Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

WEST WALL
17-25

From 17 to 22 the brick are period I laid in English bond, but most of this wall is missing. At 22 and Northwards are two fragments of the wall, the more Northern of which extends under the chimney foundation at 23. At 18 are the fragmentary remnants of a cellar entrance, the brick being period I. At 21 the pavement of the basement floor is missing and one period I brick remains at a lower level surrounded by mortar. The fact that this brick exists, together with the missing paving and section of outer wall, leads to the assumption that there was a chimney here. The remains of the wall 17 to 22 are not fit for re- use.

The chimney 23 and wall North of it to 25 are of period II brickwork, laid in English bond. As noted above the chimney overlaps the first period wall. The chimney and wall north of it are bonded together. The chimney projects beyond the West face of the period I wall 5". The South face of the chimney shows how the main cross wall 23-3 stood against it and the mortar indicates an unbonded butt joint. This cross wall is missing at the point under consideration. The chimney and wall North of it are fit for re-use.

The cellar entrance at 18 is a very rough piece of brickwork. It projects well West of the street or building line of colonial times. This may be the reason it was changed to the South wall at 28. It may never have been completed at all or it may have been changed by later alterations. At the bottom it is bonded in with the brickwork of the building wall and is likewise period I.

NORTH WALL
25-1

This wall has one portion missing at 10-9. The type of brick is period II and continues the brickwork 23 to 25.

EAST WALL
1-4

The Northern portion of this wall 1-2 is of the same period and kind of brick as the North wall 25-1. The corner at 1 is peculiar in that the Eastern face of it is rough brickwork with joints not tooled due to the fact that this wall was built against the dirt face of the excavation for the basement. This face is also uneven and is only bonded at the corner to the North wall on the inner face brick of the basement, leaving a vertical joint filled with mortar as shown on the plan.

At 3 a portion of the interior longitudinal wall 23-3 is left - see elevation "F. F." The wall 1-2 butts this wall and is not bonded thereto. Wall 3, also, is period I brickwork similar to wall 17-22. Wall 3 in turn butts the East wall 2-4. Wall 2-4 is the same kind of brick as 3, but projects slightly North of it to an uneven termination. Note that a similar projection and termination occurs at 22. All the east wall 1-2-4 is in a condition fit for re- use, - is laid in English bond with a good, hard oyster shell lime mortar. 14 This is true of wall 3. Note the slots in the wall 1-2 at F - see elevation "F. F." These slots may have been rebates for storage shelves.

SOUTH WALL

Parts of this wall are missing from 5 to 16. It is all in English bond and of Period I. At 17 the cheek of the bulkhead entrance is bonded to it. At 28 it is interrupted by a bulkhead entrance, the cheeks of which are made of Period II brick. Only part of these steps is left, the upper portions have disappeared except the remnants of the top step along the line 27-29. The cheeks have slots left in the brick for wood nosings, one of which in part remains at the bottom step. It is of cedar, badly rotted and shows signs of having been subjected to fire. There is a rebate in the brick at each end for a wood frame - this seems obvious because the ends of the cedar nosing have slots for tenons and holes for pegs showing that the frame was joined to the nosing with mortices, tenons and pegs. Although the other nosings are missing, they all had beds of mortar. See section "A. A". Note in this section the remnants of paving. Since it runs under the present sidewalk, it is not possible at this writing to ascribe a given period to it.

At 32 is a solid piece of brickwork of Period I. It is in English bond and seems to be the foundation of the front steps. Just South of the step foundation is a series of bricks one course deep. The top surfaces of these are worn and seem to be remnants of paving which lead from the sidewalk to the front steps. The grade at this point can therefore be considered as slightly above the adjacent original ground or paving level or grade.

From 35 to 33 is a curb composed of a single course of brick. The brick size is 8½" x 4" x 2 5/8" and forms a third general size as mentioned above. At 35 and 34 this brick is interrupted by small gaps. Where the brick terminates at these points closers have been used indicating that the brick were laid in English bond and formed a wall. Also in excavating at these gaps holes were found filled with loose debris and doubtless held posts. The wall is interrupted by the front entrance paving but continues at 31 to 29 leaving small breaks at 29 and 30 like those at 34 and 35 and equidistant from them about the front steps as a center line. The bulkhead interrupts the wall which continues beyond it to 27 where there is another post hole and where it turns North ending on a line of a brick gutter. At 26 is a small piece of brick which may be more of this wall or may not. As the Northern angle is approximately on the colonial street or building line, 26 may be a casual fragment of some kind. Here also is a bit of gutter and in its middle is a large hole which may have been some sort of drain or perhaps a post hole. This hole was full of debris and was excavated three feet deep. The wall from 35 to 33 is one course thick,but from 31 to 27 it is three courses thick and in English bond and laid in oyster shell lime mortar.

All the area North from this wall to the building and South to the Street line shows traces of marl, crumbled brick rubble, etc. It may all have been paved, using the layers of marl and rubble for a base, but no actual paving was found. The wall itself is similar to several examples noted in photographs of English Georgian buildings where a thin brick wall about 1½ feet high is interrupted by posts which support a wooden paling resting on the curb wall.

BRICK AT 40

Laid in English bond - size 8½" x 3¾" x 2 7/8" with some 9" x 4¼" x 2½" brick mixed in. It is two courses deep and rests on a bed of partly burned coal broken into small fragments. The mortar is oyster shell lime mortar.

BRICK AT
41 and 42

Two courses deep - same kind of brick as at 40. 42 is three courses deep.

BRICK AT 43

Two courses deep of same type brick as 40-41-42. The insurance policies indicate a "back-porch" 20 x 12 feet at this location. These scattered fragments of piers and walls must have been related to it. Since this porch may have been contemporaneous with the insurance policies (1806) and therefore late, the late type of brick in the fragments can be explained. 41 and 42 are heavier masonry than 40 and 43 and may have been earlier step foundations.

WALL
16-11-10

This wall is in English bond of period II brickwork. Only the footing courses are left at 16 and do not touch the South wall. At 11 the wall terminates and shows traces in the mortar coat on the North face where wall 23-3 ran past and which it butted without bonding. At pier North of 11 is the same type of brick, the Southern angle of the pier being thicker than the other portions of the wall. At the North end of this are the indications of a door opening with a slot in the pier for the missing wood sill and a rebate in the paving with a mortar bed for the sill. This is similar to section "E.E." At 10 the wall is missing, but a few brick indicate the North jamb line of the door opening.

WALL
6-7-8

This wall is of the same period II brickwork as 16-11-10. At 6 it terminates on the line of the South wall allowing for a mortar joint. North of this is a door opening similar to that at 11-10 and 8 and shown in section "E. E." The North jamb of this door is a pier as the wall 23-3 ran past and was butted by it as at 11. The brick in this pier steps back at top from 13½" typical wall thickness to 11½". The wall continues North of 7, and shows the same buttered mortar surface where it butted walls 23-3. On the West side of the South part of this wall is a slot similar to those at F on the East wall. On the East face of this wall are two breaks. At 8 is another door whose North jamb pier butts the North wall without bonding. The door treatment at 8 is the same as for door near 7 and one at 11-10. Note that although the brick of wall 6-7-8 is the same as the North wall 9-1, the two do not bond at the intersection at 8.

PAVING

All the basement floor was covered with neat, brick paving in a running pattern in directions as shown on the drawing. At the outer walls it was stopped short providing a gutter about 2 to 2" wide. See section "G. G." The bottom of this gutter was formed by other brick set close to the wall and acting as a curb to the 3" thick bed of pure sand on which the paving rested. The paving was made of 1/2 and 3/4 brick for the most part, although some whole brick are in evidence. The joints are dry except for a distance of 4" in from the gutter where they are filled with oyster shell lime mortar. The brick at the bottom of the gutter are also laid in mortar. The bed of sand under the paving of the eastern half of the basement seems to rest directly on undisturbed clay, but that of the western half rests on a fill of debris with some brick admixed about one foot deep.

At 20 two gutters were found leading to a small pit with brick walls and bottom - see sections "B. B." and "C. C." The gutters had been bricked up flush with the floor while the pit was full of ashes and fill and was also covered by a continuation of the paving. Its purpose must have been as a sump pit, later filled in.

CHIMNEY AT
12-13-14-15

Upon removal of paving at this point, the chimney foundation was discovered. It is of period I brickwork. The fireplace paving or under-fire bricks show heavy traces of fire and are discolored. Joints are full of ash. These bricks are of a different size - 8" x 3¾" x 2 7/8" - same as period II.

The present foundation indicates a large fireplace and chimney at 13 with another breast extending eastwards at 14 and 15. This latter breast is fragmentary and does not indicate its original shape clearly. See further remarks under general considerations.

WALL AT
24

This is laid in English bond of period I brickwork. It is a fragment of wall 23-3.

OUTBUILDINGS

Starting with the insurance policies 4 outbuildings are indicated, a kitchen, a dairy, a smoke house and a stable. The stable was at the rear of the lot but no trace of it was found in excavating. A foundation was found which corresponds to the kitchen indicating a building of the same size and position as shown in the policies. South of it, where the policy indicated the dairy, was found a wall fragment which is in agreement with the policies and bears them out.

At 52 and 64 are the fragments of another structure which may be assumed as similar in shape and size to the kitchen.

South of this is the well, with a gutter and large paved area and a circular foundation. As mentioned above the area of paving would seem to have been enclosed by a structure of some sort which included the round foundation also. Such a structure is not mentioned in the insurance policies, nor shown on the Frenchman's Map. It may have post-dated these documents.

The fragmentary foundation West of the well at 51-45 is later than either the kitchen or the North building. Neither the Frenchman's Map nor the insurance policies show any structure at this point.

With the foregoing in mind, the probable arrangement of outbuildings from the evidence consisted of the kitchen, dairy, and smoke house, a building similar to the kitchen North of the well, no building at the West unless one based on the chimney alone disregarding the late walls and possibly some structure combining the paving and round wall near the well, or a well-head, a round brick structure and an area of paving.

Although several additional outbuildings are suggested in the Prentis inventory, the foundations found on the site would accommodate them.

MAIN FOUNDATION

The first part of the structure seems to have been a house which included walls 17-16, chimney at 13-15, wall 17-22 and cellar entrance 18-19. This represents a house about 16 x 25 feet, fronting the West as mentioned in the deeds. This was extended soon after to include 5-4-2 and 3 to 12 as it is the same kind of brickwork - period I. Later, wall 23-25-1-2 was erected including interior walls 16-10 and 6-8 as well as the paving and new bulkhead 28 - all being period II brickwork. Later than this the South fence wall 27-35 was built followed by the rear porch at 40-43. This sequence fits with the deeds as well as the foundations and is similar to the growth of like structures in Williamsburg which began with small units and increased with additions such as the Blair House.