The Carlyle House sits on Fairfax Street; its visage inviting visitors to ask questions: Why is the house built of stone? Why does it have a front yard? What mysteries are buried in its past?
For many years, these questions were unanswered. But since the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority turned the house into a museum in 1976, the life of the Scottish merchant who once lived there has slowly unraveled.
The unfolding story of Carlyle's life has now been recorded in a new documentary by Baltimore filmmaker Robert Cole. The filmmaker, who had worked with the Carlyle House on a previous project in the early 1990s, spent two years working on the 30-minute film. It was created by a grant of $49,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
"Excuse me, " Cole said in a question-and-answer session after the film premiered on Sunday afternoon. He then pretended to answer a call on his cell phone. After a dramatic pause, Cole told the audience: "That was Variety. They said that while 25 people saw an afternoon showing of a little film called 'Million Dollar Baby,' 300 people turned out to see 'Paper and Stone.'"
The joke was as big a hit as was the documentary, which elicited several "huzzahs" from reenactors wearing period costume. Ted and Jami Borek, who attended the premiere as Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle, greeted moviegoers at the door. Keeping with Carlyle's 18th-century perspective, Borek explained how the film worked.
"It's a series of engravings that are displayed in rapid sequence," Borek said as Carlyle. "I thanked the producers, but mentioned that they had it wrong in a wee detail, and that was, I'm not dead!"
TO MAKE THE FILM, Cole traveled to England and Scotland to interview descendants, academics and local historians. The film explores Carlyle's motivation for coming to Virginia in 1741, the influence of the Fairfax family in Alexandria, the importance of stone architecture to the Scottish temperament, the legal importance of primogeniture and the role Carlyle played in forging a consensus between British American colonies during the French and Indian War. It also examines the familial relationship between John Carlyle and James Bond.
"The more questions we ask, the more we discover," said Donald Dahmann, a geography professor from Hollin Hills who attended the premiere. "We know too little about this period because we think of it as dead archives."
For the Carlyle House, the process of bringing the past to life was helped by a discovery in the late 1970s. Carlyle's descendants found a number of letters that were written by Carlyle in an old trunk in a little-used room in Strachur House in Argyll, Scotland. This discovery and what the letters say about life in the 18th century are analyzed in the film.
"I chose to live here because I'm interested in the history," said graduate student Krista Millar. "What I took from the film is that you don't understand the foundations of a man until you start to look at the foundations he built."
THE STONE FOUNDATION that was laid by John Carlyle in 1751 was intended to be a time-capsule of sorts. While other buildings in Old Town were built with brick or wood, Carlyle insisted that his house be built of stone to resemble the stone castles of Scotland. He used his position on the town's board of trustees to give himself an exemption from the ordinance that prohibited front yards. And the paper trail that breathes life into the old stones is the focus of "Paper and Stone."
"The film will be shown to visitors of the Carlyle House and be used as an outreach tool to nursing homes and schools," said Carlyle House Director Mary Ruth Coleman, noting that the Old Town Theatre was filled to capacity for the event. "We're overwhelmed with the turnout."
Coleman, who has been with the museum for 14 years, also announced at the premiere that the Carlyle House had been reaccredited by the American Association of Museums. Because only 5 percent of museums are accredited by the association, the Carlyle House has a status that invites grant money to create projects such as "Paper and Stone."
While answering a question about the production of the documentary, Cole said that he had originally intended for the film to be an overview of the history of Old Town. As the scope of the film narrowed, he left a lot of interview footage on the cutting-room floor. But he hopes that one day, another documentary can be made about Alexandria that would employ some of the oral history that he's already collected.
"Maybe we can get another grant," said Coleman.