Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Lee Heritage Interpretive Plan”
On Friday we saw the culmination of a project that had been over one year in the making: a reproduction carpet for Stratford Hall’s restored 1790s parlor. Modern-day visitors to Stratford are invited to walk into the parlor and to see the room and its details from every angle (and get up close and personal with the newest room addition). Three …
The big ongoing project in the Preservation Department is the restoration of the Parlor. This restoration project will return the Parlor to the 1790’s Federal Period of “Light Horse Harry” Lee. “Light Horse Harry” made this room larger while making it his most fancy space in the Great House. The Preservation Department has been working with the architects and architectural …
Throughout the month of July, I had the good fortune to be able to travel in England and northern Wales as part of the Attingham Summer School, a study program run by The Attingham Trust.* My classmates included architectural historians, curators, conservators, and preservationists from around the world (Russia, Australia, Switzerland, India, etc.). For three weeks we traversed the …
If you have been to the Great House in the past couple of weeks, you probably noticed that a few things are out of place. This is due to the fact that we are in the middle of investigations for a Historic Structure Report (HSR). What is a Historic Structure Report you might ask? It is a report that …
It is no secret that visitation at historic sites like Stratford Hall has been declining. This is not a new development, but part of a long-term trend that began over 30 years ago. Careful observers have lots of opinions on why this is happening, but it is clear these trends reflect a significant cultural shift in the …
We are on the home stretch in the Northwest Stair Passage. Each time I visit the project it looks a little closer to completion and its final designation as a functioning staircase. One of the most recent exciting activities that occured was the application of traditional hand ground linseed oil paint. This paint was made by Erica Sanchez Goodwillie …
As we prepare for the implementation of the Lee Heritage Interpretive Plan in the coming years, one of the principal challenges is finding a way to make a tour of Stratford Hall engaging for the broadest possible audience. An important step toward resolving this challenge took place on October 28 and 29, when we hosted a symposium called “Rediscovering …
It’s been a while since I have been able to post a Preservation Department update. Sorry about that, but it has been a busy few months. I am currently juggling the Southwest Outhouse restoration project and the Northwest Stair Passage restoration project. The interns and I have been working hard in the Southwest Outbuilding to get the restoration completed …
Stratford Hall is currently undergoing some changes related to the Lee Heritage Interpretive Plan, which you have probably already learned from recent posts on this blog. One of those new changes, voted on by our Board of Directors in April, involves interpreter attire. Currently, the interpreters wear 18th-century indentured servant attire, but as of July 1, 2009, this will be …
There have been several discoveries in the Northwest Stair Passage since my last update. I have been busy removing plaster and other elements looking for evidence to support the restoration of the stair passage. The picture to the right shows the ground floor room of the Northwest Stair Passage before I began removing plaster and with the mock-up in …
This is my first post to provide an update on our Northwest Stair Restoration Project. We are currently trying to wrap up the architectural investigations within the two spaces that make up this passage. There are a few questions that still need answers before we can start the construction drawings and restoration. This has been an ongoing process and it …