonial lots #13 and #14 extended through to Francis Street. They were bounded on the west by the Market Square, and may have included the present Kyger property and the lot on which the Masonic Temple (Francis Street) nowstands.

CHRONOLOGY

(Items concerning the ownership of Colonial Lots #13 and #14, having a bearing on the construction date and architecture of the house. These have been taken from the Research Report on the Lightfoot Residence written in 1942 by Hunter D. Farish and on file in the Department of Research and Record.)

No documents giving the date of the original construction of the house have come to light. The facts presented below suggest, however, that the house may have been built during the second quarter of the eighteenth century.

1733 - Philip Lightfoot, wealthy merchant of Yorktown, was appointed to Governor's Council in 1733, and it is probable that he had acquired a home in Williamsburg by that date.

1747 - Philip Lightfoot in a will, bequeathed to his third son, John Lightfoot, all of his "Lots and Houses in the City of Williamsburg", together with "the furniture in the House at Williamsburg."

1769 - John Lightfoot died without issue within two decades after inheriting his father's houses and lots in Williamsburg. His property probably passed to his eldest brother, William, for in 1769, an orphan child of William's owned lots on the east side of the Market Square, the description of which locates them as lots #13 and #14.

1806 - James City Tax Records show that this second William Lightfoot, known as William Lightfoot of "Tettington", still owned two lots in Williamsburg in 1806. He died in 1809. Maps made during the time lots #13 and #14 were in possession of William Lightfoot of Tettington throw additional light on the history and ownership of the property. The Frenchman's map of 1782 indicates that a building corresponding in size and location to the present Lightfoot House and two other buildings (see section entitled "Outbuildings") stood at the time on the property. The unknown draftsman's map, believed to have been made before 1800, and the Bucktrout map, dated 1803, both show these lots in possession of a person or persons named Lightfoot.

1809 - 1819 - The Lightfoot property appears to have been in litigation following the death of William Lightfoot of Tettington. From 1810 to 1819 two lots in Williamsburg were assessed to his estate.

1839 - In 1839 the property was sold out of the Lightfoot family. In that year William A. Lightfoot of Buckingham County gave a deed to a lot in the city, formerly the property of William Lightfoot of Tettington. The James City Tax Records for 1840 show George W. Southall in possession of a lot "heretofore charged to Wm. Lightfoot's estate." The buildings on the lot were valued at $1,500.

1846 - In 1846, George W. Southall sold the property to William S. Peachy. The James City County Tax Records for 1847 show that the house was valued at that time at $3,100 and the house and lot together at $3,500. The increased valuation which was apparently put on the property while it was in possession of Southall seems to indicate that the buildings had been repaired or enlarged while he owned them. Probably the wing which was attached to the east side of the residence, and which was used by Peachy as a law office, was added at this period. With the exception of this wing and porches on the front and rear, the residence was apparently little altered during the nineteenth century. (For historical data relating to the Lightfoot Kitchen, see section of this report entitled "Outbuildings".)

1888 - The Lightfoot property remained in possession of the Peachy family until 1888, although portions of it seem to have been deeded away before this time. The portion facing Duke of Gloucester Street on which the residence stands appears to have been deeded this year by Bathurst D. Peachy, executor of the estate of William S. Peachy, to Sallie C. Spencer.

1888 - 1924 - During the time the Spencer family possessed the Lightfoot property, various parts of it were conveyed to others. When the Restoration acquired it, the portion of the property facing Duke of Gloucester Street

FIRST FLOOR PLAN
LIGHTFOOT HOUSE
PLATE #1

SECOND FLOOR PLAN
LIGHTFOOT HOUSE
PLATE #1a 4 had been divided into five lots that were in the hands of different owners. The portion of the lot on which the residence stood had in 1924 come into possession of James K. Nightingale and Hilde Austin Nightingale, his wife, and it was from them that the Restoration later acquired it.

PLAN: GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Lightfoot House is a one-and-one-half story, gambrel-roofed building of frame construction faced with weatherboards. Its plan (Plates 1,1a,2), roughly square with a hallway on one side, is a departure from the commonly found Virginia house plan with a central hall flanked by a single room on either side. The first floor plan has a side hallway running the full depth of the building, giving access to two inter-communicating rooms. This floor arrangement suggests the possibility, for which, however, no confirmation has been found, that this type floor plan may have been intended originally for later enlargement into the two-room deep central hall type. These two rooms, which were used in colonial times, presumably, as living room and dining room, have corner fireplaces united into a single chimney, which is contained within the exterior wall of the house. The second floor, approached by a stairway at the rear of the stairhall and occupying its full width, has a similar plan, with two bedrooms located in positions corresponding to those of the rooms below. These rooms are likewise provided with corner fireplaces which are situated over those of the living room and dining room (the present kitchen).

OTHER SIMILAR PLANS IN WILLIAMSBURG

The plan was not exceptional at Williamsburg and a number of

LIGHTFOOT HOUSE
PLANS SHOWING CONJECTURAL ORIGINAL CONDITION OF BUILDING.
SCALE-3/322'=1'-0" 5 examples may be cited of plans which vary slightly in one particular or another from that of the Lightfoot House, but all of which are of essentially the same order. The accompanying chart (Plate #3) shows plans, drawn to the same scale, of four Williamsburg houses, the Lightfoot, Elizabeth Coleman, Powell-Hallam and Orrell Houses, as they are thought to have been in the eighteenth century. These houses are similar in the common possession of a side hallway, corner fireplaces with chimneys contained within the outside walls, frame construction faced with weatherboards and gambrel roofs. In all of them the front room is deeper than the rear room, so that the twin fireplaces do not lie on the transverse center-line of the house.

The stairway of the Elizabeth Coleman house is located approximately midway toward the back rather than at the rear of the hallway as in the Lightfoot House and does not extend from wall-to-wall as in the latter. This leaves a passage around the stairwell on the second floor giving access to the rear bedroom. In the restoration of the Powell-Hallam (Armistead) and Orrell (McCandlish) Houses the stair was placed in the front half of the stairhall. It is L-shaped and terminates on the second floor in a much-reduced hallway serving three bedrooms. On the first floor the area back of the stairway is in both cases partitioned off to create a third room. It is quite likely, however, that in both houses the stairhall originally extended the full depth of the house and it has been shown in this way in the diagrams. The position of the stair in both diagrams is the present one and probably does not represent its original location which was doubtless at the rear of the hall.

Plate #3
SIDE-HALL PLAN WITH CORNER FIREPLACES

THE ABOVE WILLIAMSBURG HOUSES HAVE THE FOLLOWING COMMON CHARACTERISTICS: 1. SIDE HALLWAY: 2: CORNER FIREPLACES WITH INSIDE CHIMNEYS; 3. FRAME CONSTRUCTION FACED WITH WEATHERBOARDS; 4. GAMBREL ROOFS — ALL ARE 1½ STORIES IN HEIGHT —

COMPARATIVE EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS & HALLWAY SIZES

HOUSE EXTERIOR HALLWAY

ELIZABETH COLEMAN-W-36'-6"-D-29'-11"-W-11'-9"-D-29'-0"

LIGHTFOOT W-28'-6"-D-31'-3"-W-9'-7"-D-30'-3"

POWELL-HALLAM W-32'-4"-D-27'-10"-W-11'-10"-D-26'-10"

ORRELL W-27'-10"-D-28'-2"-W-9'-4"-D-27'-3"

SIDE-HALL PLAN IN PENNSYLVANIA

The side-hall plan is not a unique development of Williamsburg since it is found in other parts of the country in colonial and post-colonial times. A number of examples can still be seen in Pennsylvania, for instance, and the Dorsey House near Brownsville, Washington County (ca. 1787) and the Roberts House in Canonsburg in the same county, built about 1800, may be cited. Both houses are two-story stone structures with A-roofs and gable ends. The houses possessed no dormers and the attic spaces were lighted only by small windows in the gable end. Both have ground floor plans closely approaching that of the Lightfoot House - in each case a side hallway extending the full depth of the building serves two rooms on the lower floor. The stair in either case is at the rear of the hallway as in the Lightfoot House.

The Dorsey House departs from the Lightfoot plan in that it has three windows instead of two in the front (living room) facade, and in the separation of the fireplaces in the front and rear rooms. That of the rear room is a corner fireplace located in the angle formed by the exterior wall and the partition dividing the rooms, while the living room fireplace is placed at the center of the side exterior wall of the room.

The Roberts House, the original part of which is shown in Plate #4^*, is still more strikingly similar to the Lightfoot House. Both fireplaces in this case are grouped together about the partition dividing the front and rear rooms, and the windows correspond in number with those in the Lightfoot House (windows without question existed in the rear wall before the present kitchen, removed from our drawing, was added to the building back of the dining room). The Roberts House, furthermore, approaches the Lightfoot very closely in external dimensions with its width of 29' - 3" as against 28' - 6" and depth of 32' - 3" to 31' - 3" in the Lightfoot House.

Plate #4
Plan of Roberts House

Charles Morse Stotz, discussing the Dorsey and Roberts Houses in his book, The Early Architecture of Western Pennsylvania states that it is surprising to find the side-hall plan used in country districts because of its derivation from the city house with blind party walls. This statement is subject to considerable question, since it is quite possible that the plan had a development independent of the city house as was the case with 8 the side hall plan at Williamsburg. The smaller town house of the eighteenth century^* was similar in the general disposition of its first floor plan to the side hall plans which we are discussing, but there is no evidence at hand to support the thesis that these plans were derived from it.^**

DIMENSIONS

The Lightfoot House is 28' - 6" in width (east to west) by 31' - 3" in depth (north to south). The ceiling height of the first floor is 9' - 8" and of the second floor 7' - 9".

CONDITION OF HOUSE BEFORE RESTORATION

The Lightfoot House is a restored rather than a reconstructed house. When it was purchased by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. it had a number of nineteenth-century additions which had to be removed before the work of restoration could begin (Plate #4a)^***. These were as follows:

Plate 4a - Three Views of East Elevation of Lightfoot House - Before, During and After Restoration.

• 1A "modern" porch 7' - 3" in depth extending 17' - 0" across the front (north side of the house) from a point 1' - 6" from the east corner.
• 9
• 2A two-story wing 18' - 4" in width by 21' - 2" in depth on the east side of the house and back 9' - 10" from the north face of the building. This wing, the lower room of which was at one time used as a law office by William S. Peachy, was probably added some time before 1846 by George W. Southall. It housed two bedrooms at the time of its acquisition. A stone wall, 10" high, running north from the northeast corner of this addition to a point on a line with the face of the front porch was also removed.
• 3A leanto across the back (south front) which had incorporated in it on the east side a "Greek" porch 9' - 6" in depth and 19' - 0" in width, and at the west a small bedroom 8' - 4" in width and 9' - 0" in depth (interior dimensions). An open outside stairway to the cellar running under the rear porch was also removed.

OLD FOUNDATIONS

Herbert S. Ragland in 1931 conducted excavations on Colonial Lots #13 and #14, Block 11 and incorporated his findings in a report supplemented by a survey plan of the foundations found there.^* The following brick foundations were described in the report:

• aThat of the house proper located approximately 4' - 0" back of the north property line according to Waddill's survey and about 28' - 0" east of the west line of the lot.
• bThe foundations of a building approximately 18' - 6" in width by 32' - 9" in depth located approximately 9' - 0" back of the north 10 property line and 45' - 0" east of the house foundation. This is thought to have been the kitchen because of the size of the chimney foundation (the fireplace opening was over 7' - 0").
• cA foundation approximately 10' - 0" square located about 21' - 0" to the south of this. This may have been the foundation of the old smoke house which was still standing at the rear of the Lightfoot House, since the dimensions of the smoke house were such that it would fit upon it.
• dA foundation about 10' - 0" x 10' - 0" upon which a dairy house which was still standing would fit. This was about 29' - 0" to the rear of the house.
• eAbout 9' - 0" to the north of this last foundation, two brick pillars, apparently of more recent date. These were perhaps part of the support of a shed which may have stood here at one time.

An examination of the brick foundation walls of the house revealed the following:

The foundation walls were laid up in English bond and were in large part original walls, apparently of the Colonial period. The bricks were red, some salmon-colored similar to those found in the Palace and were laid up in oyster shell mortar with tooled joints. The brick size was 8½" x 4" x 2¾". The walls were approximately 25 courses or 6½ feet in height and 13½ inches in thickness. There was no evidence of brick pavement in the cellar of the building.

The basement window opening on the south end of the east wall was original and unchanged in size (3' - 5" in width and 2' - 1" high). 11 The sill had been removed but the space it occupied had not been patched with brickwork so that its size was shown. Four other basement window openings (one in the east, two in the west and one in the north wall of the house) had been enlarged and a sixth window at the west end of the north wall had been closed up. In the restoration of the building these were rebuilt in their original size (3' - 5" x 2' - 1"). New basement windows and wood grilles, composed of three horizontal members square in section, divided by a center post, were installed. A door opening at the west end of the north wall was not original and was bricked up with old brick of a size and color similar to that in the existing wall.

Three front entrances to the house, or porches, apparently existed at different periods. Part of the bottom piece of weatherboarding under the front door in the north wall had been cut out for a length of 3' - 10-3/8", exposing a wood sill. Below this the brickwork was painted white. Since this was the earliest of three coats of paint found on the walls (a later one being light red and the latest dark red) it suggested that the porch which had covered it was located there at an early period. A fragment of wall of colonial brickwork projecting from the house wall at a point 4' - 3½" from the northeast corner of the building appeared to be part of the foundation wall of this entrance.^*

Immediately to the right of this porch an area painted light red, upon which the outline of steps could still plainly be seen, clearly showed the location of a later porch. A fragment of wall of a period later 12 than that of the house wall standing free of the main foundation at a point 10' - 6" from the northeast corner of the building, was probably part of the foundation of this porch. This porch had been enlarged or superceded by a third one, the porch which existed at the time the restoration work was started. A further late addition found during the examination of the north wall of the house was a flight of three concrete steps retained by cinder-concrete walls, located directly beneath the present basement window at the west end of the north wall. These steps, removed during the restoration, indicated the existence at this point of a cellar entrance of recent date.

A door opening 3' - 0" wide, located in the south wall about 10' - 8" from the southeast corner of the building was quite evidently the old cellar entrance and determined the location of the present area way. This opening had been reduced in size by a pier of modern brickwork which had been built into it. A fragment of a retaining wall of old brickwork, however, bonded into the house wall adjacent to this, served to fix the size of the original cellar door opening (ca. 4' - 7"). Unpainted areas in the first tier of weatherboarding above the foundation wall, suggesting that a bulkhead covering the area way at one time existed here, furnished further proof that this was the original cellar door opening.

ROOF FRAMING

The Lightfoot House has a gambrel roof (Plates #5 and #5a), a roof with its slope broken by an obtuse angle. This roof, also known as the curb roof and the "Dutch" roof (the angle of inclination of the lower slope of the latter was much less steep) was doubtless devised in order to obtain greater headroom in the upper story without increasing the height of the roof.

Although the gambrel roof made its appearance later than the sharp or A-roof, it existed rather early in the colonies - it is said to have been used in New England as early as 1680. It became extremely popular in certain parts of Virginia; in Princess Anne County, for instance, there are more than twenty gambrel-roofed houses still standing which are said to antedate the eighteenth century, a number exceeding the total of existing A-roofed houses built there before 1800. A good example of the gambrel roof in the vicinity of Williamsburg is that of the well-known "Moore House" in Yorktown. This roof type also found favor in Williamsburg, where, among restored and reconstructed dwellings, we find several houses in addition to the Lightfoot with gambrel roofs, viz. the Orrell, Powell-Hallam, Elizabeth Coleman, Ewing, Prentis, Waters-Coleman and Travis Houses (the Travis House is an eighteenth-century house moved to its present position from another site).

In discussing the framing of the Lightfoot House roof we are handicapped by a lack of precise information. At the time of the restoration of the house no descriptive notes were made of the framing of the roof. Two progress photographs (N583, N584) were taken of the upper slope of the roof stripped of the tin roofing with which it had been covered. These reveal the upper ends of a series of roof rafters spaced about two feet on centers, meeting in mortise-and-tenon joints secured by wood pins. There is no ridge pole. The rafters are covered with overlapping sheathing of varying widths, some of which is beaded, suggesting that the material had one time served as weatherboarding. In the absence of further information on the framing of the house a diagram (Plate #6) is herewith presented which gives an hypothetical framing system based upon a study of

14 the roof framing discovered in the Moore and Ewing Houses when these buildings were stripped preparatory to restoring them. The braces shown in the "truss" of the upper slope were not found in the Moore and Ewing Houses but were added in the restoration of these houses. It seems likely that such braces would have been required from the outset in the Lightfoot House due to the span (ca. 29 ft. 6 in.) and the relatively low slope (ca. 23°) of the "trusses." A feature of interest shown in the diagram is the exposed summer beam spanning the upper hallway to support the ceiling joists of the second floor. This is an original eighteenth-century feature which existed in the house at the time of its restoration.

Despite the fact that the framing diagram is based upon actual examples of framing uncovered in houses of the eighteenth century, there is a reasonable doubt that this represents the framework which existed in these houses at the time they were built. In view of this two plates (Plates #7 and #8) are reproduced here from eighteenth-century handbooks (William Pain's The Carpenter's Pocket Directory, 1785 and the same author's The Practical House Carpenter, 1788), showing variations of a system of gambrel roof construction much in use for frame buildings in England during the period. Since English methods of construction and English handbooks were widely followed in the colony there is some likelihood that a form of the truss system represented in these diagrams may have been employed in the original construction of the Lightfoot House. In this event trusses such as those represented in Figure C, Plate #8 would probably have been placed over the end walls and the partition of the stair hall, with one possibly midway between stair hall partition and the west wall of the house. Between these trusses lighter rafters would probably have been placed to

Plate #7
Eighteenth Century Gambrel Roof Framing
(William Pain - The Practical House Carpenter)

Plate #8 Fig. B - King Post Truss Similar to Those
Used in Public Records Office.
Fig. C - Eighteenth Century Gambrel Roof
Framing - Variant of System Shown in Plate #7
(William Pain - The Carpenter's Pocket Directory) 15 assist in carrying the roof sheathing. The fact that trusses similar in character to those illustrated in Plate #8 were actually used in the Public Records Office^* in Williamsburg lends support to the theory that the Lightfoot House may originally have possessed them.

ROOF COVERING

The upper slope of the gambrel roof and the dormer roofs of the Lightfoot House were covered with tin at the time of the restoration of the building, while the lower slope was covered with wood shingles. These shingles were built out slightly around the sides and at the sill of the dormers, giving a pleasing and distinctive effect. No evidence of the nature of the original roof covering exists, but it is very likely to have been wood shingles, probably cedar or cypress, which were most widely used in eighteenth-century Virginia because of their lasting qualities. Upon the restoration of the house the roof was covered with new wood-simulating-asbestos shingles used as a fire preventative.

GUTTERS AND LEADERS

Metal gutters and leaders were found in place on the "modern" north porch of the building, the leanto at the rear, and the two-story east wing of the building, but there is no evidence pointing to their existence on the original building. A brick gutter similar to other local, brick gutters was found in place on the ground contiguous to the north side of the building. After the building of the present front porch and the removal of the three concrete cellar steps previously mentioned, this gutter was relaid in concrete and now runs from the new porch foundation to the northwest corner of the building.

EXTERIOR WALLS

The thickness of the exterior wood walls of the building is approximately 5-5/8". The exterior facing of the walls is yellow pine beaded weatherboarding with an exposure of approximately 6" and a lap of about 1½". The weatherboarding on all four walls of the house is largely old^*, that is, it was found in place at the time of the restoration of the house. It would probably be inaccurate to state, however, that it was the material originally used on the house in the eighteenth century, since weatherboarding, shingle roofs, etc. were subject to frequent repair and replacement over the course of the years. The weatherboarding on the north wall is old except where patching was necessary due to the removal of the "modern" porch, and the closing-up of the door to the basement at the northwest corner. On the east side where the two-story Peachy law office was removed, the old weatherboarding, which had been left in place when the addition was built, was also largely intact. Some patching of the weatherboarding was necessary on this face when two doors communicating between the addition and the house proper were closed up. The weather-boarding on the south wall is old throughout. That on the west wall is old but has been patched in several places.

EXTERIOR TRIM

The corner boards are beaded and are approximately 4" in width by 1¼" in thickness, the long side showing on the gable ends as was customary. The corner boards are old with the following exceptions: that at 17 the southwest corner is new and that at the northwest corner has been repaired. The barge (verge) boards are tapered, are beaded at the bottom and have 1¾" cyma reversa molding at the top. They are old except for the molding which was added at the time of restoration on the basis of evidence that such a molding had at one time existed. It was patterned after a typical local colonial design. The end boards or cornice stops are old except for that on the southwest corner which has been repaired.

The main cornice on the north elevation of the building is old and required only slight repairs. It projects a foot from the face of the weatherboarding and is approximately 11" in height. It consists of a crown molding composed of a cyma recta over a cyma reversa; a plain fascia without beaded edge; a series of plain block modillions capped by a cyma reversa molding; and a bed molding composed of an ovolo over a cyma reversa curve. The main cornice of the south elevation is old except for the bed mold (which has been made similar to the bed mold of the cornice on the north elevation) and the fascia beneath this. The projection and height of the cornice are essentially the same as in the case of the north cornice. The fascia under the crown mold on this cornice is beaded. The modillions are lacking and there was evidence in the painting of the soffit to indicate that they were never used here. The bed mold has been moved up to the level occupied by the modillions of the north cornice. The new beaded fascia mentioned above terminates the cornice at the base.

The upper or gambrel cornice running between the two slopes of the roof on the north and south elevations was still in position when the house was restored but because of its rotted condition had to be replaced by a new molding of the same design. This consists of a crown mold similar 18 in size and profile to the crown mold of the main cornice, backed by a fascia board beaded at the bottom. The crown mold of the cornice is continued around the sides and face of the dormers and forms the base as well as the raking sides of the pediments of the dormers.

DORMERS

The Lightfoot House has five dormers, three on the north and two on the south elevations. These are all uniform in size and detail. On the north elevation the dormers are centered over the two windows and doorway of the first story and are nearly but not quite regularly spaced. On the south elevation they are centered over the present kitchen window and rear door of the hallway respectively. Only the dormers giving off the hallway on the second floor line up front to rear.

The dormer windows are five lights high by three wide, the upper sash being two lights high. The glass sizes are 6¾" x 8½". There are no sash weights. The window frames are of solid wood approximately 3" x 4" in size and are beaded inside and out. The block sill is also beaded on the inside. Sash rails and muntin bars have a simple ovolo mold: the exposed width of the muntin bars is 5/8". The dormer window frames and interior trim on both north and south elevations are old and required only minor repairs. The sash of the dormers of the north elevation are new, and were patterned after the design of the old sash found in the dormer windows of the south elevation. The eastern dormer of the south elevation has interior panelled shutters, a feature unusual in frame buildings of the eighteenth century.

WINDOWS

The seven windows of the first story, two on the north elevation, 19 one on the south, and two each on the east and west elevations, respectively, are alike in size, the dimensions of the openings being 2' - 11" x 6' - 7". They have nine over nine glass lights, the size of which is 9½" x 11". The sash rails and muntin bars have ovolo molds, and the exposed width of the muntin bars is 5/8". The upper sash throughout the house are stationary; the lower sash operate by means of sash weights and wooden pulleys. The character of the frames and trim of these windows is similar except that the windows of the north and south fronts have heavy molded sills whereas those of the east and west elevations have simple block sills. The moldings of the sills of the north and south fronts consist of a full ovolo, fillet and cavetto running into an inclined fascia, and terminate with a bead. There are no interior sills and the trim is of a type common in the eighteenth century, consisting of two cyma reversa or ogee moldings alternating with fascias and terminating in a bead.

On the north elevation the window frames and trim are old. The sash are old, having been moved to the living room from the south and west windows of the present kitchen. The wood pulleys are old but restored. The sash cords and weights are new; also the other hardware.

The window frames on the east elevation are old. The trim on the north window is new and copied after old trim found in the building. The sash of these two windows were modern and have been replaced with new ones which follow the design of the old sash found in the building. The old pulleys have been used with new sash cord and weights. The hardware is new, but of colonial character.

The window frame and trim of the single window of the south elevation are old. The sash are new, copied after old sash found in the 20 house. The old sash which were found in place in this window were moved to the east window of the north wall of the living room. The wood pulleys are old but restored. The sash and sash weights are new.

The frames and trim of the windows of the west elevation are old. The sash are new, having been copied after old sash found in the building. The south window of this front was old but was moved to the west window of the front wall of the living room. The wood pulleys are old but repaired. The sash cord and weights are new, also the other hardware.

The four gable windows of the east and west elevations are of approximately the same size as the dormer windows, having openings 2' - 1½" x 4' - 4" and six over nine glass lights. They are centered over the first floor windows of the east and west elevations. The frames and sill are the solid block type used in the other windows of the house. The sills are unmolded and are somewhat lighter than those of the dormer windows, their faces being 2-3/8" high as against the 2-7/8" of the dormer windows. The interior trim is simpler than that of the first floor windows, consisting of a single cyma reversa and fascia, terminating in a bead.

The frames and trim of the second-story windows of the east elevation are old and required only slight repairs. The sash in the northern window are old but repaired. Those of the southern window are new, copied after the old sash.

The window frames and trim of the west elevation are old. The sash in the southern window are old, but repaired. Those of the northern window are new, copied after the old sash.

SHUTTERS

The shutters are of the fixed louver type, divided in the center 21 by a 3" rail. The meeting rails are beaded and meet in a rebated joint. The stiles and rails are joined by tongue-and-groove joints secured by wood pegs.

Only two ^{pairs of} old shutters were found on the building - those of the first floor window of the south elevation and those of the northern first floor window of the east elevation. They were retained on those windows. The remainder of the shutters of the first floor are new and were copied after the old shutters. The shutters of the second-story windows of the east and west elevations are also new and were patterned after the old first floor shutters. The handmade iron holdbacks are all new, made on a local colonial model. No evidence was found on the building to justify the use of these holdbacks; the originals had either disappeared or never existed.

EXTERIOR DOORS

The front door is a six-paneled door with a three-light fixed transom above. The door itself is 2' - 11½" wide by 6' - 10¼" high. The thickness of rails, stiles and paneling is 1-11/16". The height of the transom bar is 6" on the outside and 6¾" on the inside. The transom is approximately 1' - 3" high and 2' - 11" wide, and the lights are 9½" x 11½". The muntins are identical with those of the first floor windows. The overall height of the door, transom and trim is 9' - 2" and the crown molding of the head on the outside extends to the bottom of the cornice.

The six panels of the door are raised-beaded-and-bevelled on either side. The rails and stiles are molded, having a cyma reversa and ovolo on the exterior and an ovolo on the inside. The panel sizes 22 (including the stile and rail moldings) are, from top to bottom of door, 10" high x 1' - 0" wide; 2' - 3¾" high x 1' - 0"; and 1' - 11" high x 1' - 0" respectively.

The exterior and interior trim are quite similar in size and character to the interior trim of the windows, consisting of a cyma reversa crown mold, followed by a fascia, cyma reversa, a second fascia and a bead. The sill is the customary block sill of the period with a face 3" high.

The front door and transom, with their frame and trim are new and were patterned after local eighteenth-century models, especially the old front door of the Powell-Hallam house. Evidence for the exact size of the door was found in the framing. The front door lock is an old one. The hinges are new hand-wrought hinges of a local colonial type.

The rear exterior door of the hallway and the exterior door of the kitchen are without transoms but are similar to the front door in construction and number and character of panels. The dimensions of these doors are 2' - 11" x 6' - 7", and 2' - 8" x 6' - 7" respectively. The exterior and interior trim is similar in character but simpler than that of the front door, consisting of a single cyma reversa, fascia and bead.

The hall door frame and trim are old, while the door itself is new and was patterned after old doors found in the house. The hardware on the door is old. The kitchen door, door frame and trim are new, the design also following that of old doors found in the house. The hinges are old ones taken from a modern door in the house. The lock is new of a local colonial design. A door leading to the "modern" south leanto existed here at the time of the restoration of the house. This door was 23 not of colonial origin but a door was retained in this location for the convenience of the occupants of the house.

PORCHES

The front porch consists of a wood platform 3' - 10½" square, centered on the front door, with a flight of four wood steps running from it to within a few inches of the northeast corner of the building and abutting against the side of the latter. The platform, which is 7" below the finished floor line, and the steps, are supported by a brick foundation laid up in English bond. The steps have 6" risers and 10¾" treads. The porch has a wood balustrade (See Plate #5) 2' - 10" in height, supported by three posts square in section and surmounted by pyramidal caps. The balustrade consists of a series of crossed "slats", ¾" x 1-1/8" in section, forming a pattern of diamonds and half-diamonds between the posts after the manner of "Chinese" railing. This diamond pattern is further enriched by vertical and horizontal members of the same cross-section forming rectangles centering on the crossing of the diagonals. The handrail is 2¾" high, and consists in section of a half-ellipse, running into an ogee, followed by a fascia and a bead. The lower rail has a section 2½" x 1½" and is rectangular except for the top which inclines in both directions from the center to terminate in a bead.

The front porch is new, but facts discovered in the course of the examination of the foundations furnished exact information as to the width and position of the original porch platform (see page 11).

No archaeological evidence was brought to light which indicated the existence of either an east or west porch on the south elevation of the house. It is unlikely that a western porch ever existed; this was added 24 in the restoration of the house because an outside entrance was necessary to the convenient use of the present kitchen. A porch probably existed at the point where the eastern porch now stands, since the old frame and trim of the south door of the hallway indicate that this was an old doorway, and a porch of some description would have been necessary to the use of this rear entrance. No clue to the size or design of this porch existed, however. The general design of the new eastern porch was taken from a porch in Annapolis, Maryland, while the molded detail is of local colonial character.

The eastern porch is centered approximately on the center line of the hallway. Its platform has a width (10' - 0") slightly greater than that of the latter, and a depth of 7' - 8". A flight of three steps, 3' - 10" in width, descends to the ground directly on the axis of the porch. The porch is entirely of wood except for the brick foundation laid up in English bond. It has a gable roof the ridge of which rises to the height of the top of the cornice of the house. The gable end is finished with random width flush-beaded boards.

The roof is supported at the outside corners by two 7' - 6" columns square in section and on the house side by two half-engaged columns. Above a height of 3' - 0" these columns are reduced in cross-section. They terminate at the top in simple caps composed of an ovolo and a cyma reversa. The transition between columns and porch roof is effected on the front and sides by means of paired segmental arches, from whose junction hangs a drop. The porch has a simple balustrade with balusters 1" square in cross-section. The handrail is 2-5/8" high and simpler in profile than that of the front porch, while the lower rail is 25 comparable in design to that of the latter. At the opening where the steps descend the balustrade is supported by two newel posts, square in section and surmounted by flattened spherical caps. (For porch details, see Drawing #205, Architectural Files.)

The kitchen porch is simple in design, having a platform 3' - 6" in depth and 4' - 3" in width and three steps running eastward to the ground along the house. Its platform has a balustrade with balusters 1" square in section; handrail curved at the top and beaded at the bottom; lower rail similar to that of the front porch; and newel posts square in section, with rounded tops.

CHIMNEY

The Lightfoot House has a single chimney stack rising within the wood framework of the west wall of the house to a height of 4' - 10" above the ridge of the roof, on which it is very nearly but not quite centered. Above the roof the chimney is almost square in section (3' - 0" x 3' - 4"). It contains four flues which originally served a pair of corner fireplaces on each of the two floors of the house. To gain space for a basement heater flue without enlarging the chimney the fireplace in the kitchen was bricked shut, so that the stack now serves the three fireplaces that are still in use and the heater. The chimney is unusual in that it is laid up in common bond. It has a cap (similar to many other eighteenth-century chimney caps found in Williamsburg) formed of six-four projecting brick courses. The chimney existing at the time of the restoration of the house is believed to have been the original one; it was taken down in order to put in terra cotta flue linings and then rebuilt similar to the old one.

EXTERIOR COLOR

The body of the house; cornices and other body trim; first and second story window sash, frames and trim, door frames and trim; and porches (except the floors and treads) are painted an off white (#696).

The outside surfaces of exterior doors, the blinds, basement windows and bulkhead are a dark blue green (#187).

The porch floors and the treads of the steps are light brown (#25).

The colors noted above are believed to be similar to those used on eighteenth-century frame buildings in Williamsburg. The numbers accompanying them are used to designate these colors in the color files of Colonial Williamsburg.

GENERAL NOTES

The interior of the house has been restored to the form that it is believed to have had in the eighteenth century, except that certain features have been added to increase the livableness of the house, such as the partitions in the kitchen forming the store room and pantry; the partitions in the bathroom forming closets; the closet of the southwest bedroom; the heating, plumbing and electrical equipment, and other modern conveniences. Aside from the features just noted, the mantels and some doors, everything in the house is believed to be original or has been copied from features or details believed to be original. Evidence that a chair rail and cornice had previously existed in certain rooms where none was found when the restoration of the house was started, was obtained when 27 the plaster was removed; a line of new laths was found running around the room at about chair rail height and another at the top of the walls. Evidence for the original location of certain doors was found in the framing, since the old studs which formed the sides of what were presumably the original door frames still existed. These old studs could be identified by their size, being much larger than the later ones.

FLOOR FRAMING

The beams of both the first and second floors are in large part old ones. In most of the rooms, however, the old framing has been strengthened by bracing and by the addition of new beams. A feature of especial interest in the framing of the second floor ceiling is the old, exposed summer beam (mentioned previously), which spans the upper hallway.

FLOORS

The floors throughout the house are of face grain, yellow pine boards, varying in width from 4 to 8 or 9 inches. These are laid without underflooring and face-nailed. The floors are old, except that minor repairs have been made to them in certain rooms, such as the lower hallway and the bathroom on the second floor. The floor nails used throughout the house are old hand-wrought nails with the exception of a few modern-cut nails used in re-nailing.

WALL FRAMING

The studding and bracing of both the exterior walls and interior partitions are old with the following exceptions:

• 1At points where post-eighteenth-century features were removed in the course of the restoration of the house, new wall framing was required. This occurred
  • aIn the wall between the living room and present kitchen 28 where a 5' - 6" opening was closed, and a new door opening cut through the wall near its east end;
  • bIn the east wall of the lower hallway, and in the same wall at the stair landing, where door openings communicating with the two-story modern wing were closed;
  • cIn the wall between the bedrooms where a door was removed and the opening closed.
• 2At points where modern conveniences were installed. These occurred
  • aAt the east side of the present kitchen where two new partitions were erected to create a store room and pantry. This change necessitated moving the door communicating with the hallway slightly to the northward;
  • bIn the southwest bedroom where a closet was installed in the southwest corner of the room;
  • cIn the bathroom where the existing bath was reduced in size to make space for a linen closet and a clothes closet. In the course of this the bathroom door was moved to the eastward. (During the making of this change evidence was discovered in the studding which suggested that a wall may have existed in this location originally.)
  • dIn the northeast corner of the cellar where a servants' toilet was installed.

WALL FINISH

There is no wainscot or paneling in the house, all of the walls being plastered from baseboard to cornice. All of the existing plaster 29 and lath were removed and the walls were entirely relathed and plastered.

WALL HEIGHTS

The finished floor to finished ceiling height of the first floor is approximately 9' - 9". That of the second is about 7' - 10½".

BASEBOARD

Two types of baseboard are used in the house, both of which are unusual because of the distance they project beyond the plaster. The first, found in the upper and lower hallways, is 4¾" high, with a projection of 7/8" beyond the plaster face. It has a cavetto and bead molding at the top. The second, with a bead only at the top, is 4-1/8" high with a projection of approximately ½". This type is used in the living room, kitchen and bedrooms.

The baseboards in the house are old with the following exceptions:

• 1The baseboard in the living room has been repaired;
• 2A new baseboard similar to the old one in the rooms where new work occurs has been used around new walls, viz., the walls at the east side of the kitchen, the west wall of the bathroom and the adjoining closets; and the closet walls of the southwest bedroom.

CHAIR RAIL

The chair rail used in the house has a backboard 5" high, beaded top and bottom. The rail proper is 2½" high and has a profile consisting of a cyma reversa, torus and cavetto. The top of the chair rail is approximately 3' - 0" from the floor. The chair rail returns on itself at all door and window openings except those of the dormer windows, where the top 30 of the backboard comes up flush under the window stool.

There is no chair rail in the first floor hallway, the kitchen or the bathroom. In the living room, bedrooms, and upper hallway it is new, copied after an old fragment of a rail found in the northwest corner of the upper hall. Evidence was found in the laths and studs of these rooms which indicated that a chair rail had previously existed in the rooms.

CORNICE

A single type of cornice, 4-3/8" high, is found in the house. This consists of a cyma recta crown mold, followed by a cyma reversa, fascia and bead. The old cornice was still in place in the upper and lower hallways and the two bedrooms when the restoration of the house was started. No cornice was found in the living room, but evidence that one had previously existed there was discovered in the laths and studdings. A new cornice was made for this room, following the design of the old one found elsewhere in the house. There is no cornice in the present kitchen and bathroom.

CEILING

All of the ceilings throughout the house have been re-lathed and plastered.

INTERIOR DOORS AND TRIM

The majority of the interior doors are either old doors or new doors following the design of the old ones found in the house. The stiles and rails are constructed with mortise and tenon joints pegged together and the panels are joined to the stiles and rails by similar joints. In the following discussion of the individual doors the numbers 31 designating the doors are those found in working drawings Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 206, used in the restoration of the house. These may be consulted in the Architectural files.

FIRST FLOOR DOORS

Door #101 between living room and hallway: This is an old 6-panel door (2' - 7¾" x 6' - 6"), taken from the opening of the present door in the south wall of the kitchen and re-hung here. This is believed to be the original location of this door. The frame and trim are new copied after original frames and trim found in the house. The hinges of this door are new wrought iron hinges of a local colonial type. The look is an old one taken from a modern door in the house.

Door #102 between living room and pantry: New 6-panel door (2' - 8" x 6' - 6"), copied after door #101. The frame and trim are new and similar to those of door #101. The door has new wrought iron hinges and an old lock taken from a modern door in the house.

Door #103 between pantry and hallway: New door similar to door #102. This door was moved slightly to the north of its former location. The frame and trim are new and similar to those of doors #101 and #102. The hinges are new wrought iron hinges of a local colonial type. The lock is new of a colonial design.

The foregoing doors, #101, 102, and 103, have rails and stiles with ovolo molds and panels bevelled and beaded on one side and flat on the other. The trim is similar in size and profiling to that of the front door.

Door #104 between pantry and kitchen: This is a new, 2' - 6" x 6' - 6", stock door, glazed with 12 lights above and with two panels below.

Door #105 between kitchen and store room: This is a new, 2' - 6" x 6' - 6", 6-panel stock door.

The trim for doors #104 and 105 is new, 4-5/8" high, and is composed of a cyma reversa, fascia and bead. The hardware of these two doors is new and of stock design.

Door #108 under stairway: This is an old, 2' - 5¼" x 6' - 0", 4-panel door with old frame and trim, found and left in its present position. The hinges on this door are old. The lock is an old colonial lock.

SECOND FLOOR DOORS

Door #200 between hallway and southwest bedroom;

Door #201 between hallway and northwest bedroom:

These are old, 2' - 7½" x 6' - 6¾", 4-panel doors found and left in their present position. The profiling of the stiles and rails and paneling is similar to that of doors #101, 102, and 103. The frames and trim of both doors are old. The trim is 4¾" high and consists of a cyma reversa, fascia and bead. The locks and hinges on these doors are old.

Door #202 to new closet, northwest bedroom: The door and trim are new and have been made similar to doors #200 and 201 and their trim. The lock is an old colonial lock. The hinges are new wrought iron hinges of a local colonial type.

Door #203 to new hall closet: This is a new, 1' - 6" x 6' - 6", 2-panel door, following the character of the design of doors #200 and 201. The trim is new and copied from the old trim of doors #200 and 201. The lock is an old colonial lock. The hinges are new wrought iron hinges of a local colonial design.

Door #204, bathroom door: This is an old, 4-panel door, similar to doors #200 and 201. The trim is also old and similar to that of doors #200 and 201. The lock and hinges are old. The door, frame and trim have been moved slightly to the east.

Door #205, door to closet of southwest bedroom: New door, similar to #202. The lock is an old colonial lock. The hinges are new wrought iron hinges of a local colonial type.

BASEMENT DOORS

Door #1 to servants' toilet: This is a new batten door, 2' - 6" x 6' - 4", made of random width beaded boards. The frame and trim are new.

Door #2 between north basement room and present heater room: This is similar to door #1, except that the size is 3' - 0" x 6' - 2". The door was made to fit an existing opening.

FIREPLACES

All of the fireplaces (the kitchen fireplace will be described as it was before it was bricked up) have low-arched openings, the faces of which are plastered. The two fireplaces of the first floor have sloping jambs, while the jambs of the bedroom fireplaces are at right angles to the fireplace fronts. All four fireplaces have brick hearths framed with narrow strips of pine mitred at the corners.

The living room fireplace stands at an angle of about 45° to the walls of the southwest corner of the room. Its opening is 3' - 0½" high at the center, 3' - 0¼" wide and 1' - 9¼" deep. The hearth projects 1' - 5½" in front of the face of the fireplace and 1' - 1" on either side of the opening. The fireplace and hearth are old but have been repaired. 34 The mantel is an old one of the period taken from a near-by colonial house.

The kitchen fireplace before being bricked up and plastered over had an opening 3' - 0" wide and a depth of 1' - 9". This fireplace paralleled the west wall of the house and was an old one. The brick hearth is old and was left in place when the fireplace was altered. It projected 1' - 4½" in front of the opening and 10" on either side. Only the front strip of the wood hearth frame remains. A cabinet existing in the south side of the chimney at the time of the latter's alteration was left in place.

The fireplace of the northwest bedroom. like that of the living room below, is set at a 45° angle to the walls of the room. The height of the opening is 2' - 10", the width 2' - 6", and the depth 1' - 4". The brick hearth projects 1' - 1" in front of the finished face of the fireplace and a like distance to either side of the opening. Both the fireplace and hearth required considerable repair; parts of both were missing but the remaining portions made possible their faithful restoration. The mantel is new and follows the design of the second floor fireplace at Bel Farm in Gloucester County.

The fireplace of the southwest bedroom parallels the west wall of the house. It has an opening height of 2' - 9", width of 2' - 3½" and depth of 1' - 2¾". The hearth extends 1' - 1" beyond the finished plaster face of the fireplace wall, 1' - 1" to the left of the opening and 8½" to the right, where it strikes the south wall of the room. The fireplace and hearth have been repaired, following the remains of the old fireplace and hearth which were found in place. The wood mantel is new, of a local colonial design similar to but simpler in its profiling than that of the northwest bedroom.

STAIRWAY

The stairway is a right-hand, two-run stair of 21 risers with a half-pace (landing where a half turn is made) located against the south wall of the hallway about two-thirds of the way between the floors. The stair starts with a straight run of 14 risers against the east wall of the lower hallway and terminates with a 7-riser run against the west wall of the upper hall. The riser height is from 5¾" to 6" and the width of the treads with nosing is about 11". The stair width measured from outside of stringer to the wall is 3' - 10".

The stair is a closed string stair with a molded string board, turned balusters, and five newel posts square in section. A half newel against the east wall receives the end of the balustrade enclosing the stair well in the upper hallway. The newel post at the foot of the stairs is panelled (an unusual feature) while the remaining posts are solid. Another notable feature is the newel post on the landing at the head of the first run of the stair, which continues down to the floor below. The newel post at the top of the stair is an additional one not commonly found. This may have resulted from a mistake on the part of the builder. The second flight of steps terminates, not, as ordinarily, at the beam spanning the hallway at the edge of the stairwell, but about two feet short of this, forming a projection in the landing at the top of the stair. This necessitated the use of an additional short, horizontal length of balustrade, and an extra newel post to support it.

The handrail is straight throughout, without ramps or easings. There is no paneling in the stairway, the spandrel beneath the string board of the first run of the stair, and the soffit of the upper flight being plastered. The entire woodwork of the stair is old, although it 36 was repaired in the course of the reconstruction of the house.

The stairwell is lighted by two windows, viz., the east dormer window of the south elevation, located slightly to the right of the center of the landing, and the south first floor window of the east elevation. The wall stringer of the stair cuts diagonally across the latter window.

COLOR

The colors used on the interior of the house are colors believed to have been in common use in Williamsburg interiors of the eighteenth century. These colors are listed below, room for room. In the catalogue of colors the term "woodwork" will be understood to include cornices, chair rails, doors and windows and their frames and trim, mantels and shelving, but not baseboards, which are painted black throughout the house, following a custom common in eighteenth-century Williamsburg. Other exceptions will be noted. The surfaces of the doors have been painted the colors of the woodwork of the rooms they face, so that the two sides are generally different in color or tone. The numbers given the colors in the list are those used to designate them in the color files of Colonial Williamsburg.

HALLWAY, FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS. Walls: #1131, buff with rose tint. Woodwork (including stair balusters and stringer beneath) #87, buff inclining toward tan. Stair rail and newel posts: #92, dark brown.

LIVING ROOM. Walls: #183, light buff. Woodwork: #464, blue green.

KITCHEN, PANTRY AND STOREROOM. Walls: #183, light buff. Woodwork: #184, light gray.

BATHROOM. Walls: #177, buff with greenish tint. Woodwork: #87, buff inclining toward tan.

NORTHWEST BEDROOM. Walls: #180, light buff. Woodwork: #182, buff with reddish tint.

SOUTHWEST BEDROOM. Walls: #180, light buff. Woodwork: #181, light buff.

BASEMENT

The basement is for the most part old. A new areaway, outside stair and bulkhead, believed to be of the same size and general character of the original which had disappeared, were added at the south side. The stairway from the first floor, which was in the building at the time of restoration, is not original, but since it was in good condition and possibly similar to the original, it was left. A cross wall dividing the basement into two approximately equal spaces existed at the time of restoration. Only the western part of this is old, but the entire wall was left in place. This was repaired and drains put in. The plaster on the walls and ceiling is not old but was repaired and left. The windows and wood grilles, the servants' toilet, coal bin, furnace and other heating equipment are new. The level of the original basement floor is believed to have been about the same as the present level, which is approximately 7' - 7½" below the finished first floor.

SMOKEHOUSE AND DAIRY

As was stated early in this report, excavations on the Lightfoot plot (Colonial lots #13 and 14) uncovered brick foundations of three outbuildings, and two pillars of more recent date which may have been the 38 remains of the foundations of a fourth. An old smokehouse and an old dairy, both of which seemed to be of the approximate age of the main buildings, stood, without foundations, south of the main house. The dairy had modern shed additions on the south and west sides. It was judged that the smokehouse had once stood on the old foundation to the eastward because its size was such that it would fit on this foundation. The dimensions of the dairy, in turn, were such that the building would fit on the foundations to the west of it. The dairy and smokehouse were, accordingly, moved to the old foundations and restored to what was believed to be their original condition.

Smokehouse. The smokehouse is similar to many other such buildings in Williamsburg. It is a simple square building with a pyramidal roof terminating in a wood finial and covered with asbestos shingles. Its sides are 10' - 4½" in length and its height, to the under side of the cornice, 8' - 7". It is faced with beaded weatherboarding and has beaded corner boards on the east and west fronts. The roof has a pitch of slightly less than 45° and projects about 2½" beyond the face of the weatherboarding. The cornice is 2-5/8" high and consists of a cyma recta over a cyma reversa. The smokehouse is entered on the west side through a batten door and has a dirt floor within. The exterior is whitewashed.

The smokehouse is to a large extent old. The foundations, framing and weatherboarding have been repaired. The finial, cornice, door frame, corner boards and asbestos shingles are new.

Dairy. The dairy like the smokehouse is a square frame structure with a pyramidal roof. It has the widely projecting eaves (the distance from the outer edge of the cornice to the face of the weatherboarding is 39 1' - 3¾") characteristic of such buildings in Williamsburg. The soffit of the overhang is horizontal rather than curved, as is frequently the case, and it is plastered. The building is 10' - 2" square and 8' - 5" high to the underside of the overhang. The roof slopes at an angle of 35° and terminates at the top in a wood finial. It is covered with asbestos shingles. The cornice is 7" high and consists of a cyma recta, cyma reversa, fascia and bead. The dairy is faced with beaded weather-boarding to a height of 7' - 2". From this point to the soffit of the overhang it has, on all four sides, a wood grille formed of a series of reversed curve cut-outs 10" high. The building is entered through a batten door, 3' - 0" x 6' - 3½", having vertical beaded boards on the outside and horizontal beaded boards on the inside. The interior walls and ceiling of the dairy are plastered and it has a dirt floor. It is whitewashed inside and out.

In the restoration of the dairy the existing sheds were removed. The north elevation of the building is entirely new and the other sides have been repaired. The foundation has been repaired and built up to a height of 3" above grade. The cornice, some of the corner boards, the grille on two sides, and the laths and plaster are new.

KITCHEN

The larger of the three foundations (approximately 18' - 6" x 32' - 9") discovered at the northeast corner of the lot, is believed, because of the character of the brickwork, to be of colonial date, and because of the size of the fireplace (the opening is 7' - 0" wide x 3' - 10" deep) and for other reasons brought forth by Mr. Farish in his Research Report on the Lightfoot House, to have been the foundation of a kitchen.

The Frenchman's Map indicates three buildings on lots #13 and 14. A building corresponding in proportions and location to the present house stood there at the time. A second small structure is indicated at the rear of the residence and to the west of it. A third structure, corresponding in shape and location to the foundation under discussion is shown at the eastern end of the property with its short side facing Duke of Gloucester Street.

Speaking of the appearance of the Lightfoot property at the beginning of the Civil War^* Mr. John S. Charles, in his Recollections, page 42, states that "The `Peachy' house appears now, very much as it did then the lower room on the east wing was then used as the law office of Mr. Wm. S. Peachy. In the yard of this old home, on the site of the present `tin-shop' there was a very well preserved dutch roof house, with end to the street and door on the west side. A picket [fence] ran from the main building to a partition fence on the east side, with a gate to the little yard in front of the law office." A view in the Tucker-Coleman collection of photographs, made late in the nineteenth century or the early twentieth, reveals that this "Dutch roof house" was still standing at that time.

Mr. Farish in his Report records the following information from an interview which he had in July 1942 with Miss Emma Lou Barlow, who had lived since the latter part of the nineteenth century on the adjoining property to the east of the Lightfoot residence:

Miss Barlow remembered that the small "Dutch roof house" was 41 long used as a kitchen by Peachy and other families who occupied the residence. She remembered the building as a two-story one, with an enclosed stairway leading to the upper floor. The ground floor was divided by a partition into two rooms, a large one and a small one. The large room in the southern end was used as a kitchen and had a brick floor. This room had a very large fireplace at its southern end. Miss Barlow recollected that there was a window at about the center of the east side of the building, somewhat higher from the ground than the others. In this window there were three vertical iron bars, through which she remembered being pushed by other children. She recalled that there was a window on the west side of the building near the door, and somewhat lower than that on the east side. She stated that there was also a door on the north side of the house, with a window with shutters on each side of the door. A very large stone step led from this door to the street. Miss Barlow recollected that her old colored mammy lived for a time in the small room on this floor.

Mr. Farish concludes his discussion of the building with the following observations:

"The suggestion that this "Dutch roof house" on the eastern end of the Lightfoot property once served as a law office, and therefore should be called the `Lightfoot law office' appears to be an erroneous one. We have no records that would indicate that it was ever used for this purpose. Apparently the misconception which arose with regard to its being used as a law office grew out of the statement made by Mr. Charles with regard to the modern east wing of the residence being used as a law office by Mr. Peachy. The brick floor, the very large fireplace, and the evidence given 42 by Miss Barlow regarding its later use as a kitchen and quarters for a servant would all seem to indicate that the structure was originally used as a kitchen or for some other domestic purpose, rather than as a law office."

Mr. Farish's view that the "Dutch roof building" was originally a kitchen has now been generally accepted. Plans for the reconstruction of the building were drawn up in 1942 and still await execution. The design of the building as it will be reconstructed was based upon facts derived from a study of the foundations, from information contained in the Research Report, and from an examination of the photograph from the Tucker-Coleman collection, which shows the roof to have been a hipped gambrel. The design was also influenced by the prevailing policy of accommodating restored and reconstructed buildings to contemporary residential uses. The details used in the design are those of the Lightfoot House or details adapted from those of the Lightfoot House.

The working drawings provide for a story-and-one-half frame building with a hipped gambrel roof. The building will be 24' - 6" high from grade to the top of the ridge and the plan dimensions (21' - 10" x 32' - 2") will correspond roughly with those of the old foundation. It will follow the description of Miss Barlow in having a door (approximately on center) on the west side of the building, and another on the center of the north side, flanked by two windows. The west elevation will have windows of 9 over 9 lights at either side of the door on the first floor, and three hipped dormers above, with 6-over-9-light windows centered on the windows and doors below. The east elevation will have three regularly-spaced windows of 9 over 9 lights on the first floor with three dormers 43 similar to those of the west elevation, directly above them. Aside from the door and flanking windows previously mentioned, the north elevation will have a 6-over-9-light window on the second floor centered over the door. The south elevation will have a pair of windows on the first story similar to the other first floor windows, with two 6-over-9-light windows above centered over them. The windows of the first floor and the second story windows of the ends will be provided with shutters having fixed louvres. A chimney, the lower part of which is to be contained within the framework of the walls, will be located on the center of the south side of the house, and will rise to a height of approximately 4' - 3" above the ridge of the roof. The plan of the chimney above the roof will be T-shaped and the chimney will have a projecting cap similar to that of the main house.

The plan of the building provides for a living room, dining room and kitchen on the first floor and two bedrooms and a bath on the second. The living room, located on the south side and occupying slightly more than half of the first floor space, will have a fireplace (much smaller than that of the old foundation) and two large flanking closets at its south end. A stair will lead from its northeast corner to the floor above. The dining room will be located at the northwest side and the kitchen at the northeast.

The stair will lead on the second floor to a small hallway serving the bath at the northwest side, a small north bedroom and a bedroom on the south side approximating the size of the living room below. The latter bedroom will have a fireplace and two closets corresponding in size and position to those of the living room.

The floor-to-ceiling height of the first floor will be 9' - 8½" and that of the second 7' - 10". A basement heater room, to be reached by a stair from the dining room and another from the outside, will be provided under the living room of the building.

WELLHEAD

A frame wellhead has been erected on an old existing foundation a few feet to the southwest of the dairy. This is a completely new structure of colonial design approximately 4' - 9" square and 9' - 9" high overall. It has an A-roof covered with hand-hewn cypress shingles and supported on posts, chamfered above and square below. The well, which has been laid up in old brick, has a diameter of 3' - 1½". The opening is covered by two hinged doors made of random width boards with joints lapped and held with battens. It has a base 2' - 10" high, sheathed with random width boards, face-nailed and with joints beaded and lapped. The gable ends of the roof are sheathed in the same manner and the ceiling is plastered.

Lightfoot House

Lot Size

House Size, out-to-out dimensions

Foundation Walls

Brick Sizes

FOUNDATION
CHIMNEY

Ceiling Heights

Roof Slopes

Sizes of Doors thought to be original

All Exterior Doors are Reproductions

Windows - Opening and Glass Sizes

Height of Window Sills from Floor

First Floor

Second Floor Gable Windows

Dormer Windows

Height of Baseboard

Floor Boards

Main Stairway