As the stucco from the exterior walls of the Morven Park Governor's Mansion is peeled away, what is known of the mansion's history will begin to build.
The Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, named after one of the original owners of the property, initiated a two-year preservation project this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Davis's purchase of the property, a 1,200-acre estate located just west of Leesburg.
"It's uncovering history and preserving the history, and all of this is being extremely well documented," said William "Will" O'Keefe, the foundation's executive director.
The Governor's Mansion was built in about 1750, serving as a small fieldstone farmhouse from 1781 until 1800 when Major Thomas Swann, an Alexandria judge, purchased the property and built onto the home. In 1840, he sold the property to his son Thomas Swann, Jr., who served at various times as president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland. Under the Swanns' ownership, the home underwent 12 building phases until its completion in 1880. Major Swann chose the name for the home, getting the idea from Morven, the home of a friend of his and a New Jersey governor who gave him permission as long as he used a slightly different name, hence Morven Park.
SWANN, JR. died in 1883, leaving the home to be purchased by multiple owners until 1903 when Westmoreland and his wife Marguerite [Inman] Davis purchased the estate. Westmoreland Davis had retired from law in New York and wanted to move to Virginia to fox hunt and to operate a poultry and dairy farm, which he developed into a leading stock producer and agricultural showplace. From 1918-22, he served as governor and pled with the state to modernize state government, use scientific methods to increase farm yields and improve schools.
"He was a wealthy farmer and was interested in a lot of land issues and farming issues and making [farming] more profitable for the general farmer," said Melissa York, education director and preservation project manager for the foundation.
The Davises furnished the 18-room, 16,000-square-foot mansion with furnishings of various styles and eras, including 16th century Flemish tapestries. They used items they collected from their travels and moved from their New York home.
"It's a real eclectic house depending on what room you were in," York said.
Westmoreland Davis died in 1942. Marguerite Davis, daughter of a wealthy New York cotton broker, established a foundation in her husband's name in 1955, since the Davises did not have any children. She died in 1963. The estate was opened to the public four years later.
"The mansion is truly a museum to the Davises," O'Keefe said. "It truly is the centerpiece of the property, and preserving it is a must."
Preserving the home will involve a two-fold project, with work on the exterior of the home conducted first before the interior work can be started, since roof leaks damaged some of the inside area.
The exterior project, which began in April, is expected to take two years to complete at a cost of about $2 million, funded through the foundation's reserve account and loans.
THE EXTERIOR PROJECT is under the direction of Tidewater Preservation, Inc., a Fredericksburg-based consulting and general contracting company focused on conserving and restoring historic structures.
Tidewater Preservation is removing the stucco from the home's exterior to repair and conserve the brick, stone and wooden sections that are damaged, deteriorated and rotted, using original techniques and building materials and wood dutchman for any unrecoverable materials, which will have the same profile as the originals. Once these materials are preserved, the company will re-stucco the house, using a mix based on the original stucco, which covered several buildings of the house connecting them into one building.
"It's a significant project," said Frederick Ecker II, president of Tidewater Preservation. "It's complicated in the sense that it requires all these trades going on at the same time. ... It's a complicated project to keep it moving in a smooth way, especially when we're dealing with sensitive historic material."
This winter, Tidewater Preservation is scheduled to repair the house's doors, windows and shutters, which will have been removed by then, for the second phase of the project. The third phase in spring 2004 will involve installing the windows and doors and working on the rear facade. While work is conducted on both facades of the house, Tidewater Preservation will replace the roof with a specially coated copper roof that will look historically correct, working on the project this summer through next year, Ecker said. The exterior preservation project is scheduled for completion in spring 2005.
"It's unusual to get an opportunity to really see preservation taking place," York said. "It's pretty exciting to see."
The Morven Park foundation will begin preliminary planning for interior preservation work this fall and start interior studies next year. A five to 10-year plan of what needs to be repaired and restored inside the house will be developed, including both the interior structure and the house's objects and furnishings. The interior work, estimated to cost the same as the exterior work, will require a fundraising project, O'Keefe said.
"We are not only securing the future of the building for generations to come, we also are learning more about the building," O'Keefe said. "The mansion has an incredible history, just as well as the people who occupied it. ... It's an interesting property because it belonged to the governors of two different states."
MORVEN PARK, which is located on Old Waterford Road off Route 7, includes a two-acre formal boxwood garden and two additional museums, the Winmill Carriage Museum and the Museum of Hounds and Hunting, along with 50 other buildings, such as barns and sheds. The Winmill Carriage Museum opened in 1968 following Warrenton resident Viola Winmill's donation of her collection of 90 carriages, which are on display 25 at a time. The Museum of Hounds and Hunting, located in the mansion's north wing, displays art, artifacts and literature from the sport of fox hunting, an interest of Westmoreland Davis.
The trustees opened an equestrian institute in 1967 to commemorate the Davises, continuing its operation until 1991, when it closed for lack of demand. The trustees turned the facility into an equestrian center, now used as an event site for equestrian sports, hound and dog shows, antique fairs and other events, including the annual Celtic Festival.
Morven Park is a museum, tour and events facility with a staff of 30 employees, including eight tour guides and seasonal help. Morven Park is open Friday to Monday with tours every hour from 12-4 p.m.