Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

THE HALL

This is interpreted to mean a spacious room at the center of the house. The stairway to the second floor was located here. It was 13 a room of considerable importance, judging by the multitude of furniture pieces, porcelain and glassware. The existant foundation evidence shows cross walls for a center room that was approximately 22 feet wide, extending, possibly from front to back in a north and south direction.

JOHN PRENTIS ROOM

The possibility for two-windows within this room is derived from the listing of "2 window curtains, along with the 'Bedstead,' 'dressing Glass' and 'Easy chair.' "

THE LITTLE ROOM

This room was seemingly a spare or storage room, including a corner cupboard, chair with pan, etc..

CHAMBER

(Bedroom indicated).

DANIEL'S ROOM

(Bedroom indicated). Both this room and the chamber had a normal listing of bedstead and minor accessories.

DINING ROOM

Containing "1 oval mahogany table, 13 chairs, 2 low do, knives and forks ...," "1 screen," a cabinet, 2 window curtains (torn). In addition this room included a bedstead and bolster and counterpane. It may have served as a downstairs bedroom.

NURSERY

Two beds, 5 chairs, fire dogs, dressing glass, and table are selected from the inventory for this room.

MR. PRENTIS'S ROOM

This room,apparently large, contained in part "3 beds bedsteads, 1 walnut square Table, 1 elbow chair, 4 other chairs, finally "1 pair dogs, 6 pair tongs, 5 shovels, 1 poker." A fireplace is clearly indicated for this room.

THE LITTLE CLOSET

A Chest of Drawers, a dressing Glass, 3 trunks, a sacking bottom Bedstead, 1 old chest, etc..

OUTBUILDINGS

The listing of what are deemed the outbuildings occurs here, along with their contents. Kitchen and Wash House, the Meal House, the Store, Outhouse and Yard.

The house plan as it was finally developed for reconstruction took into account the inventory listing of rooms, arranged within the limits of the excavated foundations. As has been the practice for reconstructed houses in Williamsburg,no attempt was made here to preserve the eighteenth-century plan in its entirety. However, a wide center stair hall gave access to rooms on either side; to the dining room at right and to a living room at left. In back of the living room is a room of somewhat smaller size that serves as a library or as a downstairs chamber. The dining room is flanked at the north by a modern kitchen and pantry.

The second floor with two large bedrooms and one small was likewise arranged for convenience.

BASEMENT WALLS

In the reconstruction of the foundation of the house, only the exposed part of these walls is laid as brickwork. This meant a facing, or veneer, of brick backed with concrete, thirteen courses, from the floor plate down. All brickwork for exposed foundations, including those of the small porch at the northeast end of house, the front porch, and the bulkhead on the front elevation, is laid in the traditional English bond with random glazed headers. The bulkhead foundation, which starts below the first floor level, has three courses of brick exposed. Additional brickwork occurs as rear porch piers but their size did not permit them to be carried out in a recognizable English bond.

All brick used as exterior wall facing is from the stock of "ancient" brick salvaged from old buildings, or newly burned brick produced by following the eighteenth-century method of brick burning, in which local clay and sand were used for the brick and oak, poplar and pine wood for fuel. The mortar includes oyster shell lime, generally considered characteristic of early brickwork. Joints vary slightly in width from ¼ to 3/8".

The foundation walls are approximately 12½" thick and are of concrete. No attempt was made to recall the divisions of the basement interior as indicated by excavations. The brick floor of the eighteenth-century Prentis House, as uncovered at the time of excavation, was also not restored, because the basement was utilitarian in character and not subject to inspection by visitors.

It became practice of the architects of Colonial Williamsburg to rebuild or restore basements for practical purposes, allowing heating ducts, 16 electrical conduits, tanks and other equipment to be exposed. Concrete floors and walls were accepted as best suited to watertight and enduring construction. It was here also that visible precautions were taken to protect the structure from termites and against the danger of fire.

BASEMENT WINDOWS

In the absence of tangible evidence for windows in the basement, it was decided to follow the universal practice of admitting light by aid of wood grilled windows. There are twelve such windows, placed beneath the adopted location of windows on the main floor above. The basement window frames are new, of yellow pine, and they follow the design of those at Hillsborough, a plantation house in King and Queen County. (See Architectural Records Files.) The characteristic of this design, accepted as precedent, is the molded edge of the frame, also the diagonal placing of all bars; while the bars of Hillsborough are horizontal, their placing in the Prentis House is vertical. These windows originally were unglazed and open for the purpose of ventilation and light. Contemporary needs in connection with a heating system make glazed windows a necessity. The glazed sash is placed behind the wood grille in present-day practice.

EXTERIOR WALLS (FRAMING):

The entire framing of the house is new, the materials for studs, rafters, joists, plates, sills, etc. consisting of well-seasoned dense yellow pine. (See Prentis House Specifications, page 13.) In general, current framing methods, without mortises or tenons, are followed. However, structural walls are braced at corners, roof framing is trussed and the house otherwise made exceedingly sturdy by means of those practices with which carpenters are most 17 thoroughly acquainted today.

THE ROOF SHAPE

An examination of the excavated foundations indicates, as we have observed, a plan not built complete at one time but at different periods, with an earlier front part (18' in depth and 60' in length) and a later addition at the rear that was interpreted by architects to have been a "leanto." The front part was characterized as having a "dutch roof" in the Virginia Gazette and a similar description of the house is given in the Insurance record of 1808. It is believed that the "dutch roof" refers to the gambrel roof shape of the front part or main house. It appears from frequent use of these terms during the eighteenth century that the so-called "dutch" roof and the "gambrel" roof were one and the same thing.

The characterization as "dutch" originated in the Dutch settlements of America where this was the most familiar roof form. Abundant examples of this Dutch roof remain on the sites of early Dutch settlements on Staten Island and in New York and upper New Jersey.

Dr. T. J. Wertenbaker places the introduction of the "gambrel" in Dutch New York, as of the eighteenth century. He also mentions that time as the period of the origin of the gambrel roof in other parts of America. It is an interesting sidelight that in 1733, in England, Francis Price in his British Carpenter speaks of the gambrel roof as "much in use" in his day, and that it was favored "on account of its giving so much room within side." It is probable that the same practical considerations influenced the early builders in America. The Dutch used it to form a story-and-a-half house, often with an extension at the front to form a porch running the full length of the house. In Virginia the roof slope was generally steeper than with the Dutch and the full-length porch was characteristically missing.

It is an indication of the indigenous nature of Virginia architecture that a form, such as that of a roof, when once adopted, was repeated thereafter with slight variations only. The gambrel shape in Virginia, which was, as we have seen, steeper than that of New York and New England (see drawings), remained uniform during the eighteenth century. Instances of gambrel shapes in Williamsburg, all more or less after the same pattern, are: the Elizabeth Coleman House (unrestored), and the Lightfoot, Powell-Hallam and Ewing Houses. One of many gambrel roof examples outside the town of Williamsburg is the roof of the rear wing of Belle Farm, which formerly stood in Gloucester County.

DESIGN OF FRONT

The Prentis House, as reconstructed, has five shuttered windows and a doorway with transom and hood on the ground floor facade. There are three windows on one side of the entrance doorway and two on the other. On the second floor and within the gambrel roof, there are six dormer windows, equally spaced, and centered above the windows and doorway of the lower level.

The house is somewhat greater in its overall length than the familiar "Williamsburg house." It nevertheless suggests that type, possibly because in detail, its design elements (cornice, window trim, doorway treatment, etc.) are all derived from extant, eighteenth-century Williamsburg prototypes. The house also suggests the appearance of the reconstructed Raleigh Tavern, in the same block, a few doors distant to the east.

DESIGN OF HOUSE ENDS AND REAR:

The east and west ends of the house reveal somewhat the growth of the house. For example, the slope of the gambrel is continued downward in a single slope to the rear, so as to form a roof over the addition. The transition from the front to the rear is accented at the west end by a 5" offset at the first floor level and by the 6" wide corner board. There is a 2'-10" setback of the rear addition from the face of the east end. The elevations of the house should be examined to follow the exterior design features that were a natural corollary of the plan shape.

The east end elevation is one of the finer house designs of the colonial area of Williamsburg. The plan with its setback is well expressed. The front dutch roof part of the house stands free while the back part within a gradually lowering slope includes the kitchen addition and porch.

The doorway to the kitchen, necessary as a service entrance in twentieth-century housekeeping practice, could also have been on the original house. Its location was, however, not established by foundation evidence. A small porch was shown on the east elevation in a plan drawing of the house made in 1810.

The design of the rear elevation includes a larger rear porch shown on insurance policies of the early nineteenth century. The windows of the rear are less regularly spaced than at the front. While a pair of windows flank the two ends of the porch and most dormers appear centered over the first floor sash, nevertheless, practical considerations, such as the need for light and the convenience in placing the porch door, were the basis of this design at the north side of house.

CHIMNEY DESIGN

We now consider the design features of the house, one by one. The two chimneys, both reconstructed at the west end, are alike in their cap treatment. The topmost three courses of brick are simply contrived corbels. Three-course tops such as this were frequent in old houses of moderate size. The east end chimney at Menokin, Richmond County is so treated. The observation should be made here that most chimney caps are more elaborate in their detailing, usually with four or six courses forming 21 the top, and sometimes with a top slope of lime plaster to better resist the action of weathering.

The brickwork of the chimneys is laid in a modification of Flemish bond, without pronounced use of glazed headers. In conformity with the requirement for Flemish bond, "closers" occur so as to bring brick headers over one another. Rubbed brick were not used for chimney corners, nor for angles of the house foundations.

WEATHERBOARDING

As with most all of the wood framed houses in Williamsburg, so also was the Prentis weatherboarded. Weatherboarding is described as "horizontal boards, nailed to the uprights of wood framed buildings. These boards are wedge-shaped in section, the upper wedge being the thinner. The lower edge of weatherboarding is usually with a roll moulding." All four sides of the house were weatherboarded. The material used was cypress which was true to tradition. In the eighteenth century poplar was also the selected wood, chosen for its straightness and ease of working. The boarding of the Prentis House is uniformly six inches in exposed width; some few boards measure six and three-quarters inches. That the boards are so nearly similar in width is partly accounted for by the early practice of splitting the wedge-shaped boards from the log in quarter fashion. There are, however, many instances in old hand-hewn work in which boards of random width, some up to 10" appear as weatherboarding.

CORNER BOARDS

The corner boards occur at the external angles as a finish at the ends of weatherboarding. The Prentis House variety with two boards, mitred at the corner alongside of a bead, is less common than the single beaded board (see 22 CORNER BOARD AT SOUTHEAST CORNER John Blair House Report). The authority for the use of this double form was the Taliaferro-Cole House (original part of house). The typical corner board is 3½" wide on each face. The front corner board at each end of the south elevation is, however, exceptionally wide (9"). Precedent for this was the wide corner board on the front elevation of the Travis House.

The 9" wide board shown at the west end is a repetition of the practice of embodying the corner board into the body of a house enlarged as was done in the case of the Timson House, and of the Travis House, both of Williamsburg. There is, however, a slight difference with the two instances cited in that the face of the house remains flush or in the same plane. The Prentis House actually has an angle, due to the 5" setback, at the junction of the two parts of the house. This 5" offset rises to a height of one story to the level of the second floor where a unique and interesting appearing overhang occurs.

END GABLES

The rakes of the east and west gables are similar, differing however, in end boards. The rake tapers from a 4" width at comb of roof, attains 5" in width where the upper and lower slope meet and finally is 6" wide at the cornice line. There is a ¾" bead at the inner edge of the rake. Drawing sheet No. 205 illustrates the termination of the rake at the cornice. It also shows the manner in which the cornice stop follows the precise contour of the main front cornice at the southwest angle of the house. Looking for a basis for this end board treatment, we find a counterpart at the West House at Yorktown. At this 23 southwest end of the gable, the end boards are cut off horizontally at the bottom to enable the bed moldings to be returned across the front. This cornice condition does not hold for the opposite end of the front cornice where a cut-out end board exists. The rear end boards are different in their outline, consisting of a profile similar to that of the crown mold of the cornice, and a 4½" vertical edge followed by a reverse curve. See sketches below for details of the cornice end boards.

CORNICES

The main front cornice is similar to the cornice of the Travis House and consists of the familiar series of crown molding, made up of a cyma recta over an ogee; a fascia terminating in a drip of the type known as "cockspur"; a soffit, followed by a bed mold composed of an ovolo and an ogee. The total projection of the cornice from the face of the weatherboarding is 1'-0-¾" and its height is 8-¾". The rear cornice is identical with the front cornice in all respects except the width of the soffit, which is narrower, reducing the overall width of this cornice to 9".

The bed mold of the front cornice is returned under the soffit of the overhang. The north, 2'-10" face of the building running from the east end to the set-back leanto, has a full cornice identical with the front cornice.

A so-called "gambrel mold" intervenes between the steeper lower slope and the flatter upper slope of the gambrel roof. This consists of a crown mold identical to that used on the front and rear cornices and a beaded fascia superimposed upon the shingles of the lower slope and having the same inclination as the latter. These moldings are similar to the trim in this location on the roof of the Lightfoot and Travis Houses (see drawings of these houses for this detail).

FRONT DOOR

The four-foot wide doorway with transom and overhanging hood is one of the fine features of the house. The off center location of the doorway was determined by the excavated remains of an entrance porch and steps. The door frame is 6½" wide, and consists of the frame proper and a three-member facing trim applied. The door sill is of heart yellow pine, 3" in thickness at the threshold. The transom has ten lights, arranged two lights in height, fixed in position. An almost exact counterpart of this main door, its frame and transom are found at Hillsborough, King and Queen County, Virginia.

The hood over the doorway is built out from the main cornice, projecting about 3'-0" from the face of the house. The hood design and its pediment with a very slight depth is after the door hood and doorway at Tuckahoe, near Richmond, Virginia. The door itself is of heart pine and consists of two leaves, each with three raised panels, following closely in this respect, the 25 southwest doorway of the John Blair House on Duke of Gloucester Street. Door paneling and surrounding trim also resemble these details of the Barlow House.

All woodwork, in finish, in method of fitting together, and in general appearance, is the result of a following of known examples of the locality. The joinery methods make use of round wood pins to supplement glued and mortised joints.

OTHER EXTERIOR DOORS

Two other exterior doors occur: one, the door to the rear hall from the rear porch, and the other, the outside service entrance door. The porch door is glazed, having 12 lights above the two lower panels. A glazed door such as this exists at the east end of the Lee House. This type of glazed door was fairly familiar in the eighteenth century and an exact counterpart of it is illustrated in William Salmon's handbook, Palladio Londinensis.

The service doorway to the kitchen has six panels and a single light high transom. A 5½" wood trim, double molded, frames the doorway. The raised door panels are similar to the panels of the rear door of the Wythe House. The doorway treatment with architrave including both door and transom follows the design of the doorway of the old part of the Ewing House on Francis Street.

WINDOWS

The windows of the Prentis House are of three kinds and these differ 26 only slightly from one another. 1) Windows of the front (main house) have 18 lights as their characteristic. These sash are surrounded on the exterior by a double moulded architrave, 5½" wide, similar in profile to that of the James Semple House in Williamsburg, and of Hillsborough, King and Queen County.

18 LT. WINDOWS-SILL AND DOUBLE-MOLDED ARCHITRAVE

The moldings of this window frame are of the variety known as "planted" molds, namely, not worked on the solid frame. The precedent for such a practice is found at Gaymount (Essex County). No original example was discovered in Williamsburg. The window sill (pine) is molded with a full rounded sill edge and a cove molding below it. The contour of the sills is returned at each end. The lowest outside edge of sills has a ½" wide bead which continues the bead of the weatherboarding. Similar molded sills are found in Williamsburg in the Elizabeth Coleman, Servient, Dr. Barraud and Taliaferro-Cole Houses. The St. John House, which was demolished when the east wing of the Williamsburg Inn was built, had sills similar in every respect except that an oval (lining up with the oval end of the weatherboarding of the house) replaced the bead of the Prentis House sill. Both sash and window frames are joined by rounded wood pins, varying in their width from ¼" to ¾". The typical muntin bar has a width of 1¼", which is characteristic of fairly early window sash. Muntins tended to become standard, and in the eighteenth century usually had a quarter round surrounding each pane of glass. 2) 15-light windows occur at the rear addition and on the second floor gable ends. There are eleven windows of this TYPICAL MUNTIN BAR 27 classification. The sills of this window are of lesser height and plain in contrast with the molded ones of the first floor. The sills are of yellow pine, beaded at the lower edge, to continue to the line of the beaded weather-boarding. 3) Dormer windows: the fifteen-light sash of the dormers are similar to the sash of type No. 2. These windows are cased with a 4½" single molded architrave, similar, in its detail, to the dormers of the Barlow House. The pediment of the dormers has a double ogee molding (large at top, small below) extending along the rake and horizontally above the window. This treatment is a repetition of the manner in which the dormers of the Dr. Barraud House are molded.

The dormer slopes of front and rear elevations are unlike each other. The front dormers with a slope of 34 degrees are less steep than those of the rear which have a 46 degree pitch. The lesser pitch of the front dormers agrees closely with the slope of the pediment of the hood above the doorway. The rear slope follows the roof slope which is commonly the rule. The St. George Tucker House may be cited as another example in which the roof slopes of the front and rear dormers differ from each other. Such a disparity in slopes is rather to be expected in the case of a house which has undergone alteration or addition.

SHUTTERS

Since there are no records which describe the features of the Prentis House, we find no mention of shutters in connection with the house. The use of shutters for windows is, however, as old as Williamsburg itself. The records of nearby Jamestown, for example, mention (1685) "shutters" ... of half inch boards with cross barr to each" in describing a "Porch room to serve as office for Robert Beverley, clerk of Assembly." Shutters of a folding type were 28 specified in 1705 for the capitol at Williamsburg. Shutters continued in common use throughout Virginia during most of the eighteenth century. They are also mentioned in handbooks of the mid-century. William Salmon, for instance, in his Palladio Londinensis (London 1748) lists shutters as a part of the pricing of windows, noting that they are "measured and valued in the same manner as Doors." His listing of two-and three-panel shutters agrees with the provision of both of these types in the Prentis House. The slightly higher three-panel shutter is used on the ground floor in the front portion of the house. These are 1-1/8" thick and have raised panels, exposed when the shutters are open, and recessed panels on the opposite side. Precedent for this shutter design: an old house in Surry County between the towns of Surry and Scotland.

FRONT PORCH

The front entrance porch and fence at the south elevation are considered together since the design of porch and fence is combined. The porch with five risers and a platform is of wood. The brick foundation for the platform is discussed previously under the subject of masonry.

There is a railing at each side of the porch which is carried down the steps. At the foot of the steps the rail is joined to the front fencing. The porch railing is one fairly common in Virginia for porches (it was used on the late porch at Farmington) and occurs also on house interiors. The stairway of York House, Yorktown, for example, had such a railing before the house was made over in 1916. This form of railing was termed "Pallisading" and was composed of square posts and horizontal or sloping rails. Here there are three rails; the dimensions of the upper rail are 3½" x 2" while the lower rails vary from 5¼" to 6" in height.

FENCE

This account of the front fencing begins with the archaeological evidence for the existence of such a fence. When the surface of the ground in front of the house foundations was cleared away the remains of what was interpreted to have been a low wall were discovered. This was believed to be the base of a fence. The wall is out 5'-6" in front of the house itself and parallels the slightly askew placing of the house. This parallelism is itself an indication that house and wall are related. This fence base is described in the archaeological report as "a curb composed of a single course of brick ... this brick is interrupted at intervals by small gaps." These gaps took the shape of post holes and were filled with debris. The wall is interrupted at two points, near the center of the house, and a few feet from the southwest corner, to provide space, it was recognized, for an entrance porch and a bulk-head. It was a matter of supplying a design to fit these indications. The fence curbing was laid in English bond, to a height of three courses. A picket fence was decided upon as appropriate for the degree of elaboration which the base indicated. There were many such so-called "picket" fences in the Virginia colony, sometimes with a base, but more often with a horizontal rail above the ground level, into which the upright rails were fitted. The posts fitted to the gaps are unique. These posts are 6" by 4½", excepting at terminations of the fence, where their size is 6" x 6". Where the posts are square they are designed with a symmetrical contour. A drawing of this fence post is shown at small scale herewith. Precedent: terminal FENCE POST CAP 30 posts for sign "The Free School," Watford, Herts, p. 102, Field and Bunny, English Domestic Architecture of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.

All framing for posts and railings of fence and porch follows the adopted practice of joining vertical and horizontal members, in part, with the use of wood pins. These vary in width from ¼" to ¾" depending on the size of the mortises.

The top fence railing consists of a 2½" x 4½" member, sloped toward the front and back at the top, and with a ½" bead at the lower front and back edges. All vertical balusters are placed diagonally. (For further information on the Prentis fence the reader should consult the Archaeological Survey Drawing of Foundations at Prentis Site and working drawing #108.)

BULKHEAD (SOUTH ELEVATION)

The existence of a bulkhead as entrance to the basement was clearly indicated by the foundation remains of both house and fence. Its size and design features could be assumed from the bulkhead foundation remains. The bulkhead had a sloped top with steps of brick with wood nosings, approximately 5'-0" in width. The brick base, previously referred to in this report, was laid so as to provide a base for its sloped top of wood.

Low bulkheads of this kind are found at the Taliaferro-Cole Shop and the John Blair House on Duke of Gloucester Street. The Brush House bulkhead, now under investigation, preparatory to restoration, corresponds very closely to the one at the Prentis House.

SERVICE ENTRANCE STOOP

The stoop at the east end of the house differs somewhat from the front entrance porch in the detailing of its woodwork. Its features are: 31

• 1.A molded handrail.
• 2.A single horizontal railing.
• 3.Treads of steps which are mortised into the stringer board. Several examples of this type of tread are illustrated in the Research Library collection of Brady photographs.
• 4.Upright posts, 4" x 4" in size joined by mortise and tenon to the rails. Posts have a slightly rounded top with champfered corners, above the railing.

REAR PORCH

This spacious rear porch, intended for the convenience of the owner, has in reality a documented basis, since it was shown in insurance drawings (policies dated 1806 and 1810).

The porch length of 20 feet was established by the length given on the 1806 insurance policy. The floor of the porch was lowered by introducing three steps down from the level of the house floor. This was obviously done so as to provide additional headroom. With a similar purpose the porch ceiling is arched and plastered. Plastering of porch ceilings was a common practice. The west porch ceiling of the Coke-Garrett House may be cited as an instance of this.

The porch roof is supported by four 5" square columns, each of which has a molded cap and champfered corners. The porch of the Galt Cottage, which has a porch similar to that of the Prentis House, has columns of the same description.

The elaborate Chinese railing was selected as suitable for a porch that, it was assumed, was built after 1750. First of all, it was the fashion 32 of the time to make use of this type of railing or paling. For example, Mr. Anthony Hay, formerly of the Raleigh Tavern, advertises in the Virginia Gazette (January 6, 1767) that he "makes all sorts of Chinese and Gothic Paling for gardens and summer houses." Similar railings were also used on interior stairs at the Coke-Garrett House and at Brandon on the James.

The scalloped skirting, with a pattern that resembles an inverted wave, may have been suggested by a similar porch treatment found at Norge, near Toano in James City County. The triangle above the skirting at either end of the porch is covered with flush beaded sheathing. The handrail is similar to the railing at the service entrance. Both are unsymmetrical in cross section with a molded face on the outside and a plain face. Such a railing, larger in scale and probably of an early date, is to be seen as the west gallery rail of Bruton Parish Church. The porch is mounted at the northeast corner by means of a single step composed of antique stone fragments.

SECTION - PORCH HANDRAILING

The porch details of the Prentis House are unusual in their variety and elaboration. It is suggested that the full size details (Sheets #101 and #106) be examined in the Department of Architecture.

GUTTERS

Brick gutters were laid adjacent to the foundation walls of the north and south faces of the building and along the north side of the rear porch. These were laid in a 1" mortar bed over a 4" reinforced concrete slab which in turn rests on a 3" gravel bed. A drip consisting of a single course of brick set out 7" from the house wall was laid along the north side of the main building from the east end to the offset leanto.

GENERAL

Interiors of reconstructed and restored houses, occupied by a family, are modified in their floor plan to provide modern conveniences: kitchen, bath and storage. In the architectural details of all houses within the restored area, there is a strict compliance with eighteenth-century design practice. The Department of Architecture (consult Record Files) has compiled a listing of "What Should Be Done" for floors, walls, stairs, cornice, mantels, paneling, etc., based on what is known to have been done by carpenters and joiners in Williamsburg and elsewhere in Virginia. These collected data are a guide to restoration practice. They represent an accumulation of design information that, it is believed, will be of considerable value to the student of eighteenth-century architecture and life.

FLOORS

All floors, except in the kitchen, pantry, service entry and bathroom, are of common yellow pine, tongue and grooved, 5" to 8" in face width, mostly with edge grain. Such floors can be found in most houses of known pre-revolutionary origin. This plain pine flooring has been spoken of as the usual sort in most localities where the straight-grained yellow pine grows. This common flooring, varying in thickness from 1-1/8" to 1-¼" was often face-nailed, but also, sometimes on the edges or on both edges and face.^* The approved finish for pine floors was wax, advertised in the Virginia Gazette in a note stating that floor boards, like doors were "polished with wax, which makes them look very beautiful."

Carpets and matting were frequently used to give floors an added warmth, particularly since all Williamsburg floors were of single thickness and must have been draughty. As examples of typical floor covering, we note in Alexander Purdie's inventory of April 28, 1774 (Research Library, Colonial Williamsburg) "1 Wilton Carpet, 1 Scotch Carpet, 1 passage oil cloth." Turkey carpets are mentioned on occasion in the Virginia Gazette.

HEARTHS

These are discussed under the subject heading of fireplaces.

WALLS

Throughout the interior of the house walls and ceilings are plastered, with the exception of two small areas of wall on the first floor, forming the face of two storage closets where pine sheathing with lapped joints occurs.)

Wall plastering does not here follow the practice of using pulverized oyster shell lime, aged in open vats. A plastering method was devised by the restoration architects using metal lath - for its greater permanence and fire safety. Plaster, available in the local market, has been adopted since it can be applied with supervised trowelling, so as to produce a result not readily distinguishable from eighteenth-century plastering. It is reported that pulverized oyster shell plaster presented difficulties in both trowelling to a required smooth surface and as a base for the universally used paint. A standard ready-to-use plaster of approved mix was therefore adopted.

The area of wall plastering includes the intervening space between chair railing and baseboard, on both the first and second floors. As in early houses, examined in Virginia, plastering is done after door and window trim is 35 applied. This eliminates the use of grounds, and brings the surface of wall plastering, often beyond the flat face of door trim. This manner of plastering subsequent to the application of door and window architraves seems to have originated in the early days when both door and window frames were of heavy timber with moldings "done on the solid."

DOORS

The exterior doors, front and rear entrance doors, and northeast service entrance door, have already been discussed on pages 24 and 25 of this report.

The interior doors are of three general types:

• 1.Six-panelled doors. These, with two exceptions, doors #8 and #10 (see Door Schedule, sheet #105), which are closet doors, are used on the first floor for communication between rooms. They have molded panels on the one side raised slightly above the plane of the stiles and rails, and sunken, unmolded panels on the other. These doors vary in width from 2'-4" to 2'-8" and in height from 6'-8" to 7'-0". Their thickness is 1-3/8". The stiles and rails are mortised and tenoned together and the joints are secured by wood pins.
• 2.Four-panelled doors. These are used on the second floor for communication between rooms. They are similar in the character of their panelling and construction to the six-panelled type. They are either 2'-4" or 2'-8" wide and are 6'-6" in height. Their thickness is 1-3/8".
• 3.Board and batten doors. These are used for closet doors on the first and second floors and in the basement for closets and doors communicating between spaces. The basement doors are made of random unbeaded boards with lapped joints. The doors of the first and second floors are constructed of 36 three random-width boards, with the joints lapped and provided with a double bead on the side facing rooms and hallways. (See sketch). Door #17, a closet door in the northwest chamber of the first floor, is exceptional in that it is a two-valve batten door, each leaf of which is 1'-8" wide and 6'-8" high.

DOUBLE-BEADED BOARDS OF BATTENED DOORS

Typical battens, three in number to each door, are molded, the profile consisting of a fillet and a quarter-round. The single-valve batten doors range in width from 2'-2" to 3'-0" and in height from 4'-0" to 6'-6". Their thickness is uniformly 1-1/8". To complete the record of the doors, a second exceptional battened door may be mentioned, the two-battened (2'-0" x 2'-6") scuttle door affording access to the attic from the second floor. This door has single-beaded joints and champfered battens.

THRESHOLDS

Thresholds are used at all doors throughout the house. These are of edge-grained yellow pine.

DOOR TRIM

Typical interior trim was of three kinds: the double-fascia type was used on the ground floor as a surround for all principal doors; single-facial TYPES OF INTERIOR DOOR TRIM trim occurs generally on the second floor with the variation of an unmoulded 37 edge for closet interiors. All of these types have their early antecedents. Double fascia door trim occurs as facing at the Barlow and Brush Houses, and single fascia trim at the Tucker-Coleman, the Lightfoot and in an outbuilding of the Clark House, all of the locality. See door and window trim in Glossary and as special study, Architectural Records File.

WINDOW TRIM

A differentiation is made in the design of the window trim of larger and more important windows of the front of main house (ground floor) where trim of the double-fascia type occurs and the single-fascia trim of the second floor and rear part of the house. All trim is applied as a frame, completely encircling the window opening, thus eliminating the need for an interior window sill and apron.

FIREPLACES

There are three fireplaces in the house interior. This is fewer than is generally found in an eighteenth-century Virginia house, at a time when the fireplace was the source of heating. However, the evidence for a chimney is completely lacking at the east end of the excavated foundation. The front and rear fireplaces follow evidences discussed in this report under the heading of 38 "Archaeological Evidence," page 11.

CHAIR RAILING

One form of chair rail was used in all of the principal rooms of the Prentis House (living room, dining room, chamber #1 and first floor, front hall.) This consists of a 6" back board with a ½" bead at both top and bottom, and also the raised bolection-type mold as shown in the attached sketch. This detail is from the Casey House at Henry and Duke of Gloucester Streets. The top of the railing is 3'-1½" from the floor.

TYPICAL CHAIR RAIL

All baseboards used in all rooms and closets are the familiar board, 4½" in height, 7/8" in thickness and having the ½" rounded bead, as used on the chair rail backboard.

CORNICE

A simple wood cornice was adopted as trim for the top of walls in the living room, dining room, front and rear hall and in downstairs chamber #1. This cornice consists of a combination of a crown mold and ogee. This is 41 attached to a flat member or fascia. Its antecedents are many. The following precedent for this modest cornice is cited: The cornice of St. John's House, Williamsburg, consisting of a crown molding, fillet and small "ogee." This set of moldings is attached to a "back-board" with a ½" bead at its lower edge.

STAIRS

The stair of the Prentis House is probably not in its original location, since it is likely that the hallway originally extended from front to rear of the house. It would be reasonable to expect the stair to have been located at the back of this hallway, in this case, against the rear wall of the house, and to have extended from side wall to side wall. The present hall was reduced in depth to permit the installation back of it of a bath and two closets and the stair was placed at the rear of this curtailed hall.

Nineteen risers are required to cover the 10'-10" vertical distance from the first to the second floors. The stair starts against the west wall of the hallway with a 7-tread vertical run, continues with 3 winders followed by a straight run of 3 treads against the rear wall of the hall and attains the second floor level by means of a second series of 3 winders and a straight flight of 2 treads. This U-shaped type of stair, beginning and terminating in a straight run and having two sets of winders separated by a straight run in lieu of the more usual intermediate landing is illustrated in Plate XXXI of William Salmon's Palladio Londinensis, London, 1748 (a reproduction of Salmon's drawing is included here). Speaking of stairs with and without winders, Salmon says: "There are [stairs] such as always wind and never fly . . ." The type shown in the illustration he refers to as "mixt-stairs" and says that "There are such as do both fly and wind; and these are by some called by the general name of Flyers and Winders."

The stair is open throughout its run. The width of the stair, from the face of the closed string to the wall is 3'-2¼" except for the final run of two treads, where the width, center-to-center of handrail, is 3'-1-7/8". The tread width, without nosing, is 10½" and the riser height is approximately 7".

The stair railing is made up of a grillwork of interlocking diagonal members, rectangular in section, 1¼" on the face and 1-1/8" thick (see working drawing sheet #103). The precedent for this so-called "Chinese" railing is the railing, almost identical in pattern, of the west stair of the Coke-Garrett House. The square, solid newel posts are rebated at the top to receive the mitred caps. The profile of the cap mouldings (see drawing #102) is similar to that of the handrail. The handrail profile was derived from the handrail of the now-demolished Croaker House near Norge, Charles City County. A handrail, very similar in size and profiling to that used in the Prentis House, was found in the pool of antique materials at the Warehouse. (A section of this is now in the collection of original moldings and woodwork being assembled by the Records Department.) The material of the stair - treads and risers, handrail, grillwork and newel posts - is of yellow pine.

The basement stair begins at the rear of the hallway and runs under the main stair. It has 16 risers, with a riser-height of approximately 7" and a tread width, without nosing of 10". The stair width varies from 2'-9½" to 3'-0". It has a single 3½" square newel post without cap at the base of the stair and two rails 1-¾" x 3-¾" in section, with corners rounded.

ARCHWAY TO DINING ROOM

There is a plaster vaulted vestibule leading from the front hall to the dining room. The curved ceiling is arched to a radius of 3'-0-¾". The passage is faced on both the dining and on the vestibule side by an arched treatment utilizing on the dining room side the double fascia trim that surrounds other door openings of the first floor, and on the vestibule side, the single fascia trim used on second floor doors. At the center of the arch is a wood keyblock with five flutes. The arch itself is segmental with horizontal ends, similar to the detail used on the living room fireplace.

CUPBOARD IN DINING ROOM PASSAGE

This cupboard was composed so as to fit the 3'-6" wide space in the arched passage to the dining room. It consists of two glazed doors above and cupboards below. Its design is based upon an old pine cupboard, preserved by Colonial Williamsburg, along with eighteenth-century fragments and building parts, to serve as precedent in the design of buildings within the restored area.

HARDWARE

The hardware used throughout the building consists in general of reproductions of colonial hardware, except that in certain rooms included for modern convenience, the kitchen, pantry and bathrooms, and in the basement,-"stock" hardware of frankly modern design has been used, manufactured by the Stanley Works and P. & F. Corbin, both of New Britain, Connecticut. In all other rooms, faithful reproductions of good examples of colonial locks, knobs, escutcheons, hinges and other hardware were used throughout, care having been taken that only reproductions of approved, authentic colonial patterns should be specified. For many of the doors of the first and second stories Reading rim locks, manufactured by the Reading Hardware Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, 44 were used. Other reproductions were purchased through the Colonial Williamsburg Craft Program from the Boone Forge, Spruce Pine, North Carolina. This hardware, manufactured expressly for Colonial Williamsburg, bears the official Colonial Williamsburg hallmark.^*

The hardware used in the Prentis House is listed in detail on pages 21-26 of the Specifications for the Reconstruction of the Prentis House, which the reader should consult. For the offset wrought iron strap hinges used on the front gate, the hasp of the bulkhead and other miscellaneous details, working drawing #210 may be examined.

NAILS

Nails with hand-wrought heads were used on all interior finish in the main portions of the building, and for finished floors. "Stock" galvanized cut nails were used on all exterior woodwork and galvanized cut nails similar to boat nails were used for fastening weatherboards.

All colonial type door hinges were secured to the doors by nails with hand-wrought heads on small leather washers. Small nails with hand-wrought heads were used for attaching the hinges of the doors of the cupboard adjacent to the Dining Room. Large nails with hand-wrought heads were used to hold the hinges of the bulkhead.

LIGHTING FIXTURES

The lighting fixtures of the house are of two types, those of purely modern design and reproductions of fixtures of colonial character. Modern type lighting fixtures have been used in rooms and spaces which have been designed and equipped to serve modern convenience, such as the bathrooms, kitchen, pantry, service entry, basement, etc. (a flush, recessed ceiling fixture is also used on the rear porch.) Reproductions of colonial type fixtures have been installed in all other rooms of the house where the eighteenth-century character has been maintained in the treatment of the detailing. The lantern suspended from the hood over the front entrance to the house is likewise a reproduction of a colonial type fixture.

GENERAL

Along with the study of design antecedents made by Colonial Williamsburg as a basis for the design of reconstructed houses such as the Prentis, so also have color facts been accumulated to guide the authentic use of color in the painting of reproduced houses. These data have been collected by study of vestiges of paint on wall and woodwork. In some cases walls were scraped so as to reveal the layering of paint and color coatings. In many cases painted surfaces of eighteenth-century buildings received only a single paint application, which today is saved as a part of the demonstration of color usage.

These descriptions of the use of paint or color have been helpful, as when Hugh Jones wrote of Williamsburg houses in 1724 as being "cased with feather-edged Plank, painted with white-lead and Oyl. Later in the century we find a growing use of colors for walls, along with objections voiced to 46 "the glare of white which is so common." Then also, around the time of the Revolution, we hear (along with white which continued) that pale shades of gray were favored and colors "tinted to resemble some mellow stone; Bath, Portland stone."

Lists of color and kinds of paint carried by merchants of the town and at the landings as advertised in the Virginia Gazette are also useful in determining how houses should be painted and what manner of color was used. Interiors of houses, more than the house exteriors, were noteworthy for their colors - often vivid ones. We have reasonably frequent mention in Virginia of "the blue room," "the yellow chamber," and even "the red room."

As today, green was considered the fitting color for shutters and, it is believe, lattices. As one contemporary writer observes, "very dark green is quite unobjectionable as a color for Venetian blinds, so much used in our country, as it is quite unobtrusive. Bright green is oppressive to the eye, and vulgar and flashy in effect." This dark green, recommended for blinds, and elsewhere for lattices, became the color for shutters and doors of the Prentis House.

A listing of colors for this house is given here with a notation of place used, description of color, and identification of the color from the 1000 and more samples set up by Colonial Williamsburg as an aid to color usage.

EXTERIOR

Weatherboarding and trim, painted an "off-white," not noticeably a gray but a very pale warm white, No. 1100.

Doors and Shutters, painted a dark green, closely approaching a black. There is a slight luster to this paint, No. 1057.

Porch Floors, finished with a paint, having a warm light brown color, with varnish finish, No. 25.

Porch Ceiling, finished as a flat, pale tan color, No. 1058.

INTERIOR

Walls of first floor (except kitchen) painted a gray green color. This color used for walls of living room lightened from the original No. 13.

Other walls, first floor, excepting kitchen, a warm tan, with satin finish, No. 341.

Woodwork of first and second floors (excepting kitchen) given a warm, pale fawn color, No. 343.

Woodwork of kitchen, painted walls of pale gray, with touch of green, No. 339. Walls an off-white.

Walls of second floor, excepting bathroom, light tan, No. 342.

MARBLE MANTEL

Fragments of a marble mantel were found in the Prentis basement during the archaeological excavations. These were put together piece by piece. The mantel was not placed in the Prentis House as reconstructed, since it was thought that it had merely been stored in the basement. This mantel as pieced together served as precedent in the design of the marble mantel in the George Wythe House.

Other original marble mantels still exist in Williamsburg. Several are to be found in the Marshall House (on Francis Street back of the Fire Station); one in the John Blair House; a fine one in the east end room of the Randolph-Peachy House; and remnants of a fine one in the Bull's Head Tavern. Fragments of marble mantels have been found in other locations, viz., on the sites of the Palace and the Raleigh Tavern, and one existed in the old Casey House, formerly at the corner of Henry and Duke of Gloucester Streets.