George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation

Kenmore Steps Back in Time

Long-awaited Aquia stone steps are installed at Kenmore mansion in Fredericksburg

By RUSTY DENNEN
Published in The Free Lance-Star: 9/25/2004

Stonemasons lay new steps at Historic Kenmore
Photo by Suzanne Carr / The Free Lance-Star
Stone masons Calvin Davis (left) and Glynn Frazier,
attach lifting straps to the last Aquia stone step
installed 9/24/04 at Kenmore mansion in Fredericksburg.
The search for special stone widely used in the
late 1700s took several years.

As a crane swung the last heavy stone slab into place yesterday morning, Matthew Webster managed a wide smile.

Webster, manager of historic resources at the historic Kenmore mansion in Fredericksburg, had been waiting for this moment for four years.

"It's a lot more than we could ever have hoped for," he said, as stone mason Glynn Frazier and assistant Calvin Davis removed the lifting straps from the smooth, earth-toned chunk of Aquia stone.

"High-quality stone at the right sizes," Webster said. "It's just beautiful. It's what the Lewises would have seen."

One of the most historic and visited buildings in Fredericksburg, Kenmore is the 18th-century home of Fielding and Betty Lewis, sister of George Washington. The property is managed by George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation.

The construction crew set the ornate bottom curtail step with its flared edges first, followed by three more steps, and the two large slabs making up the landing.

Frazier will install about a dozen smaller cheek stones along the side of the staircase and point up the seams with lime-based mortar. After that a railing will be designed.

Kenmore's west entrance could be reopened to visitors sometime next week, Webster said.

Another Aquia stone step will go on the north entrance, to replace one made of Indiana limestone.

Matt Webster, Director of Restorations for Historic Kenmore, sits on the new steps
Photo by Suzanne Carr / The Free Lance-Star
Matt Webster, manager of historic resources
at Kenmore, sits on the new stone steps at
Kenmore. Webster obtained hard-to-get
stone from a road project in Stafford County.

Webster began searching for Aquia stone in 2000 to replace the porch on the west side of the mansion facing Washington Avenue.

A form of sandstone also known as freestone, Aquia stone was a building material of choice in the 18th and 19th centuries. Softer than granite and easier to work with, huge quantities were quarried locally to build architectural jewels such as Mount Vernon, the Capitol and the White House. But the supply dried up in the 1930s when the last area quarry closed.

Webster discovered that the only ready supply was a cache in Rock Creek Park owned by the Architect of the Capitol in Washington, but there wasn't enough to complete the project here.

The foundation contacted local historians about bygone quarries, and put an ad in The Free Lance-Star seeking the stone.

No luck, until earlier this year, when a local contractor uncovered some at a road-widening project near the Stafford Regional Airport. Two large boulders were trucked to North Carolina Granite Corp., where the steps and cheek stones were cut. Those were delivered to Kenmore in July.

A temporary pressure-treated wood porch had to make do as the foundation waited for the Aquia stone.

Yesterday's installation went without a hitch, and each piece fit perfectly.

"I'm smiling," said Frazier, owner of Warrenton Ceramic Tile. "That's the whole purpose of the preparation," which took several months.

George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation is spending $10 million on a top-to-bottom restoration at Kenmore and on improvements at Ferry Farm, the boyhood home of the first president. The five-year project will be completed next year.

To reach RUSTY DENNEN: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com