Waterford Fair

78th American Crafts & Historic Homes Tour

Saturday Homes

Asbury-Johnson House (#4 on map)

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This house is the first of three Victorians built on contiguous vacant lots along the southwest side of Second Street in the late 19th century. During the Civil War, in October 1862, a Union division commander described the location as a beautiful site “in front of a most excellent family of Quakers on the opposite side of the street . . . They offered a nice room, but I prefer my tent,” (where he could keep an eye on his men bivouacked on the adjoining Phillips Farm).

Armida Athey Love (1841-1926), widow of a Union army surgeon, bought the land in 1886 and by the following year had added a new frame dwelling. The house was built by carpenter Asbury R. Johnson (1842-1905), whom she married in March 1887. The local press reported the following month that “Mrs. Kate Rickard, nee Compher, has purchased the handsome new residence lately built by Mrs. Love . . . as her [Kate’s] future home.” Kate, herself a widow, remarried John S. Paxson in 1889, and the property remained in the Paxson and Rickard families until 1956.

A protective easement on the house is held by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). Many homes in Waterford have this protection. It prevents inappropriate changes to the original structure. And in fact there have been few alterations made—plumbing and wiring aside. It is less exuberantly embellished than its labor neighbors to the south. In 2010 an earlier deck was rehabilitated and a porch added that is sympathetic to the original architecture.

Ephraim Schooley (#3 on map)

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Saturday: Interior. Sunday: Exterior only.

The oldest part of this house is the south end, which John Morrow, a weaver, built between 1821 and 1825, shortly before his death. Quaker Ephraim Schooley (1786-1867) acquired the property in the 1830s.

Renowned saddler Asa Brown (1794-1872) lived here in the 1850s and 60s. The Civil War split his large family down the middle. “Plucky” Asa, a veteran of the War of 1812, was a loyal Unionist, as was his son Turner and two daughters. Sons Charlie and “Ab” were “rabid secesh” as was wife Aurena and a third daughter. Turner and Charlie had to be kept from killing each other, but all managed to survive the war, though Charlie took a Yankee bullet at the First Battle of Bull Run.

William F. Myers built the northern end of the house in 1850, and both halves (two separate dwellings) were sold to H.C. Bennett in 1876. From 1919 to 1959 the property belonged to the H.B. Parker family, another feisty bunch. Harvey, a blacksmith, came home from WWI, feuded with his brother Fred, who had run the smithy in his absence, and the two never spoke again. Mr. and Mrs. John G. Lewis purchased the property in 1959 and restored and finally united the two residences as one called the Parker-Bennett House.

Mr. and Mrs. William Chewning added a west wing in the 1970s, granting an easement to the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.

Mr. and Mrs. John J. Donovan built a second western addition in 1989.They also purchased three and one-half acres of pasture at the rear of the property in 1991 and granted a protective easement to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Ephraim Schooley property is open through the courtesy of its current owners, the Manch family.

Catoctin Presbyterian Church (#9 on map)

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12:00-4:00 only

15565 High Street

Waterford’s Presbyterians have a long history in the Waterford area. In 1760, Amos Thompson, a graduate of The College of New Jersey [now Princeton University], was sent by the New Brunswick Presbytery as a missionary to Virginia. Thompson organized two churches: Gum Spring, near Arcola, and Waterford’s Catoctin Presbyterian Church, which was organized in 1764-1765. The Rev. Thompson later left his ministry to serve as a chaplain in the Continental Army.

The first Presbyterian church in Waterford was built on land sold for four shillings by member John Cavins on April 7, 1769, to the trustees of the church for a school, house of worship, or a burying ground. It stood south of Waterford at what is known locally as the Fox graveyard at the intersection of routes 703, Hurley Lane, and 665, Clarke’s Gap Road. That log church stood into the 1820s although the Presbyterians stopped using it in 1814 when the congregation moved into Waterford on the present site. All traces of that early structure have disappeared, but 11gravestones remain.  The last burials were in 1881.

Lots 2 and 3, upon which the present church stands, were conveyed to the Catoctin Presbyterian Organization in 1814, by Mahlon Janney’s executors, as part of his “New Addition” auction, for $104.50. A church of brick with a gallery on three sides was erected and served intermittently as a place of worship until destroyed by fire in 1878. Under the leadership of Dr. L. B. Turnbull the present church was built on the same site in 1882. Close observation will reveal that the façade and front bay of the church is constructed with modern, machine-made brick of a uniform red color, while the remainder of the sides of the church is constructed of hand-made brick of varying colors. It is likely that these were the bricks salvaged from the previous church.

The church’s interior has a wooden ceiling with false beams reflecting the Gothic style of the building. Wooden pendants which hang from these beams resemble the “acorn” motif that top the ladder backs of Waterford chairs. On the wall behind the pulpit is a round stained glass window. The sides of the church have lancet arched stained glass windows with clear glass transom windows below. These windows were most likely installed in the twentieth century.

In 1950 the congregation added a church school building to fill the education and recreational needs of the community; the congregation continues to share the use of this building. Reverend David Douthett has been the pastor since 2004.  History, tradition, a farming legacy and close-knit fellowship are vital parts of the church today.

The Catoctin Presbyterian Church is open courtesy of the grace of God and 250 years’ worth of faithful members.

Samuel Steer Property

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In 1856 Waterford miller Samuel C. Means (1827-1884) purchased vacant lots 39 and 40 of Mahlon Janney’s 1814 subdivision. By January 1861, with war looming and busy with his mill on Main Street, Means sold the lots on which this house stands to Robert W. Thomas (1825-1905), a blacksmith and hotel keeper. Thomas promptly built this house, but by September 1861, when Confederate troops occupied Waterford, they took over the new house for a hospital.

Later in the war, when the Rebels had withdrawn, Quaker businessman Samuel Steer (1811-1883) rented the house and moved his family into town from his farm south of the village for safety; he finally purchased it in 1867 for $700. Northern sympathizer Steer spent much of the war “exiled” at nearby Point of Rocks, Maryland, serving as the U.S. Customs Agent. During the war, his daughter Sarah and her young neighbors Lida and Lizzie Dutton co-established the fervently pro-union Waterford News. The young women would note, in their paper, after their father’s rare visits home that John Dutton and Samuel Steer had “returned safely to the United States….” In 1864 Steer was arrested by Confederates as he tried to visit his family and imprisoned for his Union sympathies.

At the close of the war, Sarah Ann Steer (1837-1914), held classes for village African-American children, first in her home, then in 1867 at the new one-room school just down Second Street.   She taught until 1870 when that school became part of the County’s school system. Her sister Ella taught at the first public school for white children, the Waterford Academy, the predecessor of the Old School on Fairfax Street.

In the 1980s, the owners enclosed a porch. The present owners added an outbuilding, remodeled and enlarged the kitchen, installed a patio and designed and put in a garden with stone walls and a pond.

The Samuel Steer House is open through the courtesy of Edith Crockett and Ed Lehmann.

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Griffith-Gover Property

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This property backing up to the Phillips Farm comprises three of the fifteen lots in Waterford’s 1792 subdivision. Quaker merchant Richard Griffith was leasing the property by 1796, and by 1799 it included a two-story log house and a store. In 1819 his son Israel sold a portion of the property to fellow Quaker Jesse Gover, who operated a store and “hat manufactory” among other enterprises. Gover bought the rest of the property in 1836.

His son Samuel, in turn, served the village for many years as storekeeper and postmaster. Sam’s Union sympathies made his store a target of Confederate raids during the Civil War. By then the current property included the house and two substantial weatherboard buildings along the street to the left, that were later owned by William French.

Early in the 20th century the James family acquired the land and buildings. Edgar Clayton James operated a store here. When he died in 1918, his widow, the former Annie Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hough, ran a boardinghouse to make ends meet—the Oldtown Inn. Clarence Hopkins, who married one of the James’s daughters, Carrie, was an engineer for Edison Labs. He erected a dance pavilion and large masonry megaphone for the benefit of Inn guests. At about the same time, the decrepit store buildings along the street were removed and the adjacent millrace was enlarged for canoeing.

In October 1922, the Washington Herald enthusiastically wrote:

“Waterford, Va., is now one of the busiest radio towns in the country, according to reports received here. Radio users there have constructed a loud speaking horn of concrete and granite with a diameter of six feet. The horn weighs eight tons. Folks in that vicinity now hear a variety of entertainment from Pittsburgh and other cities. When the horn was first demonstrated, one resident there, it is claimed, heard music one mile and a half away from Waterford and came down to discover what was ‘goin’ on down thar.’”

Norman Weatherholtz, a stonemason and carpenter, bought the place in 1944 and added his own touches over the years until his death in 1998. He is responsible for much of the stonework in the village, including work on this home.

Cornelia Keller of nearby Hamilton purchased the house the following year. It had fallen into considerable disrepair and presented significant challenges to Ms. Keller and her rescue team. Now, thanks to a conservation easement through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the house, gardens, stone wall and eclectic structures are protected in perpetuity.

Jonathan Daniel and Lee Spangler bought the house in 2014 and couldn’t be more thrilled with being its current stewards.

The Griffith-Gover House is open through the courtesy of Jonathan Daniel and Lee Spangler.

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Trouble Enough Indeed (#5 on map)

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10:00-1:00 only

Trouble Enough Indeed was brought to Waterford and reconstructed from 1970 to 1980 by William and Carol Hunley.

Visitors to the Waterford Fair in the early 1970s enjoyed watching Trouble Enough Indeed take shape from the components of two log homes ca. 1850 and 1886 from Lewisdale in Montgomery County, Maryland, and an 1876 frame house from Mathews County, Virginia.  Located about three miles apart at Lewisdale, the log houses were tobacco farm houses.  The name comes from the registration of the front wing of the house in the Montgomery County deed book.

The house has been featured in Parade Magazine, in the Washington Post and on NPTV.  It has been a frequent subject for painters and passing photographers.

The log houses were dismantled and every log, stick, stone and brick moved to Waterford, cleaned and returned to its original place in the house.  Even the nails were reused.  The log construction is German “V” notch and logs were stacked one on the other with no fastenings except in the top ring of logs on which the roof rests.  In addition to the log houses and the frame house, artifacts from many well-known buildings are built into the fabric.

The dining room fireplace contains the brick from the log house, and on one side there is a brick from the old church at Jamestown.  One the other side, there is a brick from Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg.  The handmade bricks each show the print of the brick maker’s thumb from being turned when drying, and several contain cat and deer tracks made while the bricks were still soft.  The long-leaf pine heart flooring and the dining room ceiling beams were salvaged from the Carlyle Apartments that were built in 1819.  Many of the doors, windows and replacement timbers were salvaged from the house built in 1876 by William S. Hunley, shipwright, farmer and oysterman, at Retz in the Kingston Parish Glebe in Mathews County, Virginia.  Several of the doors were made in the family shipyard and are fastened with boat nails.

Trouble Enough Indeed is open through the courtesy of  the current owner Margo Noel.

 

 

Three Property Tour

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[fusion_fontawesome icon=”fa-thumbtack fas” size=”18″ flip=”” rotate=”” spin=”no” link=”” linktarget=”_self” alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” iconcolor=”” iconcolor_hover=”” circle=”” bg_size=”-1″ circlecolor=”” circlecolor_hover=”” circlebordersize=”” circlebordercolor=”” circlebordercolor_hover=”” icon_hover_type=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””][/fusion_fontawesome]This tour starts at the Charles Merchant House.

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Charles Merchant Property

The land on which this house stands was originally purchased from the “Mahlon Janney Estate” auction in 1814 by Isaac Walker. Later owners included Robert Braden and then William Nettle, the master joiner of Waterford, who died in 1855. The lot then passed to his wife, who died in 1879.  The first indication of a building on the property is noted on the 1875 Survey of Waterford, which shows an agricultural or work shop building on the lot. Possibly this initial building was the work shop of Waterford’s master joiner. In 1891, Franklin and Mary Steer sold the property to James T. and Sarah Merchant, who then sold the property to his son Charles A. Merchant in 1906. He and his wife, the former Anna Mary Berry (“Mamie”), who had moved to Washington D.C., returned to Waterford for the health of their infant son Leo and purchased the lot in 1906.

Charles Merchant, a carpenter and painter, contracted with John Spinks, of nearby Paeonian Springs, to build a house. It seems quite possible that the main section of the house was constructed on the foundation of the prior building, and a new stone foundation was constructed for the rear portion of the house. Merchant lived here until the early 1930s. Herb Edwards, a later owner, lived here from 1943 until his death in 1987.

The renovations done by the present owners, Antonia Walker and Timothy H. McGinn, were designed and built by Mr. McGinn. The back of the house, which originally had only one window, has been opened up with two windows and a door to a back porch, orienting the view to the farmland to the west and allowing access to the flagstone patio and herb garden.

There is a new two-story addition just off the kitchen which includes a winter studio for Ms. Walker and bathroom on the second floor. Whenever possible, vintage building materials have been used or recycled to retain the character of the original house. The back door came from the Thomas Moore house on Bond Street and the balustrade of the porch was fashioned from the old kitchen cabinets.

The Charles Merchant House is open through the courtesy of present owners Antonia Walker and Tim McGinn

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Mahlon Schooley Property

Enter tour at the Charles Merchant Property.

Mahlon Schooley (b. 1788), who later helped establish a Quaker community in Iowa, built this brick dwelling in 1817 as part of the “New Town” development along Second Street. The original portion is a three-bay brick building with a metal gable roof and a dogtooth cornice. The house retains an architectural integrity that belies the changes that have taken place within. The large west wing was added before 1854.

In the early part of the 20th century, a fire necessitated the rebuilding of the south wall, at which time longer windows were installed. In the 1920s, the James Carr family replaced an earlier front porch with a large wrap-around version, which itself was removed in the 1960s. The foundation of the present brick stoop at the front door was part of the first porch. The Brown Morton family also restored a number of interior details, including an exact replica of the first entrance, an unusually wide nine-panel door.

The current owners undertook an extensive restoration focused on retaining as much original material as possible, while assuring the structural integrity of this house for its next two hundred years.

In the field directly behind the house, study revealed the existence of one of several brick kilns along Catoctin Creek where much of the soft brick used in village buildings was made. The pond at the bottom of the field was created in the 1960s. The small white frame building at the far corner of the field adjacent to the mill race was built in the 1920s as the village slaughter house.

The Mahlon Schooley House is open through the courtesy of Richard and Susan Rogers. The Rev. and Mrs. W. Brown Morton III, previous owners, protected the house from inappropriate change in perpetuity by the grant of a preservation easement to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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Ephraim Schooley Property

The oldest part of this house is the south end, which John Morrow, a weaver, built between 1821 and 1825, shortly before his death. Quaker Ephraim Schooley (1786-1867) acquired the property in the 1830s.

Renowned saddler Asa Brown (1794-1872) lived here in the 1850s and 60s. The Civil War split his large family down the middle. “Plucky” Asa, a veteran of the War of 1812, was a loyal Unionist, as was his son Turner and two daughters. Sons Charlie and “Ab” were “rabid secesh”
as was wife Aurena and a third daughter. Turner and Charlie had to be kept from killing each other, but all managed to survive the war, though Charlie took a Yankee bullet at the First Battle of Bull Run.

William F. Myers built the northern end of the house in 1850, and both halves (two separate dwellings) were sold to H.C. Bennett in 1876. From 1919 to 1959 the property belonged to the H.B. Parker family, another feisty bunch. Harvey, a blacksmith, came home from WWI, feuded with his brother Fred, who had run the smithy in his absence, and the two never spoke again. Mr. and Mrs. John G. Lewis purchased the property in 1959 and restored and finally united the two residences as one called the Parker-Bennett House.

Mr. and Mrs. William Chewning added a west wing in the 1970s, granting an easement to the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.

Mr. and Mrs. John J. Donovan built a second western addition in 1989.They also purchased three and one-half acres of pasture at the rear of the property in 1991 and granted a protective easement to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Ephraim Schooley House is open through the courtesy of its current owners, the Manch family.

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