Northern Neck News

Northern Neck News

Mar 18, 2009

Virginia Garden Week to feature Reedville's Main Street

During Virginia Garden Week this month, the Garden Club of the Northern Neck will feature a walking tour of Reedville's Main Street. The tour takes place Wednesday, April 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Travel through Virginia’s historic and scenic Northern Neck to its most easterly point and you will reach the small community of Reedville, a Virginia and National Historic Landmark. Main Street bisects a narrow peninsula at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay, allowing each home to face the road while every backyard leads to the water’s edge. Houses lining the street bear witness to a remarkable history: by 1911, Reedville reputedly had the highest per capita income of any town in the United States. Its wealth was based upon menhaden, a small, boney fish valued for oil, bait and fertilizer. Menhaden supported a fishing industry developed by a group of intrepid sea captains, led by Elijah Reed from Maine, who settled here not long after the Civil War.

Their handsome homes are the focus of our tour. The Garden Club of the Northern Neck invites you step into a past which continues to shape the present. While its architecture reflects the riches of earlier times, even today Reedville has the second-highest commercial fishing catch in the nation. Its people lovingly preserve the heritage of this community which has grown from the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay.

NOTE: Due to the distinctive nature of this tour, the focus this year is more on the historic houses in Reedville than gardens.

INFORMATION CENTER:

ANTON AND AUGUSTA BIRKEL MEMORIAL HALLE.Built in 1927, this was originally the high school for the Reedville area. While it ceased to function as a high school in 1953, the building continued to serve local students K – 7 until it closed in 1982. Eventually the structure was sold into private ownership and, after significant renovation, reopened as a community center for the area. Recently it has come under the management of The Greater Reedville Association, Inc., which continues to operate it for the benefit of the locality.

Parking available nearby. Restroom facilities here and at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum.

FULL TICKET: $25 advance ticket price, $30 day of the tour; $15 single-site admission. Children ages 6-12, half-price; ages 5 and under free of charge. Admission includes entrance to five private homes and the Fishermen’s Museum. Tickets may be purchased on tour day at the Information Center.

ADVANCE TICKETS: Available until April 21 at The Box, White Stone; The Dandelion, Irvington; The Pedestal, Kilmarnock; Wildest Dreams, J. Dupont Mem. Hwy, Burgess; Material Girl Quilt Shop, Northumberland Hwy, Reedville; The Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, Reedville; and Colonial Collectibles, Warsaw, or by mail until April 15 from Mrs. P. Kimball, P.O. Box 215, Reedville, 22539. Make checks payable to Garden Club of the Northern Neck. Internet tickets may be purchased until the day before the tour via www.VAGardenweek.org.

BOX LUNCHES: Must be reserved in advance. Collect at the Information Center, where seating will be available. Send $10 payment to Mrs. P. Kimball, P.O. Box 215, Reedville 22539.

REFRESHMENTS: Served at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum. (See description below.)

DIRECTIONS TO THE INFORMATION CENTER: From Norfolk: I-64 to West Point Exit 220. Follow Rte 33 to Rte 17 to Rte 3 in Saluda. Continue on Rte 3 across the Rappahannock River Bridge to White Stone and to Kilmarnock. In Kilmarnock, turn right on Rte 200 and continue north for 12 mi. to Burgess. Turn right on Rte 360 and continue for 6 mi. to Reedville. The Anton and Augusta Birkel Memorial Halle is on the left. From Fredericksburg: Rte 17 to Tappahannock. Left at the second light onto Rte 360, cross the bridge over the Rappahannock and continue through Warsaw to Callao. Turn right at the traffic light and continue 14 mi. to Reedville. From Richmond: Rte 360 through Tappahannock, where 360 turns right and crosses the Rappahannock River. Proceed as above.

Parking is available at the Information Center. All houses are within walking distance of each other on Main Street. A shuttle bus will be available for those not wishing to walk. Please note that these private homes are not handicapped-accessible.

NOTE: Please wear comfortable walking shoes. Participating homeowners, The Garden Club of the Northern Neck and The Garden Club of Virginia are not responsible for accidents occurring on the tour. Children age 17 and younger must be accompanied at all times by a parent or other responsible adult.

Houses may be visited in any order.

Reedville—The Gables

THE GABLES. Completed in 1914, this Victorian mansion was built by Capt. James Fisher, one of the founders of Reedville’s fishing industry. With its five stories capped by eight gables aligned to the points of the compass, the house dominates the eastern end of Reedville’s Main Street. Its many unusual architectural features reflect Capt. Fisher’s desire to create a home that would both recreate the feel of being on a ship and incorporate elements of his schooner, the John D. Adams. Its massive wooden mast even became the support for the upper floors.

A brick arcadia wraps around three sides of the house, opening into marble-floored vestibules at each end of the wide center hall. Throughout the mansion, superb woodwork demonstrates the craftsmanship of Capt. Fisher’s shipwrights. The first-floor parlors, separated by massive oak pocket doors, are furnished with antiques from the turn of the last century. In the formal dining room, an exquisite Venetian chandelier highlights the table. A grand quarter-sawn oak staircase, with hand-carved “waves of the sea” and “sunrise” parquet landings, sweeps upward. On the second floor, French doors open into the marble-floored vestibules which lead to sun porches on each end of the center hall. Three bedrooms, furnished with period antiques, are located on this floor, together with a splendid Victorian cypress-floored bathroom. The third floor was the original billiard room and features a single octagonal space surrounded by small bell-shaped rooms located on the cardinal points of the compass. The steeply angled slate roof is hung on beams supported by the central cabin mast. Dr. and Mrs. Norman Clark, owners.

MORRIS HOUSE. Situated across Main Street from The Gables, the Morris House is intimately linked to its neighbor. It was built in 1895 by Capt. Albert Morris, menhaden fishing pioneer and partner to Capt. Fisher, whose wife was sister to Mrs. Morris. But while the massive brick façade of The Gables is austerely masculine, this elaborately detailed Queen Anne home displays all the lavish richness of the Victorian era. Its spindle-worked ornamentation, delicately turned porch supports and scalloped shingles were originally painted in a variety of colors to bring out the exquisite details. The current owner has brought the exterior back to life with a color scheme using five distinct shades. The extensive first-story porch invites every passerby to relax and enjoy the splendors of the building.

Capt. Morris was a generous contributor to the young town of Reedville, and his home has been the setting for many memorable social events over the years. The elegant interior is filled with vintage antiques, and while the house has undergone considerable modernization and renovation, the structural integrity of the original building has always been maintained. The building has survived fire (started during the funeral of one of the owners), division into apartments, and a period when it was operated as a bed and breakfast. Today it is once again in private ownership and can reclaim its place as one of the quartet of richly diverse and distinguished homes located at the end of historic Main Street. Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Miller, owner.

THE REED HOUSE. This stately Victorian home, with its iconic red roof and chimneys, epitomizes Reedville’s history. It was built in 1888 for Elijah Reed, founder of the menhaden fishing industry, by his son George, who as the first postmaster named the town for his father. Today, the house is still owned by his descendants and is filled with family treasurers linking the five generations who have lived here.

The distinctive exterior of this three-story frame house features decorative scalloped shingles and a multi-bayed façade. Other notable architectural elements are the bell-shaped corner tower and the multiple rooflines. The elegant interior is furnished with antiques and many personal family heirlooms. Among these is the original hand-drawn map of Reedville, showing the division into lots of the 33 acres along Main Street that Elijah Reed purchased for $1,000 in 1867. The den and living room contain numerous items of furniture that belonged to George Reed, while the dining room has a fine collection of family china, including items brought from England in the mid-19th century. The garden, which enjoys commanding views of Cockrell’s Creek, includes two dependencies and a charming playhouse built by George Reed for his daughter. The descendants of George Reed first opened the house for Historic Garden Week in 1971, again in 1980, and today are ready to receive a new generation of Garden Week visitors. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Kelly and Betty Nuckols, owners

THE BAILEY-COCKRELL HOUSE. The north wing of this historic home was constructed by Isaac Bailey, owner of the Reedville Marine Railway, in the early 1880s to house the workers for Elijah Reed’s fish processing factory. In 1899 he sold the house to Dr. L.E. Cockrell, who served as Reedville’s doctor until his death in 1955.

This charming Queen Anne style home, with its spindle-frieze porch, multiple bays and gabled roof, still retains many reminders of Reedville’s doctor who lived here for so many years and provided medical services to the community. At one time he used the house as his office: the stained-glass door off the porch allowed patients access to his waiting room while the downstairs bedroom served as an examining room. Today, the house showcases the owners’ great variety of artifacts reflecting the town’s maritime heritage. These include items from the menhaden fishing industry, local domestic life and artwork recording the families that have lived here over the past 100 years.

The two-and-a-half-storied house has been extensively remodeled, with the original back porch converted to a den in the late 1990s. The current owners purchased the property in 2001 and have continued to modernize, with precise attention to architectural details. Today, it still reflects the flavor of Reedville’s Victorian past and the close-knit community that thrived at this most distant point of the Northern Neck. Open for Historic Garden Week for the first time. Mr. and Mrs. Blaine Altaffer, owners.

THE CAPTAIN J. HENRY HAYNIE HOUSE. Farther along Main Street, another fine example of Reedville’s Bay Victorian homes demonstrates the continuing architectural changes of the past century. Built in 1892, with a back wing addition in the early 1900s, the house has recently undergone a seven-year renovation at the hands of its present owners. Due to deterioration of the original plaster, the structure had to be gutted down to the stud framing, and the rebuilding allowed the modernization of wiring, plumbing and insulation. This also gave the homeowners the opportunity to exercise their skills in carpentry and design and to indulge their enthusiasm for salvage and recycling. They have incorporated old doors, hardware, antique plumbing and lighting fixtures, claw-foot tubs, stained-glass and an eclectic array of furnishings and accessories into their home, from sources as varied as auctions, yard sales, e-Bay, and even curbside trash.

A major addition in 2005 added new rooms, as well as a reconfiguration of the family room and a remodeled kitchen. As the new house gradually emerged from protracted renovations, it offered a perfect setting for an enchanted collection of wonderfully unlikely objects. The 1906 egg incubator serving as a kitchen island typifies the surprises awaiting visitors, while the combination of family memorabilia and objects recycled from every area of daily life make for a home of unparalleled individuality. Overlooking Cockrell’s Creek and surrounded by the vintage homes of the original fishing fleet captains, the Capt. J. Henry Haynie House reflects the diverse heritage of Reedville’s Main Street. Open for the first time. Mr. and Mrs. P.D. O’Keefe, owners

THE REEDVILLE FISHERMEN’S MUSEUM. Founded by a group of local residents in 1986, the original museum was located in Reedville’s oldest existing home, the Walker House. It opened to the public in 1988. Today, the museum includes five buildings on its campus. The finely restored and furnished Walker House recreates a waterman’s home of the 1870s. The custom-built Covington Building is home to the permanent collection, special exhibits and the museum shop. The model shop contains an extensive model train layout of “The Railway that Never Was,” with its finely detailed recreations of the villages of Northumberland and Lancaster counties. A boat shop and pavilion are used in boat-building programs, and the museum’s administrative headquarters is in the Butler House. Behind the museum lies the dock with a collection of historic boats and displays related to fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. Largely operated by a dedicated corps of volunteers, the Fishermen’s Museum has become the heart of the community and is an integral part of this year’s tour.

Refreshments will be available, together with access to all parts of the museum. Restroom facilities.

OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST:

ANTON AND AUGUSTA BIRKEL MEMORIAL HALLE, Reedville (Information Center). While not affiliated with today’s tour sponsored by The Garden Club of the Northern Neck and The Garden Club of Virginia, a one-day show and sale of local art presented by Northern Neck artists and artisans will be held on April 22, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Admission free. No ticket required.

RICE’S HOTEL/HUGHLETT TAVERN is located in the heart of Heathsville’s Historic District, off Rte 360. The original three-room tavern was built by John Hughlett some 250 years ago and is on both the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places. This is one of the oldest surviving wooden structures in the Northern Neck region and was rescued from increasing decay by a group of local volunteers, who became known as “The Tavern Rangers.” Starting work in 1990, they dedicated themselves to the arduous labors of restoring the building. Today, it contains a popular restaurant and a gift shop and is the center of the recreated courthouse square which also holds a functioning forge, a carriage house and a community building (804) 580-3377.

MENOKIN PLANTATION, Rte 690, Menokin Rd, 3 mi. west of Warsaw. The 1769 home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence, is situated on 500 acres in Richmond County. This National Historic Landmark features a newly opened Conservation and Visitors Center, as well as a walking tour of the Menokin ruin and grounds. Many artifacts from the house are on display in the Visitors Center, and the Menokin Foundation is developing the site as a center for historical study, preservation and restoration. Open 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Call (804) 333-1776 or visit www.menokin.org

STRATFORD HALL PLANTATION, off Rte 3 on Rte 214 five miles west of Montross. Thomas Lee, a Virginia planter and patriot, had the impressive H-shaped Great House built circa 1738. Stratford Hall was the boyhood home of the only two brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. It was also the birthplace of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. During the period 1930-34, The Garden Club of Virginia restored the east garden. A Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. Open 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Admission charge. (804) 493-8038 or visit www.stratfordhall.org

HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH, Lancaster County. From Kilmarnock, take Rte 200 south and turn right on Rte 646. In 1966-68, The Garden Club of Virginia restored the grounds of this beautifully preserved historic Anglican church. A Virginia Historic and a National Historic Landmark.

* General Info
* Tour Highlights