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A Drawing – A couple of objects in the collection include
extremely rare detailing. We have a late-18th-century wood board with
architectural design details drawn on it for Belle Farm, a house that
used to stand in Gloucester County, Virginia. The drawing, which is
one of the earliest found in Virginia, dates from about 1775-1800. The
sketch is a design for a Doric base and arched doorway surround that
closely matches images of arches that flanked one of Belle Farm’s
internal chimneys. It is believed that the artisan etched the detailed
drawing to show the homeowners how his proposed features would
look. The etching was discovered and saved with other woodwork
when the building was being dismantled in 1930. Colonial
Williamsburg’s restoration architects copied the design when
constructing arches in several reconstructed Historic Area buildings.

Remains from Damage – Damaged fragments have also
been instrumental in guiding the restoration of several original
Historic Area buildings. A charred panel section and baluster
from Bassett Hall, the mid-18th-century house that John D.
and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller lived in from 1936 to 1948,
survived a 1930 fire that consumed part of the house. The The painting just before going into the exhibit.
ca. 1753 panel came from the main stair and served as a model
for the replacement paneling installed when the damaged stair While a definitive date for the
was restored. creation of the painting could
The ca. 1753 never be determined since the
baluster did not pigments used in its composition
belong to the main date to a broad swath of the 18th
stairway balustrades and early-19th centuries, analyzing
but instead came the painting led to a renewed
from servants’ stairs interest in investigating and better
in the space to the understanding the house itself.
south of the main For some time, historians went
stairs. The fire caused back and forth about the pedigree
enough damage to of the house on the corner of Duke
require the removal of of Gloucester and Colonial Streets.
the servants’ stairs in For many years it was thought that
the earliest section of the early-18th-century house was
Servants’ Stair Baluster, Bassett Hall, ca. 1753, the house. A replace- torn down and a new house built
AF-1.22.7. The baluster and stair (still in place just ment set of stairs was around 1790 by Williamsburg
after the fire) were removed during the subsequent not installed when the merchant, George Reid. The earli-
restoration of the house.
house was repaired est owner we can trace to the prop-
and updated for the Rockefellers’ occupancy. Even though the baluster erty was Edward Baradall, the The overmantel painting still in
is damaged, it is especially important because it is the only known piece attorney general for the Virginia situ in the house before coming
to survive from that staircase and is the only Historic Area servants’ stair colony. In 1739, the property was into the collection to preserve it
baluster in our collection. purchased from Baradall’s estate by

Charred panel section, Bassett Hall, ca. 1753, AF-1.22.1.
The panel was removed from the damaged main stair after the 1930 fire.
The Catherine Orr House today.
A Scrutinized Painting Leads to More Hints
Another one-of-a-kind object that relates to an earlier rendition of Hugh Orr, a Scottish blacksmith, and his wife Catherine. We believe
one of our 18th century buildings is a painted overmantel from the the Orrs made many changes to the house, likely adding the central
building formerly known as the George Reid House. The landscape passage and many outbuildings over their 45-year ownership of the
scene is the only surviving piece of evidence from a scenic overmantel property. While Hugh died in 1764, his wife, Catherine continued to
in Williamsburg in the 18th century. No records have been found live in and repair the house until her death in 1788. After Catherine’s
naming the painter or the person who commissioned it, but all agree death, the property was transferred to George Reid and his wife Eve
that it is a traditional Scottish coastline scene. While preparing the Anderson Reid. After Eve’s death in 1814, it went through a series of
overmantel for exhibition, we began a thorough physical investigation owners until Colonial Williamsburg purchased it in 1928. The house
of the house as it stands today to see if we could determine a date for was one of the first to be restored by Colonial Williamsburg, and like
the painting. many of the early restorations, not much was documented at the time.

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