Windows on the Bay 2014

Transcription

wind ws
on the Bay 2014
Inside:
Restoring a
1763 home, & much more.
BUILDERS WHO CAN CHOOSE
ANY WINDOW DON’T JUST
CHOOSE ANY WINDOW.
With a classic blend of engineering and craftsmanship, time-tested 400 Series products offer the beauty, performance
and durability you’ve always wanted. So when you’re building a home, trust the windows and patio doors builders trust
most — Andersen® windows and doors. Why choose anything else?
“ENERGY STAR” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“Andersen” and all other marks where denoted are trademarks of Andersen Corporation. ©2014 Andersen Corporation. All rights reserved.
Building Supplies
Installed Sales of Foam and Fiber Insulation
Condition Crawl Spaces
E-shields for Attics
Suspended Ceilings
146 GENERAL PULLER HWY., SALUDA, VA 23149
(804) 758-5347
wind ws
on the Bay 2014
L
ong before we sprung the clocks forward and started counting down the
days until spring, our thoughts turned to warmer weather. Winter's bite has
left everyone on the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula longing for milder
temperatures, especially gardeners. It's time to get out and plant. We've called on
an 18th century gardener and a native plant expert to offer their advice. Vegetable
gardeners can purchase plants and support a good cause when the PAES program
opens its greenhouse in April. And want-to-be gardeners can tour homes from Essex
to Gloucester during Virginia's Historic Garden Week.
Our thoughts have also turned to remodelling and spring cleaning. See the
results of a two-year restoration on a Middlesex County landmark and how a master
woodworker restores his finds.
And for those who want to shed all the work that comes with owning and
maintaining a home and garden, join a couple who made their boat their home and
read about some of their adventures.
However you choose to spend spring's warmer days, whether its cleaning,
gardening, painting or boating, make the most out of them.
Susan & Lisa
[email protected] & [email protected]
wind
ws
ay 2014
on the B
Inside:g a
n
Restorimuch more.
&
63 home,
OOn the Cover
Original features of Wilton (Circa. 1763) were
O
preserved during a two-year restoration.
p
The story of this Middlesex County
landmark starts on page 10. See more
photos at SSentinel.com.
photo by Tom Chillemi
17
windows on the Bay
is a supplement published
annually by the Rappahannock Record, P.O. Box 400, Kilmarnock, Va.
22482, (804) 435-1701 and the Southside Sentinel, P.O. Box 549,
Urbanna, Va. 23175, (804) 758-2328.
onboard lifestyle
A home on the water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
wilton
A restoration challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Master Woodwright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Spring Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
18th Century Gardening. . . . . . . . . . . .21
historic garden week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
gardening with natives . . . . . . . . . . . .34
greenhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
News Tom Hardin and Robert D. Mason Jr., editors; Larry S.
Chowning, Tom Chillemi, Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi, Audrey Thomasson and
Renss Greene
Advertising Sara Amiss and Wendy Payne, managers; K.C. Troise,
Marilyn Bryant, Troy Robertson and Libby Allen
Production Julie H. Burwood, art director; Wayne Smith, manager;
Joseph Gaskins, Susan Simmons, K.C. Troise and Hillary Greene
Publications Coordinator Susan Simmons
Editorial Director Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Account Managers Geanie Longest and Lindsay Bishoff
General Managers Fred and Bettie Lee Gaskins
March
M
arch 20
220,
0, 2014
20144
• w
windows
indows on
on the
the Bay
Bay • 3
Onboard
lifestyle
brings daily
adventures
Joe, Claire and Cruisin spend most of their time on the aft deck.
by Audrey Thomasson
J
oe and Claire Monroe loved
boating so much, they shed their
ties to land and moved aboard
their boat. That was four boats and
29 years ago.
Now, whim and scenic shoreline
determine where these vagabonds
call home. From cruising up the
Hudson River to Albany, N.Y., to
fishing in the tropical waters off the
Florida Keys, America's Atlantic
coastline is their backyard.
They say more than half the fun
is getting there as they travel leisurely with dolphins and a variety
of birds.
"I like the fact I take my home
wherever I go...I don't have to pack
my clothes," said Claire.
And choosing among all the perfect coastal settings is not a problem: They just pull up anchor and
head to the next location.
The couple anchored in the
Florida Keys for nearly five years
and spent another 15 on Florida's
west coast near Venice, where for
12 years they ran Nautical Trader,
dealing in quality used boat items.
For four years they docked at Kent
Island, Md., across the Bay Bridge
from their former Annapolis home,
and then it was off to New Bern,
4 • windows on the Bay • March 20, 2014
N.C., for a year.
A celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary at the Tides Inn
put the Rappahannock River on
their radar. They now live aboard
CJ at Yankee Point Marina off the
Corrotoman River. While the location is convenient to grandchildren
in the D.C. area, they also love the
beauty and history of the Northern
Neck.
Land-based necessities such as
grocery shopping and tailgating at
football games at Joe's alma-mater,
the U.S. Naval Academy, require
a car. When they cruise to a new
location, they simply rent a car in
order to return and pick up their
vehicle.
Life onboard
Giving up a house means giving
up room for stuff, even on a comfortable 44-foot Viking motor
yacht with two bedrooms and two
baths.
"Winter coats take up a lot of
room," said Claire, pointing out the
guest shower stall which doubles
as a coat closet in winter. A storage unit at the marina offers extra
space for off-season clothing and
supplies.
This
year's
bone-chilling
weather did not dampen their
enthusiasm for living on the water,
thanks to the marina for supplying
an agitator that keeps the water
moving around the hull so it doesn't
freeze. An electric fireplace in the
salon radiates enough heat to keep
the cabin toasty warm. Gleaming
wood paneling embraces a room
that has all the comforts of home—
only in a smaller space.
Joe says they opted out of builtin furniture from the boat's manufacturer and equipped their indoor
living space with a leather love
seat, secretary desk, trunk and
other personal pieces that make it
homey. Only the desk and a lamp
must be secured when they venture
out of port, which they say is often.
The dining area converts into
a big bed to accommodate a third
sleeping area for grandkids. What
better way to spend summertime
with grandparents than living in
bathing suits and T-shirts, enjoying
waffles on the aft deck while overlooking a coastal paradise filled
with wildlife?
The couple is big on kayaking,
and while Claire loves to ride her
bicycle, Joe exercises on a rowing
Claire's galley features a full-size refrigerator and pantry. Joe is the
dishwasher.
machine he keeps at the marina.
They also work out at the YMCA.
Sunsets don't get any better than
when they reflect off the water.
And while waterfront homeowners
are looking out at the river, liveaboards are gazing back at shore.
When it comes to bad weather,
the Monroes don't take chances,
seeking safe harbor or occasionally
having the boat hauled out of the
water for hurricanes—a cost partially covered by insurance.
Adventures
Every day brings another adventure, some good, some not so good,
but always an entertaining story to
be told later.
In Palmetto, Fla., he and Claire
were awakened by police pounding
on the side of the boat wanting to
commandeer their dinghy to look
for someone who had jumped off
the bridge. The former naval officer
allowed them to use the dinghy—
but only under his command.
The family worked as a team
when two intruders boarded the
craft one night looking for easy
pickings. The dog growled, Joe
cornered them on deck and Claire
called the law. Another time, he
The stateroom easily accommodates a queen bed and plenty of storage.
and his son chased thieves off the
boat but stopped short when the
intruders joined a large group of
people partying in the woods. Once
the police arrived, the culprits were
identified and arrested. Police dogs
recovered the stolen articles along
the escape route. However, cops
advised Joe to put on some pants.
"I am awesome in my skivvies,"
Joe brags about such late night
adventures.
He notes marinas like having
people who live aboard their boat
because they keep watch over the
other boats.
An important family member
is Cruisin, their water-loving
Cairn terrier. Cruisin is the ship
watchdog, entertainer and official
greeter, whether a visitor arrives by
dock or by water.
Once when they were out on the
dinghy, a manatee swam under the
small boat to the other side and rose
up to look inside at the occupants.
Cruisin and the manatee shared
a nose-to-nose moment as they
checked each other out. "There's
never a camera around when you
need it," said Claire.
continued on page 6
Cruisin stares down manatees and other intruders.
March 20, 2014
• windows on the Bay • 5
continued from page 5
Living simple
The CJ docked at Yankee Point Marina.
There is peace to giving up much
of your possessions and living a
simpler life on the water.
The Monroes didn't have a
second thought to unloading a
washer and dryer in the kitchen in
order to have a shipboard pantry.
Now laundry is done on the aft
deck in a single unit that washes
and dries.
Claire was willing to give up
many amenities for shipboard
living, except one. It was only after
Joe promised to be her dish washer
that she agreed to a life at sea.
"He's lived up to his promise,
but not without complaining every
meal about why it takes so many
pots and pans," said Claire.
Not every problem is solved so
easily. The rising price of diesel
fuel has cooled their twin engines
somewhat. As far as boat maintenance, it helps that Joe is very
handy. He does most the repairs
except heavy duty engine work
and he closely follows the manufacturer's suggested maintenance
program.
Some of the best aspects of their
life-style are having plenty of time
to read and meeting so many great
people. Boat-dwellers in the Florida Keys are very different from Personal furniture makes the central living area warm and cozy.
Parade of Homes by the Bay
will return May 30 and 31
The Lancaster by the Bay Chamber of Commerce (LBBCC) will
sponsor the third annual Parade of
Homes by the Bay on May 30 and 31.
The event will be held from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 30, and 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 31.
Advance tickets are $20 for
admission both days if purchased
online between April 1 and May
29. After May 29, tickets are $25,
according to executive director
Cindi Huey. To purchase advance
tickets, visit lancasterva.com.
All tickets must be picked up
at the LBBCC Office, 129 South
Main Street, Kilmarnock. The
LBBCC Office will serve as the
home base for the tour, showcasing builders, craftsmen, architects,
home décor designers, landscapers
and other vendors in the residential construction arena. The home
tour properties will be announced
3 Months
Free!
for new slips with
an annual lease
Call for more details!
Climate Controlled Repair Shop
Full Service ABYC Boatyard
Marina 804-758-4457 Ȉ Boatyard 804-758-4747
www.regentpointmarina.com
those in the D.C. area. Conversations are completely different, says
Claire.
While they may float from place
to place, Joe and Claire are very
much grounded when it comes to
good causes. Currently, they are
working with Yankee Point Marina
owners Ken and Karen Knull on a
sailing regatta in the fall to benefit
the Independence Fund, which provides mobility to veterans who lost
limbs in the war on terrorism.
The Monroes don't regret trading in possessions for a laid-back
lifestyle at sea, turning their bow The cockpit of the 44-foot Viking
in a new direction and floating Motor Cruiser serves as Joe’s
together through life's adventures. command center.
in April.
At the chamber office, tour participants will receive a welcome
packet as well as a map to the
properties. Vendors will be paired
with presenters and will act as cohosts of the homes.
Interested vendors involved with
home building, home improvement, decorating and landscaping
can contact Cindi Huey at 4356092, or [email protected].
Your choice
makes a
LQЄMZMVKM
3MMXQVOaW]Z
[PWXXQVOLWTTIZ[
LOCAL supports
aW]Z47+)4
KWUU]VQ\a
<WIL^MZ\Q[MQV\PM
;W]\P[QLM;MV\QVMTKITT
?MVLaWZ4QJJaI\ ̆ MILL-END
carpet shop & warehouse
BUILDERS • RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
WE SPECIALIZE IN:
Carpet • Vinyl • Area Rugs • Hardwood
Luxury Vinyl Tile • Custom Rug Binding
Ceramic Tile • Laminate • VCT • Area Rug Cleaning
Serving the Middle Peninsula &
Northern Neck for over 30 years.
*HQ3XOOHU+Z\+DUWÀHOG
804-776-6611
www.mill-end.com
Dream Big.
Build Smart.
May 30 - 31, 2014
Friday 10am - 6pm & Saturday 10am - 5pm
This home tour features unique properties with
varying styles and budgets, showcasing area
craftsmen, and associate trades. Tickets include entry
to all homes on the tour, discounts to area restaurants
and merchants. Tickets go on sale April 1, 2014
at Lancaster by the Bay Chamber and
Bank of Lancaster or visit us online at
www.lancasterva.com/upcomingevents.
Joseph P. Oliva (o) 804-438-5092
(c) 804-436-4828
Post Office Box 208 Irvington, Virginia 22480
[email protected]
Setting the standard of excellence
for fine homebuilding,
renovations and
additions since 1987.
Watch the blue boxes for The Rivah
Visitor's Guide On stands April 30!
is
Growing!
Look for our expanding
Lawn & Garden Department
Coming this Spring!
More Plants
More Herbs
More Helpful Service
Come Grow with us!
804-529-7578
3010 Northumberland Highway
3V[[ZI\YN=PYNPUPHHSSPZVUZHJLOHYK^HYLJVT
March 20, 2014
AFTER
BEFORE
Dee David, a Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer brings more than
40 years of Design and Build experience to the Northern Neck.
KITCHENS, BATHROOMS, OUTDOOR KITCHENS,
LAUNDRY ROOMS & MORE!
DESIGN • DELIVER • INSTALL
804-724-0829
www.deedavidandco.com • [email protected]
Northern Neck Rentals
WICOMICO
CHURCH, VA
Equipment Rental
Monday-Friday 7:30-4:30
(804) 580-RENT
(7368)
Watch the blue
boxes for The
Rivah Visitor's
Guide!
On stands
April 30
Offering the best in trendy, classic & fun!
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Furniture,
Area Rugs, and Decorative Accessories
Feather Your Nest
Cindy Lloyd Design
804-333-6463
In Home Design Consultations
5011 Richmond Road • Warsaw, VA
[email protected]
If the power goes out
will you be ready?
No more worries of blackouts, brownouts or weather related
outages. Just peace of mind that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
your home and family are protected against electrical failure.
s&ULLYAUTOMATICs0ERMANENTLYINSTALLED
s-OREPRACTICALTHATAPORTABLE
K7
K7
K7
K7
K7AIRCOOLED
K7LIQUIDCOOLED
K7LIQUIDCOOLED
K7LIQUIDCOOLED
4RANSFER3WITCHINCLUDEDK7nK7
HURD’s, INC.
START RIGHT. START HERE.
Deltaville, Va. • 776-9241
Wesley Hatchell, Sr.
GENERATOR
Installation & Service
804-758-0357
Cell: 804-347-9843
March 20, 2014
Everywhere you look speaks of time
Wilton
S
tephen Foster was looking for a challenge when
he found historic Wilton. Built in about 1763, it
had been vacant for more than 60 years.
Amazingly it was intact. Much of the materials were
original, and it had not been remodeled—ever. “It was
spectacular raw material,” said Foster, a retired attorney,
who still is engaged in several projects.
The house, high above the Piankatank River on Route 3
at Hartfield in Middlesex County, was purchased through
the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), which wanted to ensure the restoration was
authentic. And it was.
“Everywhere you look, the floor, the paint, the plaster . . .
speaks of time,” said Foster. “They make it a very special
place to be.”
In one room the blue paint that was applied to paneling in the 1790s was cleaned carefully and stabilized by
a conservator. Blue was the second coat of paint and had
by Tom Chillemi
been applied over a cream color. “It’s good for another 100
years,” said Foster.
About a third of the plaster had to be removed. The hand
split-wood laths were retained and covered with new plaster. The plaster on masonry was restored on the first floor.
Foster’s favorite room is the southern facing red room.
It’s furnished comfortably and is brighter than the blue
room.
Most of the floors are original. They were never varnished or painted, and have a soft patina from being walked
on for centuries. The floors were only washed by hand to
retain the original character.
Foster was careful to keep the kitchen understated without too much cabinetry. The refrigerator was covered with
wood so it would blend in. “Every time we designed the
kitchen it got simpler,” Foster said.
Inside window shutters fold against the 16-inch-thick
walls, constructed of hand-made bricks fired on site more
than 250 years ago.
The entire heating and air-conditioning system was
placed in the basement. Geo-thermal heat pumps, which
draw energy from the earth’s constant temperature, provide
the primary system. A propane furnace is used for backup.
Foster said there were many “gratifying moments”
during the nearly two-year restoration, and he would
restore another home. “But I don’t think I’ll find a house
so well preserved.”
Foster wants Wilton to be “useful,” and it will be available for short-term rental. For more information visit www.
vrbo.com/506509 or www.wiltonhousevirginia.org.
Wilton will be open to the public on Saturday, May 10,
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.middlesexmuseum.com
to purchase tickets or send a check made payable to the
Middlesex County Museum to P.O. Box 121, Saluda, VA
23149. Call 804-776-6983 for more information. See more
photos at www.SSentinel.com.
Solid indoor window shutters fold against 16-inch-thick brick walls.
The main entrance is lined with mature boxwoods.
A vintage rim lock was added to a closet door.
More photos on the following pages
March 20, 2014
The southwest parlor, which has one of eight fireplaces, wears the blue paint that was applied circa
1790.
The east entrance leads to stairs.
The main hall features an arch.
One of 23 window seats was converted for a porcelain convenience.
Hand wrought hinges support a kitchen pantry door.
Original heart-pine floors wear the patina of centuries.
The kitchen was kept simple. The refrigerator, covered with wood, is visible at the end of the sink
counter.
March 20, 2014
NewDaily!
m
e
t s
I
Antiques, Home Accessories
Furniture, Jewelry
Nice Things
Carter’s Cottage
Consignments
SAVE UP TO
500
$
Open Wed. - Sat. 10–5
17410 General Puller Hwy.
Deltaville, VA 23043
00*
* With purchase of all 4 Pieces
804-776-7878
WINDMILL POINT – LITTLE BAY
GE’s Newest Premium Appliance Finish
SLATE
$2,000,000
This 12,000+ sq. ft. 6 BR, 6 1/2 bath family retreat enjoys
commanding views of Little Bay. Wonderful sand beach, rip rap,
salt pond, 4+ acres and is just minutes from town amenities.
ENERGY STAR 25.9 Cu. Ft. Side-By-Side
Refrigerator with Dispenser
1.9 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Sensor
Microwave Oven
GSE26HMEES
JVM7195EFES
30” Free-Standing Electric
Convection Range
Stainless Steel Interior Dishwasher
with Hidden Controls
JB750EFES
GDT580SMFES
SANDCASTLE ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK
4 PIECE PACKAGE
$369900
-$50000
$319900
$1,750,000
Everyday Price
Rebate Savings*
Final Price After Savings
SALE
3/27 to 5/7
12 MONTH
NO INTEREST
*with purchase of all 4 pieces
Keep Warm - Be Cool
Wonderful wide water views from this 6 BR, 5 /2 bath brick
contemporary. Enjoy salt water pool, sand beach, pier w/boat
lifts and 3’ MLW. Easy drive from Richmond or Northern Virginia.
1
BYRL TAYLOR
Cell: 804-356-7879
[email protected]
www.VaNorthernNeck.com
)H`9P]LY6MÄJL
434 Rappahannock Drive
White Stone, VA 22578
N BLETT, INC.
s
17 South Main Street
Kilmarnock, Virginia 22482
%MAILINFO NOBLETTCOMswww.noblett.com
Master woodwright restores history
Story and photos by Renss Greene
E
astern Virginia and
the Northern Neck
are steeped in history
and it would be hard
to find a person more intimately
acquainted with some of that history than Chris Trimble.
Owner of Trimble Tavern in
White Stone, he has been selling and restoring antiques since
1978, specializing in 18th and
19th century furniture and weapons. Trimble opened his first
shop on Main Street in Suffolk
in 1987, and hung his shingle in
White Stone in 2005.
His restorations are nearly
impossible to detect, and his
original furniture is difficult to
distinguish from actual 18th and
19th century pieces. In fact, he’s
had to start marking his own
pieces to distinguish them from
18th century historic pieces.
“I was making 18th century
furniture, and I was aging it
and making it look old, I wasn’t
marking it, and I was selling it
for contemporary prices,” Trimble said. “And then people were
buying it, turning around and
selling it as the real thing. So I
kind of had to nip that in the bud
by putting my mark on everything. But it was funny, because
people were selling my stuff as
the original 18th century stuff,
not as a reproduction.”
Keeping history alive is a
family tradition for the Trimbles.
His brother and mother operate
Lewis Trimble Decorative Arts
and Antiques in Kilmarnock. His
father owned the Trimble Collection in Williamsburg, and his
grandfather owned Auslew Gallery in Norfolk, both specializing
in historic art.
“We all enjoy doing that,”
Trimble said. “Taking something
and making it into something
that’s worth something, that otherwise would be probably overlooked or misplaced.”
Trimble
began
restoring
antiques at an early age, beginning with oil paintings at his
father’s gallery.
“The very first painting I did
was back when I was a little kid,
and it scared the hell out of me
because I was afraid I was going
to damage it,” Trimble said. “But
it worked out okay.”
His lifelong interest in
antiques naturally led him to restoration.
“Since I’ve been doing
antiques, it was kind of second
nature to fix them,” Trimble said.
“Buy broken ones and fix them
and put it out. You just learn over
time.”
Over that time, he has become
a respected authority on historic
Chris Trimble, owner of Trimble Tavern, displays a Revolutionary War era musket.
&RQWLQXHGRQWKHIROORZLQJSDJH
A wheelbarrow undergoing restoration likely was used by Thomas Jefferson
during his schooling at Tuckahoe Plantation.
Trimble deals with a wheelbarrow-load
of historic artifacts
An example of the emblem Trimble burns into his original
pieces. He began marking his own pieces when he found
they were being resold as 18th century originals.
Chris Trimble bought this wheelbarrow as a de-acquisition from Tuckahoe Plantation. Tuckahoe decided to sell the piece because it was falling apart and they could not repair it.
The wheelbarrow was purchased for Tuckahoe Plantation in the 1730s. One of the responsibilities of a student at Tuckahoe Plantation was to tend to the garden, and one student at Tuckahoe
gained particular reknown: Thomas Jefferson. This wheelbarrow, then, was used by Thomas
Jefferson in his youth.
“How many times can you actually know you have something that was actually used by a
founding father?” Trimble asked. “And it was being sold because it was damaged, and they just
didn’t want it to be lost to history.”
March 20, 2014
A 1781 Grasshopper cannon, used by militias in the American Revolution.
Rebuilding a cannon
This Grasshopper cannon was manufactured in 1781 in New England. It saw use in the Revolutionary War. When Chris Trimble purchased it, he made it ready to fire. First up was repairing the
barrel, which he accomplished by putting a sleeve inside it.
“We honed it and re-lined the interior so it could be fired again,” Trimble said. “So we lost about
a good 3/4 of an inch in diameter of the ball.”
Trimble heated the barrel, which made it expand. The sleeve was frozen to make it shrink. A
hydraulic press was used to press the sleeve into the barrel. "It's locked in there forever," he said.
Trimble also built an all-new carriage for it out of almost all-contemporary products.
“We made the whole carriage ourselves out of reclaimed 18th century wood, and the wrought
iron also is reclaimed 18th century wrought from an 18th century house,” Trimble said.
Markings around the
touchhole on the cannon
read “1781,” its year
manufactured.
Close inspection shows
where Trimble sleeved
the cannon barrel,
allowing it to be fired.
&RQWLQXHGIURPWKHSUHYLRXVSDJH
furniture and a master craftsman.
“You could buy something at
a reasonable price, fix it up, and
you could get full retail for it,”
Trimble said. “I got to the point
where I was really good, I’m considered a master woodwright.”
He builds his own pieces from
scratch using the same styles
and techniques as 18th century
craftsmen, and takes pride in the
painstaking accuracy of his originals and restorations. Minute
details can make a big difference in the accuracy of a piece,
he said. Knowing the history of a
piece gives vital information for
the restoration.
He gave the example of a chair
he is currently restoring.
“If parts are missing off of it,
and you know it’s a South Carolina chair, you know what parts
to put on, in comparison to doing
a repair that looked like the
same chair from New England,”
Trimble explained. “That’s why
museums bring me things to be
restored, because they know that
I do the little details and do the
little details right.”
“I’m a big history nut, and
even furniture has got its own
history,” he added. “We strive in
the areas that we work in to know
more than our clients.”
Trimble’s restored pieces don’t
look new; they look like the
200-year-old historic pieces they
are. He draws that distinction
between repair and restoration.
“We actually don’t do furniture repair, we do restoration,” he
explained. “The terms are totally
different. You want something
repaired, that’s so you can use it
every day. What we’re trying to
do is, if something comes in with
a crack, we put it together. We do
it so it won’t happen again, and
blend it so it doesn’t look like it
ever happened, trying to bring it
back to the original glory.”
“We didn’t want to overrestore it,” he said. “The worst
thing you can do, a lot of times,
is to fix all the little problems,
because then you take away the
character of the piece. It’s the
major problems you fix.”
Sometimes finding historically accurate materials proves
challenging. The American landscape has changed drastically
since the 18th century.
“Sometimes, I’ll buy other
old pieces of furniture that are
just too far gone just to get the
certain types of woods,” Trimble
said.
He gave an example:
Shop manager David Rankin works on
painstaking uses hand tools to restore a
frame.
Chris Trimble and David Stone Sweet hold up a 16th century French
architrave.
Trimble collaborates
withPeter Scott
centuries apart
Chris Trimble found this Chippendale bureau in Pennsylvania
in poor condition and recognized it for what it is: An 18th century
original by famed Williamsburg cabinetmaker Peter Scott. It was in
bad shape.
“I found it up in Pennsylvania in an antique shop,” Trimble said. “It
had the wrong feet on it, wrong pulls on it, and was shellacked so it
was shiny. It had a lot of problems. It was just falling apart.”
Trimble took off the shellacking and repaired the piece to its original condition extensively and painstakingly.
“Being that it was a historical piece, a Peter Scott, we actually had
books and we had the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, so we could
go and look at his pieces underneath and how everything was blocked
from the backside,” Trimble said. “And we matched everything from
the backside exactly how Peter Scott would have
done it.
“If you turn it upside down, you won’t be able
to tell that we’ve done the restoration,” he added.
“That’s the sign of a good restoration–not being
able to tell that we’ve actually done the work.”
He found 18th century walnut to replace the
feet. Small chips and marks can still be seen on
the bureau.
“It looks good. You don’t want to do anything
more to it,” Trimble said. “A lot of guys would sit
here and sand it all out, and clean up, add wood to
it, and fix it so you don’t see any problems. I see a
beautiful piece of furniture here now.”
This Chippendale
bureau was built by
famous Williamsburg
cabinetmaker Peter
Scott in the 18th
century.
Trimble leaves these small chips and marks on the Chippendale, believing that to do otherwise robs the piece of
its character.
“Heart pine is a hard one.
Heart pine was harvested out in
the 1890s, over 120 years ago.
That was the end of the heart
pine. They were over harvested.
Most of it came from here,
Lancaster County.”
The business of restoring
antiques in the modern day
brings a balance between centuries-old techniques and modern
technology. In some cases, he
uses modern power tools to recreate historic techniques.
“Here I can use modern equipment and so forth to cut corners,
but not quality-cutting corners,”
Trimble said. “It’s just time
saving.”
All the construction techniques are the same, he added.
“You don’t have to lose quality when you use power tools,”
Trimble said. “A lot of people
say, ‘Well, if you use power tools
and modern equipment, it’s not
the same quality as in the 18th
century.’ It just saves time, that’s
all it is.
“Sometimes the best jobs,
though, still rely on the old techniques and old equipment to do
it.”
Brown Bess
ages with grace
Chris Trimble shows some of the ongoing restoration
work on a Revolutionary War era Brown Bess.
This marking on the Brown Bess reads “10 REG,”
indicating that it was used by the British 10th Regiment
at the surrender of Yorktown in the American Revolution.
This Brown Bess musket, nearing the end of its restoration, has seen a
lot of history. Markings on the barrel indicate the British 10th regiment,
meaning it was used at the surrender at Yorktown in the American Revolution. But the musket’s work wasn’t done.
“At the surrender they didn’t lay down their weapons. They were
allowed to take their weapons home with them,” explained Trimble. “They
put them back on the ship. They just signed a treaty saying we will not use
force against you, so they were able to take their weapons home. So the
British enlisted took their weapons back. Then they reissued it.”
A plate on the musket shows that when it was reissued, it took part in
the battle of Waterloo. This musket has seen both the American Revolution and the Napoleonic War.
This marking on the brown bess indicates that it was
used at the Battle of Waterloo.
March 20, 2014
‘Shake the house’
this spring
fter the winter we’ve had in the Northern Neck and Middlesex
Peninsula, the very thought of spring, and even spring cleaning,
A
is so inviting.
Spring cleaning, or “khouneh tekouni” in Persian, literally means
“shaking the house,” or complete cleaning of the house. It is believed
that the origin of spring cleaning goes back to the ancient Persians
who celebrated the beginning of the new year on March 21. Part of
their celebration on what they called Nowruz was “spring cleaning.”
Here are a few tips to get your spring cleaning chores off to a good
start:
Around the house:
The inside story
• Schedule a family garage clean-out.
Create efficient storage for sporting goods,
camping equipment, recreational vehicles,
and garden tools. You’ll have the jump on
summer fun!
• Changing seasons, changing clothes.
Hold a family wardrobe check as you bring
out warm-weather clothing. Sort winter
clothing for discards and donations before
you store.
• Inspect, clean and repair outdoor furniture.
• Hold a garage sale! De-clutter your house
and garage to turn trash into cash.
• Tour the exterior and grounds of your
house. Make a list of any needed seasonal
maintenance.
• Pick a weekend and enlist the family
for spring cleaning. Many hands make light
work! Reward the team with dinner at a pizza
parlor.
• Inspect the roof for winter damage such
as leaks, and missing or broken shingles or
tiles. Arrange for any needed repairs early;
roofing contractors can be hard to find during
summer’s construction season.
• Use a sunny Saturday to scrape, prime
and paint peeling spots on trim or woodwork.
You’ll protect wood against summer’s heat
and moisture—and prevent a more difficult
paint job come fall.
• Clear away any remaining dead foliage
and weeds from beds, lawn and garden. New
growth will be protected from damage or
disease.
• Begin major spring landscaping projects.
Spring’s the time to put in shrubs and trees,
but check with your local Extension Office
for specific planting recommendations for
your area.
1SJODF(FPSHF4USFFU6SCBOOBt758-2037
www.allengroupbuilders.com
• Wash windows inside and out.
• While at the window area, check drapes
and window treatments. Vacuum any dust;
send dirtier drapes to the cleaners.
• Move pieces of furniture and vacuum
beneath them.
• Arrange for a spring inspection of cooling
systems. Don’t wait for the first hot day! Air
conditioning firms will give better service
when they’re not busy.
• When the weather warms, deactivate
heat system humidifiers. Check the system
manual for instructions on how to power
down for the summer.
• Drain sediment from hot-water heaters.
Enjoy your spring, and when whining about all that spring cleaning remember the winter of 2013-14, the bite of 10-degree nights and more snow than
we’ve seen in years. Boy, spring is a lot of fun!
The ALLEN
GROUP, Inc.
8
0
4.
7
7
6.
7
5
8
0
H
a
r
t
f
i
e
l
d
V
a
www.hometownlighting.com
SHORES & SHORES
The Tavern, circa 1742
in Historic Urbanna, VA
MARINE CONSTRUCTION
Strong, Dependable
Construction of Piers,
Bulkheads, Rip Rap
and Boat Houses
East Coast Boat Lift Dealer
Beautiful 2 - story, 3 BR, 3 BA home. Renovated to preserve colonial elegance. Some original windows, wainscoting and mantels.
Garage. Brick terrace. Lovely flowers, landscaping. Previously on
VA Garden Week Tour. $448,000
FRANK HARDY, INC. REALTORS
WATERFRONT AND ESTATE BROKERS
Chesapeake Bay Office
Elizabeth Johnson 804-240-5909
www.WaterfrontandEstate.com
1ÀL>>ÊUÊnä{®ÊÇxn£äÊÊ
The greatest people
who ever lived…
Wise.
Reliable. Sensible. You No matter what we suggest,
know the words that describe our you’re under no obligation at all.
parents’ generation.
But if a new system makes sense,
owning it is easy too...
At the risk of bragging, some
folks use those words to describe Such as: Manufacturer Rebates
Crowther Heating & Air Condition- up to $1,500.00. Virginia Power
ing. Why?
Rebates up to $250.00. Plus you
get Crowther Heating & Air ConBecause we treat customers the ditioning’s 10-year parts and labor
way we’d like to be treated.
warranty - not a cent for repairs
for 10 years!
Like so: What about your energy
bills? Are they too high?
You can save more than you’re
spending. Now that’s a deal even
Could be your old heating and your parents would like.
cooling system “steals” energy
dollars from you each month.
Call 800-323-7478 for your very
Let Crowther Heating & Air Con- wise free Energy Survey today.
ditioning give you a free (yes, free)
/VTL ,ULYN` :\Y]L` [V ÄUK V\[
If we spot a way for you to save
energy, we’ll show you how to do
it.
We can also show you how much
a new system can save. Then just
compare the savings.
March 20, 2014
Middlesex
Museum
plans
Historic
Wilton Tour
On Saturday, May 10, from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m., Historic Wilton near
Hartfield will open its doors to the
public in support of the Middlesex
County Museum. This historic home
sits on one of the first land grants
in Middlesex County, originally
stretching horizontally across the
peninsula from the Piankatank to the
Rappahannock rivers.
Completed in 1763, Wilton
remains very much the same plantation house that was built 250 years
ago, thanks to a two-year intensive
preservation and modernization project. The footprint of the T-shaped,
1½-story, gambrel-roofed, brick
structure of Georgian design stands
unaltered. Its 4,000 square feet of
interior space is distributed over eight
rooms, all which will be open during
the tour. The interior includes original heart of pine floors, paneling, and
molded cornice work ornamented
with fine dentils.
“The current owner has graciously
agreed to open the doors to Wilton
in support of the Middlesex County
Museum & Historical Society,” said
museum board president Marilyn
South. “We are thrilled to host this
event that ties so well to our mission of preserving the rich history of
Middlesex County.”
Admission is $30 for tickets purchased at the door, and $25 for tickets purchased in advance by May 3.
Visit www.middlesexmuseum.com
to purchase advance tickets or send a
check made payable to the Middlesex
County Museum to P.O. Box 121,
Saluda, VA 23149. Please call 804758-3663 for more information.
Middlesex
Cleanup Day
due April 12
The Keep Middlesex Beautiful
Committee will sponsor a Middlesex
County Community Cleanup Day on
Saturday, April 12. Citizens are urged
to organize a neighborhood clean-up
team, decide where to clean up, pick
up free BOBs (big orange bags), and
post “before” and “after” pictures to
our Facebook page or email [email protected].
(804) 529-6226
CRALLE INSURANCE AGENCY
GENERAL INSURANCE
Callao, VA 22435
HILDA DRIGGS
Agent
18th-Century Gardening
by Wesley Greene
A
t the Colonial Garden on the
Duke of Gloucester Street in
Williamsburg, costumed gardeners ply their trade in much the same way
as their 18th-century predecessors did.
Professional gardeners were employed
at both the College of William and Mary
and at the Governor’s Palace throughout
the colonial period. John Farquharson
(pronounced Ferguson) was the last gardener to work at the Governor’s Palace
and served under Governor Dunmore,
last of the royal governors for the colony
of Virginia, as well as Patrick Henry and
Thomas Jefferson, the first two governors of the state of Virginia before the
capitol moved to Richmond.
There are many gardening tasks that
span the centuries relatively unchanged
and often the difference is in the materials rather than the method. We provide
a bottom heat for our seed beds in hot
beds filled with fresh horse manure; the
modern gardener uses electric heating
mats. We cover our hoops with oiled
paper while the modern gardener uses
plastic.
The materials may be different but
the method and results are the same.
In some cases, technology has had a
dramatic effect on the way we garden.
Watering is probably the best example.
The ability to water the garden has
been the most significant limiting
factor to gardening throughout history,
particularly in southern climates. In
18th-century Williamsburg, water had
to be hauled from a well and when the
weather turned dry it involved moving
Wesley Greene
thousands of pounds every day. This was
well beyond what the lady of the house
could be expected to undertake on her
own so it was only thosee
wateri
watering, but the earth
of the colonial diet which was heavily
wealthy enough
is cra
crackt where he
weighted towards grain and meat partly
to afford serwate
waters.” Because of
because it was easier to raise a hog than
vants to haul the
the uunreliability of
it was a cauliflower.
water who could
wat
water, 18th-century
The 18th-century gardener was an
reliably maintain
Vir
Virginia households organic gardener before he knew he was
summer gardens
di
did not depend on
an organic gardener or had any interand even they had
th
their garden to feed est in being one. The wisdom of the
difficulties accomth
the family. Vegtime was to kill anything that hopped,
plishing the task.
eetable gardens in
flittered or flew and they had elaborate
Landon Carter,
the 18th century
methods for killing organisms such as
who owned
like vegetable
birds and earthworms, creatures generSabine Hall on the
gardens in the
ally welcomed in the modern garden.
Rappahannock River,
21st century
Some of their methods work quite well.
complained on May
provided
Lime water has proved to be a very
29th, 1771: “Gardiner
luxuries rather effective control for aphids, although
nial than staples.
Johnny is growing
it can only be used on mature plants as
e Colo
h
t
g
n
i
n
e
a Villain again, he
Vegetables
were
it will harm most seedlings. A simple
d
r
a
y
ble G
rg Wa
pretends to have been
a small part
trap of boards laid against the side of the
Vegeta Williamsbu
cold frame has proved a tolerable trap
for slugs and snails and gardeners still
use wood ashes to control flea beetles.
Hand picking is an ancient method for
controlling caterpillars but one must be
diligent and may have to accept some
holes in the cabbage leaves.
We fertilize with dung, primarily
horse dung, but we also occasionally use poultry dung and sheep dung.
Eighteenth-century authors were very
particular about the advantages of various manures. Samuel Cooke made these
distinctions in 1780: “Horse-dung best
suits cold soils, and cow-dung the loose
burning ones; sheep-dung suits most
soil…Hogs-dung was formerly rejected
from the notion of it producing weeds,
but it is now found to be perhaps the
richest and fattest of any we have…a
little of it suffices. Fowls and pigeons,
living principally upon grain, dung
makes a very warm manure but cannot
well be obtained in large quantities.”
Modern gardeners recognize the value
of animal manure for fertility and building the organic matter in the soil but
some caution is in order for the management of your manure. Fresh manure
must never be used in the garden. Unseasoned horse manure is full of weed seeds
and fresh poultry manure will burn your
plants. There are a number of pathogens
such as E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria
that may be transmitted in unseasoned
manure. Universities recommend composting manure for a minimum of six
months before it is used in the vegetable
garden. We age ours closer to a year.
Colonial Virginians knew most of the
vegetables that the modern gardener
is familiar with. The few that were not
found in the 18th-century garden include
Brussels sprouts, rutabaga and sweet
corn. The Asian vegetables such as
mustard greens, pak choi and soybeans
were also missing. On the other hand,
the 18th-century gardener grew some
vegetables that are seldom found in the
modern garden such as salsify, scorzonera and cardoon.
What connects all generations of
vegetable gardeners is the optimism
of committing seed to earth. It is an
unpredictable endeavor and yet generations of gardeners have dared to predict
that a seed planted in April will provide
a harvest in July. I hope all your garden
predictions come true this season.
Wesley Greene is a gardener with the
Historic Trades Department of Colonial
Williamsburg and author of Vegetable
Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg
Way.
March 20, 2014
Historic Garden Week in Virginia
During the 81st Historic Garden Week in Virginia, April 27-May 3, visitors will step through the gates of more
than 250 of Virginia’s most beautiful gardens, homes and historic landmarks. Nearly 40 Garden Week tours will present a rich mosaic of some of the state’s finest properties at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color, as well as beautiful
houses sparkling with over 2,000 flower arrangements created by Garden Club of Virginia members.
Sponsored by The Garden Club of Virginia, events are scheduled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Allegheny Mountains and will span the centuries from the early 17th through the early 21st. In the Northern Neck, tours are
planned in Richmond County (April 30). In the Middle Peninsula, tours are planned in King William County
(May 2) and Gloucester County (May 3). The tours present an opportunity for visitors to enjoy some of the
most elegant historic sites and breathtaking gardens the area has to offer.
Sabine Hall
‘Everything Old Is New Again’ to
wend through Richmond County
R
ichmond County will be featured in the Garden Club of
the Northern Neck’s annual home
and garden tour, “Everything Old
Is New Again,” on Wednesday,
April 30.
Originally explored by Capt.
John Smith in 1607-1608, Richmond County was settled by 1640.
Forestry, fishing and farming continue to be the backbone of its
economy.
Hosted by the Garden Club
of the Northern Neck, the tour
will showcase a mix of historic,
waterfront and restored homes
throughout this beautiful rural
community. Four of the six homes
on the tour are owned by new
generations, offering a fresh per-
spective, reported public relations
coordinator Martha Fidler.
Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Sites include Sabine Hall
at 1692/1694 Sabine Hall Road,
Mount Airy at 361 Mill Pond
Road, Grove Mount at 755 Grove
Mount Road, Sugar Hill Farm at
7066 Newland Road, Sunset at
211 Headley Road and Suggetts
Point Farm at 2296 Suggetts Point
Road.
Tour proceeds support the
mission of the Garden Club of
Virginia, which includes the restoration and preservation of the
grounds of more than three dozen
historic landmarks regularly open
to the public throughout Virginia, such as Christ Church and
Stratford Hall, said Fidler.
Advance tickets, available until
April 23, are $25 per person. Send
checks payable to the Garden
Club of the Northern Neck with
a stamped, self-addressed, letter-sized envelope to Carolyn
Loritsch, P.O. Box 778, Warsaw,
VA 22572. Tickets may also be
purchased at Colonial Collectibles, Warsaw; Art of Coffee,
Montross;
The Dandelion,
Irvington; Wildest Dreams, Burgess; and at vagardenweek.org,
or contact Fidler at marthafidler@
hotmail.com, or 333-3561.
On tour day, tickets will be
available at all six sites and
the Warsaw United Methodist
Church information center, 287
Main Street, Warsaw, for $30 per
person, or $15 single-site admission.
Pre-paid box lunches, for $12
each, are available until April 25.
Make box lunch checks payable
to Warsaw UMC, 325 Cat Point
Drive, Warsaw, VA, 22572; or
contact Carole Blackley at 3334958, or Bonnie Lowery at 3334536.
gian brick structure, Sabine Hall
reflects alterations by both the
builder and later generations. In
1764, the south wing was built as
a covered passage to the kitchen.
The covered “piazza” on the river
side of the house was added by
Landon Carter and documented in
a 1797 insurance policy.
In the 1820s, influenced by
Classical Revival architecture,
Robert Wormeley Carter II lowSabine Hall
ered the roof pediment on the
A fine example of a colonial land side, altered several classical
Georgian house, Sabine Hall was architectural elements on the intebuilt c.1738 by Landon Carter, rior, and painted the exterior of the
the fourth son of Robert “King” house white. The north wing was
Carter of Corotoman and builder added in 1929, when the home
of Christ Church in Lancaster became a two-family dwelling.
County. Originally a classic GeorJust inside the front door, the
Suggetts Point Farm
great hall is bright and filled with
family portraits, including one
of King Carter. The traverse corridor staircase, just off the great
hall, has walnut balusters and the
original heart-pine floors are sidepegged. Sabine Hall rises on a
ridge of the Rappahannock River,
with six terraces sloping toward
the water. The garden retains its
original 18th-century design.
The house has always been
owned and occupied by direct
descendants of Landon Carter and
is both a Virginia and a National
Historic Landmark. Mr. and
Mrs. Robert Carter Wellford IV
and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Drayton
O’Hara, owners. Carter Wellford
and Mercer O’Hara are brother
and sister.
Mount Airy
Acclaimed as one of the most
beautiful Palladian houses in Virginia, Mount Airy was begun by
John Tayloe II in 1761 on land
the Tayloe family had acquired in
1682. The entire architectural plan,
completed in four years, includes
a main two-story house connected
to symmetrical dependencies on
either side by curved passageways,
a formal forecourt facing a deer
park, and terraced gardens.
Although cautioned about using
soft, local sandstone, Tayloe did
just that, choosing to build Mount
Airy of local brown sandstone,
three feet thick and quarried on
the farm. The house is trimmed
with contrasting buff sandstone,
quarried from Aquia Creek near
Fredericksburg. A recessed loggia
with four Doric columns leads to
the front door, which is flanked by
floor-to-ceiling windows.
Inside the home, a large collection of family portraits details
the history of the Tayloes, the
10th generation of which recently
took up residence with their
young family. Each room offers
a garden view, with age-old English boxwood as the background
for daffodils, heirloom roses and
a profusion of irises which add
color to the sweep of the lawn in
the spring.
The current owners have freshened the interior and added a bit
of whimsy to the park-like setting with a vegetable garden, large
cutting garden and hand-crafted
chicken coop. Several outbuildings and one wall of the orangery
remain, as does the distinctive
18th-century stone stable which
housed many thoroughbreds in
colonial days. Refreshments will
be served at the stable.
Mount Airy is both a Virginia
and a National Historic Landmark.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Tayloe Emery,
owners.
lish bond. To the west of the house
stands the original dairy, next to
the site of the original kitchen.
Inside and out, Grove Mount
remains basically unchanged. In
the 1950s a kitchen was added,
and in 1988 the orangery was built.
With few exceptions, the interior
woodwork is original. The staircase
is very similar to that at Menokin,
c.1769. The formal parlor has twin
alcoves and cupboards, while the
dining room contains twin closets
flanking a fully-paneled chimney
breast.
Sited on a high ridge, Grove
Mount offers spectacular views
southward to the Rappahannock
River Valley and the river. Terraces, gardens, a lily pond, and
mature plantings create a lovely
setting.
Grove Mount is a Virginia Historic Landmark. A new generation has recently taken residence.
Mr. and Mrs. M. Kirwan King II,
owners.
Sugar Hill Farm
A prime example of preservation of historic properties, Sugar
Hill Farm is a marriage of two
Federal style houses. The home
was constructed on its present site
beginning in 2008 and continuing
for two years, by homeowners who
salvaged Forest Grove c.1820 from
Center Cross and a planter’s house
c.1772 from Campbell County.
Both houses were in disrepair and scheduled for demolition. Once purchased, the
structures were cataloged, dismantled, cleaned and stored to
transport to the Northern Neck for
reconstruction.
The dismantled houses were
Grove Mount
painstakingly reconstructed with
Grove Mount, a fine example of an eye to period detail into one
a Georgian plantation home, was residence, combining all the
built c.1785 by Robert Mitchell charm and integrity of old with the
and his wife, Priscilla Carter, who modern amenities of today.
was the oldest daughter of Robert
The house was reassembled on
“Councilor” Carter of Nomini Hall land that had been in the Bartlett
and is wonderfully described in family in Newland for more than
Phillip Fithian’s diary of 1774.
175 years. The front section of the
Grove Mount is constructed of house had originally been built for
frame and brick nogging with a full the Dillard family, while the rear
cellar and foundations laid in Eng- section was originally constructed
Mount Airy
Grove Mount
by housewright Julius Wood for
the Hamlett Family.
Of particular interest are the
grain painted wainscoting, the
marbleized mantle, matchstick
moldings and hand-carved fluted
columns. Many period antiques
and extensive collections adorn
the home.
A colonial-designed raised
bed vegetable garden was built
in 2013. Mr. and Mrs. M. David
Bostic, owners.
Sunset
Completed in 2011, this new
home boasts arts and crafts and
Victorian touches. Whale tail
gables are modeled after a local
home built in 1910.
Featuring panoramic vistas of
the Rappahannock River, the home
has a water view from each room.
Continuing a century-old family
tradition, the owners create handmade kayaks and have an extensive
collection of kayaks and racing
canoes. The collection of related
artifacts and pictures tracing the
history of the family’s involvement
in these boats and racing will be
exhibited in the newly refurbished
studio.
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Dockins,
owners.
Suggetts Point Farm
A classic river house built in
1900-1902, Suggetts Point Farm
was remodeled in 2010, with
period appropriate quarters.
Located on a point, with tides
that cause oysters to mature
quickly, the site is a “good oyster
ground.” In the 1940s, the owner’s
grandparents, Charlie and Seawilla Lewis, purchased the house
and the surrounding 200 acres
because of the almost one-mile of
waterfront and the “point,” where
the shoreline curves back in a 90
degree turn.
Charlie Lewis harvested oysters
for over 40 years from this point.
He also saved three capsized fishermen offshore, receiving the
Carnegie Bronze Award for Heroism. Oysters continue to be harvested in the family tradition.
The original house was
expanded twice and the Lewis
family constructed a kitchen
addition. The summer kitchen, a
separate building with tongue and
groove walls and ceilings, was
used by the owner’s uncle to work
on his novels. A full third floor
with two rooms and a bath is now
used for storage and duct work.
The owner’s
grandparents
planted the English boxwood
along the sides of the road down
to the river. The crepe myrtle trees
were planted from shoots from the
neighbor’s trees and the maples
were transplanted from the surrounding woods.
The current owners bring a new
generation to the stewardship of
this family farm. Mr. and Mrs.
Colin Wilkinson, owners.
(ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE-SOPHIE MARCHAL)
Sunset
March 20, 2014
Take it with you!
Go to SSentinel.com or
RRecord.com to download
Windows on the Bay!
KingsCleaningServices.com
800-828-4398
As I sliced open a fresh kiwi
bright green paint burst out
to light up my kitchen
We’ll match any vision
Add a touch of magic to your
home with a fairy garden
Stop by for a Fairy Garden demonstration!
Starting in April
GiftCertiÞcatesAvailable¥Monday-Saturday10-5
538RappahannockDrive¥WhiteStone¥436.8505
Your Benjamin Moore headquarters
'Fox Trails' tour scheduled in King William
T
he Garden Club of the Middle
Peninsula will present the
public tour “Fox Trails in Western
King William County” on Friday,
May 2, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. as
part of Historic Garden Week in
Virginia. Five properties—three
of which are associated with
the Fox family, early settlers of
the county—will be open to the
public for this special event.
The tour celebrates the floral
design talents of local garden club
members and the Antebellum and
agricultural history of King William County.
The five stops on the tour
include:
Roseville Plantation: Built in
1807 by John Fox, Roseville Plantation and its original five outbuildings gives visitors a glimpse
of early agricultural life in Virginia. The 100-year old red cedars
lining the drive lead to the white
frame home while apple, cherry
and pear trees punctuate the yard
and gardens. Surrounding the
house are the horse barn, summer
kitchen, granary, chicken houses,
smokehouse, privy, and schoolhouse. The owners have restored
many of the out-buildings and
furnished them in a manner representative of their original use.
Open for the first time by owners
Bob and Nancy Hubbard.
Retreat: Built in 1808 by
James Fox, Retreat is a two-story
brick home that has grown into a
gracious living space with its later
additions. Fine English, French,
Chinese, and American antiques
abound throughout the elegantlyappointed rooms and the walls are
enhanced with original watercol-
ors and oil paintings. The owners
have an extensive collection of
American sporting and Native
American art. Old wicker furniture on the back veranda brings
back memories of a gentler time.
Open for the first time by owners
Bill and Suzanne Thomas.
Belle Forest: Sitting on 350
acres, Belle Forest was built in
2004 and welcomes visitors with
its gracefully appointed rooms.
Home of “Engel Family Farms,”
this modern working farm is part
of an extensive production agriculture business. Showing their
love for their business, the Engel
family has a collection of precision level Ertel farm equipment
toy models and tractors from the
1940s and 50s once owned by the
owner’s grandfather. They will all
be on display. Open for the first
time by owners Kevin and Denise
Engel.
Whar Dat Farm: The magic
begins with the first glimpse of
the Jacobean chimneys peeking
over the woods. Around the bend
the modern Tudor manor home
built in 2000 comes as an unanticipated pleasant surprise. But the
surprises continue with seven Gillette inspired garden rooms complete with sculpture, fountain, and
masses of flowering perennials.
The interior of the home is just as
charming as the exterior. Rooms
are filled with antique pieces and
original works of art and unexpected bits of whimsy bring smiles.
Open for Historic Garden Week by
Lewis and Poohdie Miller.
Hebron
Belle Forest
Baptist
Roseville Plantation
Built in 1854, this Greek Revival
church was witness to the Civil
War. Stragglers from General
Grant’s Army, who moved from
the North Anna River through
this area toward Cold Harbor in
the summer of 1864, fired a shot
through the east front door woodwork, leaving a permanent scar,
while another shot hit the pulpit.
An inscription from a Union
soldier was also written in the
church Bible, which now rests on
the communion table.
During the May 2 tour, refreshments will be served at the church
Church: from 2:30-4 p.m. Hebron Baptist’s
Civil War history also will be told
through period costumes and floral
arrangements by an award-winning
floral designer to interpret either
the dress or the occasion for wearing it. A collection of Civil War
artifacts and memorabilia will also
be on display.
Tickets
Tickets are available for purchase on the day of the tour at
Hebron Baptist Church only.
Adults: $30 per person for full
tour; $15 per site.
Purchase advance tickets: $25
per person
Tickets are also available by
mail before April 23. Send a
check payable to the Garden Club
of the Middle Peninsula along
with a self-addressed, stamped
legal-sized envelope to Kelly
Gwathmey, 6357 W. River Road,
Aylett, VA 23009. For more information, call 804-769- 2601.
Tickets also available until
April 23 at the following locations: Divin’ Off the Dock in
West Point, and Cyndy’s Bynn in
Urbanna.
E-tickets can be purchased at
www.vagardenweek.org.
Note
that all e-ticket holders must first
go to Hebron Baptist Church to
get a paper ticket before starting
the tour on the day of the event.
Children 12 and older are
full price; ages 6-11 half-price;
and age 5 and under free. Children under 17 years old must be
accompanied by an adult.
Preordered box lunches will
be available for $12 per person
from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Mangohick Volunteer Fire Department,
3493 King William Road, Aylett.
Preorder reservations required
by mail must be received prior
to April 23. Send check payable
with designated attendee name(s)
and selection of either chicken
salad or pork barbecue. Send via
mail to: Pam Crabtree, Mangohick Volunteer Fire Dept., PO
Box 715, Manquin, VA 23106.
Contact 804-543-6033 or [email protected] for more
information. No confirmation will
be mailed. A preorder list will be
used on the day of the event for
lunch pickup.
Retreat
March 20, 2014
Holly Knoll
Gloucester: Land of
Rivers and Streams
V
irginia Garden Week in
Gloucester County will be celebrated with a house and garden tour
from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday,
May 3. The tour is titled “Gloucester:
Land of Rivers and Streams.”
The waterways of Gloucester
County have been witness to the lives
of the Powhatan Indians and Capt.
John Smith, revolutionary battles,
visits by Thomas Jefferson, historic
mansions and waterman’s cottages,
cultivation and proliferation of the
daffodil, and to the contemplations
of Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s
tour offers an overview of that history.
Stops on the tour include “Holly
Knoll,” “White Hall” and “Shadow
Hill.”
Holly Knoll
Holly Knoll, at 6498 Allmondsville Road, is a Georgian mansion
commanding a sweeping view of the
York River at Cappahosic. The house
was built for Robert Russa Moton
when he retired to Gloucester County
in 1935.
Moton, a son of slaves, worked and
sent himself to Hampton Institute.
While there, Booker T. Washington,
the preeminent black educator of the
time, became a mentor and friend.
Dr. Moton became the second president of Tuskegee Normal School
when Washington died in 1915.
Under his leadership Tuskegee
came of age. He enlarged the endowment from $2.2 million to $7.7 million. This growth allowed Moton to
make enormous improvements in
Tuskegee’s academic offerings. In
the mid-1920s the first college-level
courses were inaugurated, and not
long after the institute bestowed its
first bachelor of science degrees in
education and agriculture.
After his retirement, Moton’s
invitation “come to Cappahosic!”
was heard by many black educators
and civil rights activists. Plans were
hatched for the United Negro College Fund, and it is said that part of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a
Dream” speech was written under the
live oak tree there. Holly Knoll was
listed by USA Today as one of the top
50 places to visit in the history of the
Civil Rights Movement.
In 2005, Kay Cole James, a distinguished veteran of state and federal
government service, had a vision
for use of the site for a “Gloucester
Institute,” a place for training young,
highly accomplished minority college students in the skills needed
for leadership, through conferences, seminars and lectures. The
Gloucester Institute owns Holly
Knoll.
White Hall
White Hall, at 5631 White Hall
Road, has undergone many changes
over its 300-year history. The current owners have overseen additions,
restorations, and the latest amenity, a
barn devoted to hospitality. The barn
has been the site of an impressive list
of charity events benefitting, to name
only a few, the King’s Daughters,
Virginia Symphony, Virginia Living
Museum, and American Revolution
Museum.
The original land grant given to
Sir Francis Willis dates to 1690. The
Continued on page 28
J
C
Jim’s
CABINET CREATIONS
C
55% OFF plus an additional 10% OFF retail price
$
221983
plus tax
ARBOR Cherry Cabinets
& Moulding (Tops Not Incl.)
OMEGA/DYNASTY AND KITCHEN CRAFT
CABINETS ALSO AVAILABLE
FOR 55%/10% OFF RETAIL
DESIGN, DELIVERY & INSTALLATION
SERVICES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE
BRING IN YOUR MEASUREMENTS TO OUR
WHITE STONE SHOW ROOM,
OR CALL US FOR AN APPOINTMENT
We inspect all cabinets before buyer
receives order.
The dining room of Holly Knoll
For Factory Direct Pricing Call 804.435.2061
White Stone, VA
[email protected]
Indian Creek – 282 Fleets Lane – White Stone
DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE DARK!
DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE COLD!
See us today for the number 1 brand in home or business
standby generators. Let us come out to your home and have
our trained specialists size your unit at no cost to you. We offer complete installation and maintenance services. We are in
our 61st year in business and will be here when you need us.
AND
Lovely Transitional Waterfront Home w/ 4,299 SF; Nicely Landscaped
5.45+/- acres; Great for Horses; Open Floor Plan; Great Room; Gourmet
Kitchen; Dining Room; 4 Bedrooms; 4 Full Baths; 2 Car Attached
Garage; Detached 3 Bay Garage; Fully equipped Stable with 3 stalls
& Tack Room; Vinyl Fencing Surround Pasture & Paddocks;
Protected Deep Water; Pier with 2 Boat Lifts
$989,000
FLEET BROTHERS
A winning combination to keep your power on when you need.
Call us at 804-776-6600 or come by our store in Hartfield, VA.
Your Authorized and Trained Generac Dealer
Fleet Brothers – “Since 1954”
804-776-6600
10072 General Puller Highway
Hartfield, Virginia, 23071
www.fleetbrothers.com
4503 Irvington Road, Irvington, VA
March 20, 2014
Continued from page 26
earliest part of the house, the English
basement, houses Charles Banks’
wine cellar, guest rooms and a billiard room. An exposed wall to the
basement shows the Flemish bond
brick foundation, as well as the original hand-hewn timbers.
A fire in 1814 destroyed the original north wing. An architecturally
balanced south wing was added in
1992, and the north wing rebuilt.
Great care and attention were given
to ensure that the new wings were
made with bricks that match the
original handmade ones, and that
windows and doors replicate the old
ones, as well as mouldings, wood
trim and even door locks.
The drive to the house is lined with
old cedar trees and the grounds boast
ancient magnolias, boxwood and
some of the oldest crepe myrtles in
Virginia. The river porch overlooks
an expansive lawn due east to the
Ware River and beyond to Mobjack
Bay.
White Hall is a registered Virginia
Landmark and is on the National
Register of Historic Places. Its
owners are Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Banks.
Shadow Hill
Shadow Hill, at 7236 Joseph
Lewis Road, has one of the best
vistas of the York River from the
Gloucester County side, which is
viewed over the bluestone deck
of the pool. Over the bluff and
the boathouse, there is an osprey
nesting platform and views of the
uninhabited Mumfort Islands. The
garden includes a white-columned
pergola, manicured borders and a
live oak on the river side. On the
entry side there is a circular drive
and a shaded walkway to the back.
The white brick cottage style
home was originally built in 1929.
The current owners have renovated
it thoroughly since they bought it as
a vacation cottage in 1992. The last
transformation included a new stairway, opening up the attic to create a
bedroom and large sitting area that
overlooks the river, and a new master
bedroom. The home is furnished
with contemporary furnishings in
shades of pink and blue, and features
a collection of nautical maps on the
walls.
The owners are Dr. and Mrs. Tom
Jamison.
Tickets
Box lunches will be available
(advance reservation only) at the
Rosewell Plantation ruins, 5113 Old
Rosewell Lane, between 11 a.m.- 2
p.m. Reserve with Sandy Pait at
[email protected].
Tour tickets may be ordered
in advance ($25) at www.vagardenweek.org, or send a check to
Marianne Bowles, P.O. Box 2363,
Gloucester, VA 23061. Tickets are
also available at Gloucester Arts on
Main, Smith’s Florist, Green Gate
Gifts, and Brent & Becky’s Bulbs
in Gloucester, and the Mathews
Visitor’s Center. Tickets and maps
will be available at the tour headquarters, Edge Hill House, at 6805
Main Street in Gloucester on the
day of the tour only for $30.
Guidebooks will be available at all
ticket venues.
White Hall
Shadow Hill
VA Lic #2705-077717
Alexandria Lic #132259-2013
Quality
ACCESS
for quality living.
VA license 2701 020221, Class A
Year round installations available
Church View Septic Service Inc.
Full Service Septic Business
804-758-5836 or 804-435-1066
www.churchviewseptic.com
Licensed Alternative Onsite Sewage
System Operator
& Installer
Locally Owned and Operated by Charles “Tom”
Langford
Serving Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck and
surrounding areas
Residential & Commercial Installation & Repairs • Septic Inspections • Soil Studies & Design Guidance
Septic Tank Pumpouts • AOSS Operator Agreements • High Pressure Jet Washing
TV Sewer Camera •Rental Toilets • Land Clearing • Site Work • Rip Rap
Luxury Restroom Trailer
Planning your wedding or other special event?
This trailer brings the comforts of home
to your outdoor event.
%LECTRIC&LUSH4OILET5RINALs3TEREO
0EDESTALTO'LAMOUR3INKSs&IREPLACE!#
'Just Gardens' to tour
five Essex properties
Friday and Saturday, May 16-17,
will mark the 13th annual Just Gardens tour to benefit The Haven Shelter & Services Inc.
As of the end of last year, proceeds
from the tours had totaled $142,848
for The Haven, which provides services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in
the Northern Neck.
“We are excited to have our tour in
a new area this year. The 2014 tour
will be held in Essex County and will
feature five wonderful gardens in and
around Tappahannock. This location
provides the perfect setting for a day
of gardens, wonderful food, and great
shopping,” said tour organizer Anne
Olsen.
The tour will take visitors to “Kendale Gardens,” the home of Sue and
Harrison Wellford; “The Terraces,”
the home of Roy Fontane; “Little
Egypt,” the home of David Henderson and Wes Pippenger; “Cherry
Walk,” the home of Beverley and
Walter Rowland; and “Shelba,” the
home of Cynthia and Richard Carter.
Brochures and advance ticket
sales will be available in early
Crane’s Creek – Wicomico Church
March at TBonz and Tuna, 429
Dock Street, Tappahannock; Essex
Bank, 1325 Tappahannock Boulevard, Tappahannock; Essex Bank
Branch,
654
Northumberland
Highway, Callao; The Haven Shelter & Services Inc. administrative
office and Shoppe for Haven’s Sake
Thrift Store, 5726 Richmond Road,
Warsaw; The Dandelion, Irvington
Road, Irvington; Wildest Dreams,
702 Jessie Ball duPont Memorial
Highway, Burgess; and The Pedestal,
18 South Main Street, Kilmarnock.
Tickets are $15 in advance and
$20 on tour days. Advance purchase
by mail is possible from early March
until May 6. Send a self-addressed
stamped envelope (#10 business
size) and a check, payable to The
Haven, to Just Gardens, P.O. Box
429, Irvington, VA 22480.
On tour days, tickets can be purchased at all gardens, said Olsen.
Tickets are non-refundable and the
event is held rain or shine.
The mission of The Haven is to
prevent and eliminate all types of
domestic violence and sexual assault
and stalking, she said. To meet that
end, it provides advocacy and shelter
for identified victims of partner abuse
and sexual assault; offers support
services to victims and their families;
and enhances public awareness of
domestic violence and sexual assault.
Master
Gardeners
program set
On April 1, the Mathews-Middlesex Master Gardeners will hold an
educational meeting at the Kingston Parish House in Mathews titled
“Organic Gardening the Easy Way”
and featuring speaker Barbara Pleasant. The program begins at 7 p.m.
and there is no charge, but bringing
a canned food item is highly encouraged.
The Mathews-Middlesex Master
Gardeners will begin a training session on September 9. The course is a
college level course and the cost of the
training is approximately $110 and
will run for about 10 weeks. Once
the session is successfully completed,
trainees are expected to complete
50 hours of volunteer times towards
Master Gardener projects. For more
information or to be put on registration list, call the Mathews Extension
Office at 725-7196 or the Middlesex
Office at 758-4120.
2,500+/- SF; 3 BDRMS; 3 BA
Living Rm; Kitchen/Dining Area; Sunroom
Open Floor Plan; Renovated in 2002/2004
Water Views from every Room
0.78+/- Acres; Private Point of Land
Amazing Sunrises; Wide Views
2 Car Attached Garage; Separate Workshop
Pier w/ 2 Boat Slips; Floating Dock; 6’ MLW
$659,000
4503 Irvington Road, Irvington, VA
March 20, 2014
NORTHERN NECK
MECHANICAL, INC.
Affordable • Maintenance Free
Urbanna, Va. • (804) 758-2037
www.rivahrooms.com
Call for a FREE Estimate!
Serving Tidewater for over 25 years
EVER WONDERED WHAT PEACE OF MIND LOOKS LIKE?
Northern Neck
Mechanical, Inc.
804-435-6149 or
800-301-2878
www.trane.com
HIGHLY TRAINED EXPERTS IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
This could be you!
:DYHUO\$YHɑ.LOPDUQRFN9$ɑ
ɑ
ERDWEDVLQ#YHUL]RQQHWZZZFKHVDSHDNHERDWEDVLQFRP
´ɑ 2XUFRPPLWPHQWWRFXVWRPHUVHUYLFHDQGVDWLVIDFWLRQLVXQEHDWDEOHµ
Gardening seminar to feature
TV garden show host Bryce Lane
T-TOWN TACK
WORK AND WESTERN WEAR
1251 Tappahannock Blvd.
Tappahannock, Virginia
804-443-4614
275 Red Hill Drive, Urbanna
Beautiful home located just outside the town in Laurel Farms
Subd. Built in 1995, 1,696 sq. ft.,
3 BR, 2½ BA. Great condition with
lots of recent upgrades. Includes
a whole house generator, paved
drive, fenced rear yard, two car garage. 1.339 acres.........$255,000
Professor and garden show
host Bryce Lane will speak at the
Northern Neck Master Gardeners’
annual “Gardening in the Northern
Neck Seminar” on Saturday, March
29. The seminar will take place from
8:15 am to 3:00 pm at the Church
of the Nazarene at 57 Wisk Drive
in White Stone. This year’s presentations and theme, “Good Beginnings for Great Gardens,” will offer
practical advice to help launch new
garden projects and ensure their success.
“We are thrilled to have Bryce
Lane return to Gardening in the
Northern Neck this year as a featured speaker,” said seminar chair
Diane Kean. “He has a special
talent for engaging audiences while
educating them about the science
behind successful gardens. Lane is
a TV show host and lecturer whose
name will be familiar to many in
our audience. But above all, he is
an educator, with over 30 years of
classroom experience and numerous
teaching awards to his credit. With
Capt. Tom’s
Oyster Floats
Kim S. Williams
)YVRLYHUK*LY[PÄLK.LULYHS(WWYHPZLY
For pictures and details on these properties, visit our website:
www.unitedcountry.com/shacklefordsva
Email: [email protected]
Oyster Gardening Floats,
Spat and Supplies
Delivery and Set-up Services
(804) 785-3303
Farm & Home Supply, LLC
Hardware & Marine Hardware, Pet Food
& Supplies, Large Greenhouse, Echo
Power Equipment, Garden Tillers,
Valspar Paints & Sundries,
Bird Food, Feeders
and much more!
469 N. Main St., PO Box 249
SOUTHERN
SOUTHERN
STATES
STATES Kilmarnock, Virginia 22482
Hours: 7:30 - 5:30 M-F, 7:30 - 5:00 Sat.
RYMAN’S INC.
Air Conditioning & Heating
804-758-2978
Urbanna, VA
The most energy efficient heating
& cooling system you can buy.*
*Based on total energy costs. Total energy costs calculated using ARI Standards 210/240-94, the DOE test procedures (10 CFR, Part 430,
Subpt. B, Apps M and N) and the FTC rep. Unit energy costs: $0.086/kWh and $.91/therm (16 CFR §305.9)
FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 1968
our
Visit te for
i
webs ltaville,
e
our D ngton&
Irvi sville
Heath ers’
Farm show
et
Mark ates!
d
Tom Noffsinger
Deltaville, Va.
Phone: (804) 815-1423
Can’t
a sho wait for
w?
availa Supplies
ble at
our
/H
Chesa Y[ÄLSKHUK
peake
Call o locations.
r visit
our w
ebsite
!
www.oystergardening.com
[email protected]
a blend of subtle humor, anecdote,
and whatever else that seems to
work, Lane has mastered how to
make science come alive.”
Lane will speak about the importance of good soil for garden success. According to Lane, “What
goes on underground is just as
important as what happens above it.
The secret to growing great plants
is to provide the right light intensity
and to have great soils. Most of the
time our soils aren’t very good, so
we have to improve them. The best
gardeners are the best soil builders.”
Other speakers will be: Holly Shimizu, showcasing gardens that have
been transformed using sustainable
gardening practices; Janet Pawlukiewicz, presenting the local Go
Native-Grow Native campaign to
encourage the public to buy native
plants and vendors to offer them
for sale; and Denise Green, nursery
owner, with tips for buying and utilizing native plants.
The marketplace area will host an
extensive array of vendors, including local nurseries and garden
centers with plants for sale as well
as non-profit community organizations. The Master Gardeners will
have exhibit booths as well.
“Visit our exhibits to learn about
our educational programs, how you
can become a master gardener, and
about the advisory services we offer
to shoreline property owners to help
them decide the best way to protect
their property from erosion,” said
Kean.
NOTICE
Dymer Creek Residents and Landowners
In order to receive, research, and disseminate information on potential threats and other
items related to maintaining our beautiful and pristine waterway neighborhood, concerned
Dymer Creek residents have created the
Dymer Creek Environmental Preservation Association
All residents and landowners on Dymer Creek are automatically members. Unlike an HOA,
there are no rules, regulations, or dues. All expenses will be covered by donations. The
association will be an effective tool to discuss problems, receive information, and to network
throughout our neighborhood.
If you are a Dymer Creek resident, landowner, or friend of Dymer Creek, please provide
your names, street address, mailing address, email addresses, and any other pertinent
information (skills to assist us, etc.) to:
Jay Marshall: [email protected]
If you do not have email, contact Jay at 577-8778 or mail him at PO Box 671, White Stone, VA 22578
March 20, 2014
E
SQUIRE
s e r v i c e s
Professional Cleaning Services
Carpet
Upholstery
Oriental Rugs
Odor Elimination
Urine Treatment
Tile & Grout Cleaning
Water Damage
Restoration
WestBay
Commercial
& Residential
P.O. Box 1413
Tappahannock, Va
www.esquireservices.net
Ph: 804.443.4751
800.321.4751
Fax: 804.443.2394
Quality You Insist On, Service You Can Depend On!
Established 1931
DUNTON, SIMMONS & DUNTON, LLP
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
The area’s oldest and largest law firm.
Included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers™
Spacious Townhome with wide views of the Chesapeake Bay.
ILKYVVTIH[OZ4HZ[LY:\P[L^P[OS\_\YÌH[OVUÄYZ[ÅVVY
Private deep water pier.
Well priced at $749,000.
Please view Virtual Tour -www.tourfactory.com/1122715
Waterfront Beauty
AMMON G. DUNTON, JR.
CRAIG H. SMITH
WILLIAM R. CURDTS
J. RAWLEIGH SIMMONS
MORGAN W. ALLEY
JOHN C. HODGES
ELIZABETH B. HURD
THOMAS M . HENDELL
Post Office Box 5
678 Rappahannock Drive
White Stone, Virginia 22578
www.dsdlaw.com
(804) 435-4000
(800) 435-1611
Fax: (804) 435-1614
email: [email protected]
3V]LS`HUKZWHJPV\ZOVTL^P[OVWLUÅVVYWSHU
ÄYLWSHJLZ4HZ[LY:\P[LHUK,UZ\P[LIH[OVUTHPUÅVVY
Sailing depth water/boat lift and minutes to the Chesapeake Bay.
A great Buy at $998,000.
Please view Virtual Tour -www.tourfactory.com/929817
Pat Willett
Associate Broker
804-436-5235
[email protected]
GLENNWICOMICO
LESTER
CO., INC.
INC.
GLENN
LESTER
CO.,
CHURCH, VA
RIP-RAP & ARMOR STONE
INSTALLATION
Road Building
Lot Clearing
3TONEs-ULCH
h,OCALLY/WNED"USINESSFOROVERYEARSv
FREE ESTIMATES
#ALLsWWWGLENNLESTERCOCOM
10859 General Puller Hwy.
Hartfield
3625 New Pt. Comfort Hwy.
Port Haywood
Spring Sale
804-776-7777
804-725-7156
at
Available at both of our locations!
www.mmhartfield.com
www.doitbest.com
www.mandmbuildingsupply.com
Hartfield Hours:
Mon. – Fri. 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sat. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sun. 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Port Haywood Hours:
Mon. – Fri. 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Sat. 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Closed Sun.
OAKWOOD HOMES
Come join us
March 27, 28 & 29
Call 758-2328 or 435-1701 to Advertise in
The Rivah Visitor's Guide due in May!
WE DO
1723 Tappahannock Blvd.
Tappahannock, VA O 804-443-5392
River Bank &
Rip Rap Repair!
THAT GIVE YOU MORE THAN
JUST A GREAT VIEW.
With Andersen® replacement windows and patio
doors, you’ll get the energy efficiency, low
maintenance, durability, style and color options you
need. All from the brand most trusted by builders
and remodelers.
Road Sand • Screened Topsoil
Gravel • Mulch • Lime • Driveways
Lot Clearing • Grading • Demolition
Rip Rap • General Hauling
Excavation
417 Grey’s Point Rd., Topping, Va. 23169
Warmer weather is just around
the corner, which means higher
temperatures. There are numerous ways to keep your home cool
and bills low this summer.
If you have a central air conditioning system, for peace of mind,
you might want to have your
system checked by an HVACR
professional.
• Clean your air filters. Check
them every couple of weeks and
change them at least twice in the
season, or as directed by the manufacturer.
• Don’t obstruct airflow around
air conditioner units -- keep them
clear of plants and debris.
• Raise the thermostat about
five degrees, because each degree
you raise the thermostat will save
you a percentage off your cooling
energy bill.
• Compare energy bills from
last year. If your costs have
significantly increased, simply
contact a qualified HVACR technician -- they can help determine
the source of the problem.
Remember, just because you
have an energy-approved, ecofriendly, high-efficiency product, it does not mean automatic
money and energy savings.
(StatePoint)
REPLACEMENT WINDOWS
WHW INC.
William H. Wright, President
804.758.2190
Is your home
prepared
for warmer
weather?
“ENERGY STAR” is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental
“ENERGY
STAR” is a and
registered
trademark
of the where
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
“Andersen”
all other
marks
denoted are
Protection Agency. “Andersen” and all other marks where denoted are
trademarks of Andersen
Corporation. ©2011 Andersen Corporation.
trademarks of Andersen Corporation. ©2011 Andersen Corporation.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
NORTHERN NECK
BUILDING SUPPLY, INC.
17144 KINGS HIGHWAY
MONTROSS, VA
(804) 493-9588
NNBS1.COM
March 20, 2014
Gardening with natives
bby D
Denise
i G
Greene
Many animal species, especially insects, will only
eat the plants with which they have evolved. So, as we
humans take up more space with our homes and gardens
and replace native plant species with those the animals
can’t eat, we are literally starving them out of existence.
To most of our beneficial insect population, the typical urban landscape of lawn, juniper groundcover and a
crape myrtle offers little to no food. The rest of our wildlife depends on those insects for their food. We depend
on those same insects to pollinate the crops which are
our food.
This doesn’t have to happen. By switching to native
plants and more naturalized landscapes, we can plant
gardens that are not only friendly to our fellow creatures,
but also less expensive and less work.
If we can give up our obsession with "perfect" lawns,
we can save the time we used to spend with a lawn mower
and the money we used to spend on gas and chemicals
and invest them in replacing lawns with native trees,
shrubs and perennials.
If we choose the right plants for our site and spend
the first season making sure they become established
through watering and weed control, we soon have a low
maintenance or even self maintaining garden. The time
that was once spent spreading weed killer and pushing
a lawn mower becomes a time to watch a butterfly sip
nectar from a native wildflower or a mother bird feeding her babies in a nearby native shrub. Our gardens can
evolve from a struggle to control nature to a celebration
of all that nature has to offer.
Some of the best plants for our area are already
becoming more popular in the nursery industry for their
beauty, fragrance and adaptability.
If you’re looking for a large tree, think about trying a
bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). Its feathery foliage
and orange gold fall color stand out in any landscape.
It will grow in anything from a swamp, where it will
develop its ‘knees’ to a parking lot, and it provides seeds
and nesting sites for birds and small mammals.
Another great tree for our area is black gum (Nyssa
sylvatica). This is that first bright red tree you see coloring up in the fall along the creeks. Its tap root makes it
adaptable to most any soil and strong enough to withstand flooding and severe weather. Birds love the fruit
and insects, especially bees, feed on its nectar.
For a smaller space think about some of our native
understory trees. Everyone loves dogwoods and redbuds,
but there are some other great trees to try. Serviceberries
(Amelanchier sp.) will grow in sunny or shady spots and
d t tto mostt soils
il once they’re
th ’ established.
t bli h d
adapt
They bloom in the spring just before the
dogwoods and produce a sweet summer fruit
that is enjoyed by wildlife and humans. The
blooms are an important early nectar source
for many butterflies and other insects. In the
fall they turn all the colors from yellow to
purple.
Another easy to grow choice is the fringe
tree (Chionanthus virginicus). The fragrant
spring blooms really stand out in a garden.
Female plants have a bonus crop of blue
black fruits in late summer that attracts
many bird species. The fall color is a soft
yellow.
If an evergreen hedge or screen is on your
list of landscape options, consider using
wax myrtle (Morella cerifera). This shrub
tolerates drought, flooding, salt, and even
some shade. You can prune it if you tend
towards neat and tidy or just let it go. Either
way you’ll find it is constantly inhabited by
birds and butterflies.
One of my favorite shrubs around a porch
or patio is summersweet (Clethra alnifolia).
It provides fragrance and a great butterfly
show in the summer. This shrub thrives in
sun or shade, any but the driest soil conditions, and even tolerates the wind and salt in
our coastal gardens. One of my favorite wild
plant communities in our area is the combination of summersweet and ferns growing
amongst the bald cypress knees along creek Denise Greene checks common milkweed for monarch caterpillars
in one of her gardens at Sassafras Farm in Hayes.
banks.
With the disturbing news we’re all hearing about the huge drop in the monarch butterfly popula- but if you have the room it’s a great plant to add to your
tion, I think it’s important to help as much as we can by summer garden.
planting milkweed. This is the only species of plant the
We all get spring fever this time of year and can’t wait
monarch caterpillars will eat. There are several species to start planting. And while most plants do well with
of milkweed which makes it easy to find one that will spring planting it can take a lot of water to get new plants
grow in your garden situation.
through their first summer.
If you have a sunny dry spot, the bright orange butA better alternative is to plant in the fall. As the plants
terfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) will do well there. go dormant above ground, the root system continues to
If your garden has a damp spot, try swamp milkweed grow through all but the coldest weather. By the time
(Asclepias incarnata). This seems to be the favorite in spring rolls around the plants have a much better root
my nursery. Once the monarch’s eggs start hatching I system to carry them through the heat, drought, and
have to do a daily walk-through to move baby monarchs other severe weather stresses of the next growing season.
from my nursery plants to my garden. To make sure I
Denise Greene is the owner of Sassafras Farm, where
have enough milkweed to feed them all, I grow a big she grows perennials native to the mid-Atlantic. She is a
patch of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). I love Virginia Society of Landscape Designers certified landthe fragrance of its huge pink blooms. It’s a spreader, scape designer and lives in Hayes.
Designed to suit your needs
(804) 758-8887
Serving
Middle Peninsula
and
Northern Neck
20% off
Courtesy In-Home Consultations
RICHMOND COUNTY – RUSTIC HOME ON 6.8 ACRES
1
4 bedrooms, 2 /2 baths, 12” pine floors throughout, dining room w/fireplace,
lovely kitchen, deck, screened porch, 2 car-garage, great area, homey feeling,
great condition. $298,000
Draperies
Cornices
Valances
Shades
Blinds
Shutters
Upholstery
Free Installation
Take it with you! Go to SSentinel.com or
RRecord.com to dowload Windows on the Bay!
Teresa Russ
(804) 339-2923
Exit Mid-Rivers Realty
15034 Kings Highway, Montross, VA 22520
e-mail: [email protected]
www.northernneckhomes.com
P.O. Box 1040 • 66 Commerce Dr. White Stone Va. 22578
office: 804-436-7378 • fax: 804-436-1002
[email protected] • hanleyelectricalservices.com
accepting credit cards.
Discover the difference Andersen variety can make.
Visit our showroom today.
2006 Andersen Corporation. All rights reserved.
March 20, 2014
Cultivating more than garden plants
By Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
It was a brisk 29
degrees and there was
snow on the ground at
Northumberland
High
School the first week of
March. But inside the
school's
greenhouse,
where it was a toasty
80-plus degrees, students
were wearing shortsleeve shirts and playing
in dirt.
Fifteen-year-old
Almonti Mitchell was
busy watering plants,
while Jonathan Clark, 15,
Aniqua Clayborne, 15,
and Derrick Thompson,
15, were preparing topsoil for planting. Fourteen-year-old
Ronnie
Pitts stood in front of
a large fan as Damien
Dobyns, 16, poured bags
of soil into a wooden bin.
The dry dirt blew in Pitts'
and Celia Perie's direction.
"Hey," said Pitts, rubbing the dirt off his shirt
and chuckling. "I'm getting covered."
"They come here too
dressed up for the work
we have to do," said
teacher Tammy Wilkins,
dressed in her rubber
boots and gardening
clothes.
The students, along
with some from Lancaster
County, including Storm
Rasmussen, 18, and Holly
Smith, 17, spend their
mornings gardening or
more specifically planting seeds and nurturing
them until the plants are
ready to sell.
Students in the regional
Practical
Assessment
Exploration System, or
PAES, program benefit
from hands-on learning,
including learning farming and gardening skills in
the greenhouse. According to Wilkins, the program helps special needs
students transition from
high school to the working world. She currently
has 13 qualified youths
from
Northumberland
and Lancaster in the
program, which serves
candidates through their
22nd birthdays.
When Northumberland
High School disbanded
its Future Farmers of
America (FFA) club 13
years ago, PAES started
its own greenhouse. From
February through late
April, the students plant
and water and watch
the seeds grow until the
greenhouse is ready for
its open house and sales.
This
year,
PAES
will partner with the
Northumberland County
Extension Office and
extension agent Landre
Toulson to hold PAES
Greenhouse Farm and
Field Day on Saturday,
April 26, from 8:30 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
"The first year I did
this we raised $200
and I thought we'd set
the world on fire," said
Wilkins. "Last year, we
netted $2,500."
Right now, the greenhouse looks pretty bare,
with trays and trays of
soil. But in just a month,
promised Wilkins, it will
The greenhouse will be full of lush plants and members of the PAES program will be busy selling when
they hold their Greenhouse Farm and Field Day on Saturday, April 26.
Farm &
Field Day
The PAES Greenhouse
Farm & Field Day 2014
will be held from 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday,
April 26, on the grounds
of Northumberland High
School, 201 Academic
Lane, Claraville.
In cooperation with
the
Northumberland
County Extension Office,
PAES will offer plant
sales, pet adoptions from
the
Northumberland
County Animal Shelter, farm equipment displays, alpacas on display
from Headley Alpacas
and chicks for sale from
Wilkins Game Birds.
Barbecue and baked
beans, cotton candy and
Deere Horn's Homemade
Ice Cream will be available to purchase. Admission is free.
PAES teacher Tammy Wilkins observes Ronnie Pitts, 14, as he plants
seeds.
Damien Dobyns, 16, carries trays filled with soil ready for planting.
be lush and green. There
are a few trays with plants
already popping up but
those have been promised
to the Northern Neck
Master Gardeners for use
in its garden at the Northern Neck Farm Museum.
The PAES students will
supply them with tomatoes, beets, Chinese cabbage, eggplants, peppers
and lettuce.
The PAES students will
sell 10 different kinds of
tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, eggplants, watermelon and cantaloupe
plants, along with geraniums, marigolds and petunias, at their open house
and until the greenhouse
is again bare. If gardeners can't make the Saturday Farm and Field Day,
they shouldn't despair.
The PAES greenhouse is
almost always open, said
Wilkins.
The greenhouse will
be open Monday through
Friday from 8:30 a.m. to
3 p.m. through April or
"until we sell out," she
said. PAES students will
handle the sales.
The garden in front of
the greenhouse has also
gotten a facelift, courtesy
of the PAES students,
who dug up the garden
and with the help of the
Northern Neck Native
Plant Society, replanted
the bed with green
and gold native plants.
Green and gold are the
Northumberland
High
School colors.
Wilkins's classes also
maintain the flower bed
along the side entrance to
the high school.
"We do so many
things around here," said
Wilkins.
Money from the greenhouse plant sales support the PAES program
and its various activities.
Right now, along with
the greenhouse, students
are preparing an outdoor
pea garden for a state
competition, First Peas
on the Table, modeled
after Thomas Jefferson's
growing practices.
During National Ag
Week, March 24-28,
the PAES students will
be reading the book,
What's in the Garden,
to Northumberland Elementary classes.
The
PAES
greenhouse actually received
national recognition last
year when Wilkins travelled to Denver, Colo.,
where she made a presentation on "Operating a
Greenhouse" at the 2013
National Children and
Youth Garden Symposium. She hopes to travel
to Hershey, Pa., in June
for the National Agriculture in the Classroom
conference.
Teaching life skills,
such as gardening and
farming, is so important
to Wilkins that she has
teamed up with Toulson to start an Ag Club
at NHS. This year is the
club's first year.
Wilkins has convinced
some of her students to
make gardening a lifelong hobby, including
Clayborne, who says she
wants to have a garden
when she's older. Pitts,
who says his favorite part
of gardening is shoveling
dirt, isn't as sure.
"It's a lot of work, too
much work," he said,
wiping topsoil off his
shirt.
From left, Jonathan Clark, Aniqua Clayborne and Derrick Thompson, all 15, prepare soil for the pots.
Celia Perie, 16, plants seeds.
Almonti Mitchell, 15, waters
plants that will be transplanted
to the garden at the Northern
Neck Farm Museum.
From left, Holly Smith, 17, and Storm Rasmussen, 18, plant
vegetable seeds.
March 20, 2014
Theme of March 28-30 Gloucester
Daffodil Show is 'Flower Power'
The 62nd annual Gloucester
Daffodil Show will be held
Friday, March 28, through
Sunday, March 30, at Ware
Academy on Route 14 in
Gloucester. It is the oldest community event in Gloucester.
The show, sponsored by the
Garden Club of Gloucester,
is open to all amateur growers. The show schedule will
include classes in horticulture,
floral design and photography,
with expanded youth classes in
all sections.
This Year's Theme
The artistic theme is "Flower
Power" with eight floral design
classes interpreting 1960s hits
Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In),
Wild Thing, Moon River, Fun,
Fun, Fun, I Heard It Through
the Grapevine, and Itsy Bitsy
Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka
Dot Bikini. For more information on the artistic division,
contact Sue Zima at 757-5935303 or [email protected].
Two youth design classes
(ages 6-9 and 10-13) will be
interpreting universal peace
from John Lennon’s song
Imagine. For information,
contact Nina Watkins at (804)
642-2826 or twiceasnice@
widomaker.com.
For more information on
the five classes in the photography division, contact Mary
Montague at 693-3042 or
montague@northrivervirginia.
com, or the show website at
www.gloucesterdaffodils.
blogspot.com.
Registration
Registration will be Friday,
March 28, from 2-8 p.m. and
SEW HAPPY
For all your
sewing needs!
Quilting, Apparel and Home
'HFRU)DEULFV1RWLRQV6OLSFRYHUV
:LQGRZ7UHDWPHQWV&RQVLJQPHQWV
3ULQFH6WUHHW7DSSDKDQQRFN
7XHVGD\)ULGD\6DWXUGD\
&ORVHG6XQGD\DQG0RQGD\
WWWSEWHAPPYBIZs
"Starry Night" by Shannah
Cooper, was a 2010 prize winner.
Saturday, March 29, from
7-9:30 a.m. For more information on registering, call Joan
Jackson at 694-6149 or email
[email protected].
The show will be open to
the public on Saturday, March
29, from 2-5 p.m. and Sunday,
March 30, from noon-4 p.m.
Donations will be accepted to
offset the cost of the show.
The Gloucester Daffodil
Show pays homage to the
large and successful daffodil
industry that dominated both
Gloucester and Mathews counties for nearly 100 years, from
just after the Civil War to the
mid-20th century.
The awards ceremony will be
at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, March
29. All are welcome to attend.
Lilian Lumber Company
Home Center
See us at the Coastal Virginia
Home & Living Expo
Saturday, April 5 in Kilmarnock
AND
OUR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION APRIL 12TH
STOREWIDE SAVINGS, NEWLINE PATIO AND WALL PAVERS
IN VARIOUS COLORS AND AMISH MADE
POLYVINYL FURNITURE IN VARIOUS COLORS
5VY[O\TILYSHUK/^`)\YNLZZ 38 • windows on the Bay • March 20, 2014
‘Belvedere’
Rappahannock River
Unbelievable Family Compound
$FUHV0DLQ+RXVH*XHVW+RXVH
%RDWKRXVH'RFN%HDFK3RRO
,QFOXGHVVHSDUDWHEXLOGDEOHZDWHUIURQWORW
0LGGOHVH[&RXQW\
For more details on these houses and other listings please visit www.rodgersandburton.com
Rigby Island Retreat
Whites Creek @ bay
<RXURZQ¶2XWHU%DQNV·VW\OH
5HWUHDWZLWKRXWULVNH[SRVXUH
$OPRVW¶VTIW&XVWRP+RPH
*XHVW+RPH'RFNZ%RDW/LIW$FUHV
0DWKHZV&RXQW\
Neena Rodgers
and Diana Burton

ZZZURGJHUVDQGEXUWRQFRP
HPDLOLQIR#URGJHUVDQGEXUWRQFRP
Marigold Lane
Weems
Just Listed!
Wide Views! Over 3 Acres
2QH)ORRU/LYLQJ:DONRXW%DVHPHQW
¶0/:#'RFN%HDFK
&RUURWRPDQ5LYHU
Chesapeake Bay Lifestyle
Just Listed!
Best Family Compound Bay View
David and Katie Horsley Dew
ZZZGHZZDWHUIURQUHDOHVWDWHFRP
IsaBell K. Horsley
Real Estate, Ltd
The Horsley
Family Chesapeake Bay
Specialists
Since 1975
Urbanna (Main)
White Stone
Deltaville
Mathews
www.horsleyrealestate.com
We Know the Area …
It’s Our Backyard!
3KRWRJUDSK\FRPSOLPHQWVRI+D\HV)LVN3KRWRJUDSK\
¶0/:#'RFNZ/LIW White Stone
0RVTXLWR&UHHN5DSSDKDQQRFN
5LYHU0XOWLSOH'HFNLQJ
6FUHHQHG3RUFK0DVWHU6XLWHV
0XOWLSOH*XHVW5RRPV
*UHDW4XDOLW\WKURXJKRXW
Mas n Re al ty, Inc.
Parrotts Creek – Water View 3-BR,
2-BA beach home... FP, central heat/air,
screened porch, pier/boatlift... Great views to
Rappahannock River!............................$349,500
Craig Hall
(804) 815-8494 • [email protected]
Queen Anne’s Cove Fabulous 2-BR, 2-BA
Rappahannock River – North Shore Waterfront lot with sweeping views of river! Sand
beach, boat ramp and pier... Lot is cleared and
septic is installed.... Beautiful property!..$449,500
Irvin Shackelford
Mathews – Whites Creek Awesome views of
Chesapeake Bay! 3-BR, 2-BA cottage... Attached
garage... Needs TLC... Sand beach!...$269,500
Craig Hall
Rappahannock River And Meachim
Creek Views from this 3-BR, 2-BA Ranch....
Christchurch – Proposed Construction 3-BR, 2-BA Raised Ranch... Attached
Cedar Pointe – Robinson Creek Beautiful 4 BR, 3 BA, large screened porch, 2 car
attached garage... Dock/boatlift... Tranquil
views...........................................NOW $659,500
Carolyn Bailey
Fly Away 3-BR, 3-BA home, +1,500’ of waterfront... Extra building lot, sand beach,
pool/blue stone deck... Spectacular views of
Rappahannock River!.........................$1,650,000
Steve Darman
Broad Creek Beautifully restored cottage
Rappahannock River Great beach house...
3 BR, 1 BA... Greatroom, FP, central air/
heat... Large beach and super views of river!
1 acre... Mostly furnished.................$379,000
Eric Johnson
Kilmer’s Point 3 BR, 2 BA with super views
of Rappahannock River! FP, central air/heat...
Pier and bulkhead... Great location!....$495,000
Eric Johnson
Mattaponi River 3-BR, 3-BA Cape... 4½ ac,
Great room/glassed porch.... ¾ acre.... Pier/
boat slip.................................................$339,000
R.D. Johnson
with outstanding views of Windmill Point and
Rappahannock River! 2-BR, 1-BA cottage,
+1,300 SF... Pier, sand beach............$349,000
Steve Darman
upper level condo... Granite in kitchen... Great
views of Urbanna Creek! Beach, pool, boat
ramp... Deep water slips available... Large
storage area.........................................$355,500
Craig Hall
garage... Finished bonus room, granite... 2½
wooded acres......................................$219,900
R.D. Johnson
¶ IURQWDJH )XOO ¿QLVKHG ZDONRXW EDVH
ment... Granite counters, stainless steel appliances... Large decks, boathouse/lift and
sundecks....................................$495,000
Eric Johnson
w w w. m a s o n r e a l t y. c o m
Eric Johnson . . . . . . . 815-8374
Craig Hall. . . . . . . . . . .815-8494
Marvin Mason . . . . . . .815-8391
Steve Darman . . . . . . .815-2036
R. D. Johnson II . . . . . .815-8320
Walter Lawson, Jr. . . . .832-9109
Realtors
and
Appraisers
Irvin R. Shackelford . .815-8400
Jean Darman . . . . . . . .577-7083
Zani Autry . . . . . . . . . .512-8350
Bill Kallam . . . . . . . . . .832-1024
Ann Powell . . . . . . . . . .338-1773
Carolyn Bailey . . . . . . .366-2554
Urbanna 758-5372 / Saluda 758-2777 / Deltaville 776-9295