Today, I had the chance to go back to Bacon’s Castle in Smithfield, Virginia to attend a wonderful Afternoon Tea with the Regency Society of Virginia. The Regency Society of Virginia is an organization for those who are fascinated by the British Regency and the corresponding American periods. They are a family-friendly, volunteer-run group whose goal is to continually grow in our knowledge of the years 1790-1820. Whether you are a Janeite, an English Country or Regency dancer, a re-enactor, a costume historian or lover of period dramas, The Regency Society of Virginia is a great place to be!

Dianna
http://thesedaysofmine.com/

I received an invitation from my good friend and fellow blogger Dianna. Dianna has been with us almost from the beginning and has followed and supported us through this journey. She invited me early on to come to Smithfield, just about 45 minutes from our current home is Chesapeake to see her beloved Bacon’s Castle. This 1665 home located just outside of Smithfield is the only brick Jacobean home left in America. You can read more about his beautiful home by going to our “Year of the Virginia Historical Homes” Categories and finding it there.

We started our event with a wonderful history lesson in tea. Did you know that Afternoon Tea Events we have today is largely based on the Victorian Era? The Afternoon Tea came about after the time of dinner was expended to a later time. Most households would have a breakfast and then dinner. When dinner stated getting later and later, the ladies found that they would need something more than tea to get them to dinner. So Afternoon Teas were born.

In the early days of America, tea was a valuable import. It was so valuable that it would be locked up and the mistress of the house would be the only one holding the key! I guess that shows how serious the Colonist were when the threw the tea in to the Boston Harbor!

We dined on a wonderful plate of bits that were both beautiful and delicious. For our first course we were treated to two small tea sandwiches of egg salad and cucumber tea sandwiches, a bowl of asparagus soup (served cold), a small salad, lavender scones with strawberry preserves and fruit.

Cucumber Tea Sandwich

Egg Salad Tea Sandwich

Lavender Scone

After this plentiful plate, we were served our second course of sweet delights! Sweet muffins of apple and lemon poppy seed, vanilla shortbread and a coconut meringue cookie. With smartly dressed Society Ladies as our tea companions, there was a good time had by all!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

Apple Muffin

Coconut Meringue

After our Tea, we enjoyed a tour of this historic home. As my tour companion, Dianna gave us a deeper understanding our this home. Her family once owned it! Her mother was born and raised here! How lucky to have such history in ones family.

If you would like to see this beautiful home, it will reopen for the Spring and Summer Season in March. Please visit their website at

http://preservationvirginia.org/visit/historic-properties/bacons-castle

If you would like too learn more about the Regency Society or would like to have these wonderful ladies and gentlemen help you make your next tea or picnic event something really special, please visit their Facebook Fan Page at

http://www.facebook.com/varegency?fref=ts

Get your Regency Dress Ready! Belle Grove Plantation will be hosting a Tea or Picnic Event soon!

To see more pictures of Belle Grove

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Mansion on Main

Yesterday we official visited one of the historic homes on the “Year of the Virginia Historical Homes” tour. We have seen many that are on the list, but this is the first one that we will get to count on our “Master Traveler Passport”. To see this home, your tour starts at the antique store just behind the house. The mansion’s owner, Betty Clark, owns this wonderful store called “Mansion House Art and Antiques”.

www.mansionhouseartandantiques.com

As you enter this beautiful antique store, you are greeted by so many wonderful things. The “Official Greeter” Chloe, stands guard and greets those who stop by.

Chloe
Mansion House Art and Antiques

Chloe
The Official Greeter

In every corner of this store are treasures of days go by. Lovingly displayed, it is hard not to purchase each item. Two antique cars, silver and beautiful paintings are at every turn. The delicate china is laid out on the table in wait for guest to arrive.

One phone call later, we were sent to the back door of the Mansion through the back garden. Poor Brett had to stop almost every two steps as I took pictures of garden and outdoor sitting areas. We were greeted by Dawn, the innkeeper. She was wonderful and provided us with lots of history of the home.

Back Garden of the Mansion on Main

Outside Sitting Area at the Mansion on Main

Backdoor of Mansion on Main

This beautiful Queen Ann style Victorian is located in downtown Smithfield, Virginia. This home, nicknamed the “Mansion on Main” is the showplace home of Richard Samuel Thomas (1837-1915). The urban home was built in 1889 and changed the face of Smithfield  from Victorian cottage and federal style homes to the “trend-setting” urban architecture with Queen Anne and Art Nouveau influences.

Mansion on Main

Mansion on Main Details

The home stand proudly on the corner edge of the original colonial roads and is at the top of Wharf Hill, a thriving port on the Pagan River. Attorney and town historian Richard S. Thomas made the showpiece his home and business office.

Marriage Certificate of Richard and Frances Thomas

Richard S. Thomas and his wife Frances Boykin Jordan Thomas were connected to several other Smithfield historic properties and their preservation. The Thomas brothers dedicated stain glass windows at St. Luke Church in honor of two ancestors who were “vestrymen” (lay leaders) in the 1750s. One of the vestrymen was Jordan Thomas. He was not only Richard S. Thomas’s ancestor but also the county surveyor who mapped out Smithfield’s first streets.

St Lukes Church
Smithfield

In 1873, the elder brother of Richard S. Thomas purchase the 1750 Courthouse, which was the first building erected in the new Town of Smithfield.

1750 Courthouse

An older Thomas brother converted the colonial plantation called “The Grove” into a boarding house. The elder brother of Richard S. Thomas inherited Four Square Plantation, which was started in 1693.

Four Square Plantation

Due to the endless efforts of Richard S. Thomas to preserve the historical sites of Smithfield, the Virginia Historical Society bestowed on him the title of “a Virginian of Virginians”. Their remarks were “Only a sketch, en silhouette, can we give of another devoted friend of this Society, Richard S. Thomas of Smithfield, whose most salient characteristic, if we may term it so, was his devotion to Virginia… Steeped in Colonial lore, a first-and student of Virginia records, he was an enthusiastic member of this Society, and published several valuable monographs, which brought him no small reputation among scholars… We, who knew him long and well, entertain no misgivings that we yield him the tribute that he himself would have most prized when we say simply that he lived and died “a Virginian of Virginians.” [“Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society at its Annual Meeting held in the House of the Society on February 25, 1915,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 23, xxxi – xxxiii]

The Mansion was a private residence for many years. In the late 1995, Sala Clark purchased this historical home and started restoring it with the idea of opening a bed and breakfast. On hearing the nickname, she christened it the “Mansion on the Main” Bed and Breakfast.  Sadly Sala Clark would pass away in 1998. Although Sala Clark did not live to see the restoration completed, her vision and efforts resurrected a place that offers the romantic beauty of a bygone era. Her mother, Betty Clark continues to oversee the property as a bed and breakfast in memory of Sala.

Mansion on Main Bed and Breakfast

www.mansion-on-main.net

The Mansion was the first house in the Historic District to return to authentic “Painted Lady” splendor. The museum-like interior retains original marble finish fireplaces and heart pine floors and is resplendent with furnishings dating from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Extensive intricate hand carved woodwork crafted by European artisans is exhibited in plaster crown moldings and medallions, a grand staircase, pocket doors, and wainscot. Today, the mansion features museum-quality antiques and Victorian to Edwardian period furnishings.

Main Hallway

Plaster Crown Molding

Craved Door Detail

Front Door

Front Hall Ceiling Medallion

Front Hallway Staircase

Front Parlor

Front Parlor Details

Front Parlor Details

Front Parlor Ceiling Medallion

Front Parlor

Front Parlor Fireplace

Front Parlor

Doorway from Back Parlor to Main Hallway

Front Parlor

Wallpaper Detail in Back Parlor

Jeffersonian Windows in the Dining Room.
These are the windows that you can open up and it becomes a doorway.

Dining Room Chandelier and Ceiling Medallion

Doorway Stain Glass

Gingerbread House of Mansion on Main

Brett and Michelle visiting The Thomas House
“Mansion on Main”

See more of our adventure pictures on our Facebook Page!

Today I had the privilege to meet one of our fellow bloggers, Dianna. She lives close to us here in Chesapeake and had invited me to come a see her ancestral plantation near Smithfield, Virginia. What an honor it was to see this beautiful home and plantation!  The plantation home is called “Bacon’s Castle” and it is located in Surry, Virginia.

Below is a brief history on this plantation that I took from Wikipedia:

“Bacon’s Castle, also variously known as “Allen’s Brick House” or the “Arthur Allen House” is Virginia’s oldest documented brick dwelling. Soon after Surry County was formed in the Royal Colony of Virginia in 1652, Arthur Allen built a Jacobean brick house in 1665 near the James River, where he and his wife Alice (née Tucker) Allen lived. He was a wealthy merchant and a Justice of the Peace in Surry County. Allen died in 1669, but his son, Major Arthur Allen II, inherited the house and property. Major Allen was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.

Bacon’s Castle is a rare example of American Jacobean architecture and the only surviving “high-style” house from the 17th century. It is one of only three surviving Jacobean great houses in the Western Hemisphere — the other two are in Barbados. Notable architectural features include the triple-stacked chimneys, shaped Flemish gables, and carved compass roses decorating the cross beams in many of the public rooms. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

About mid-September, 1676, a number of the rebel followers of frontiersman Nathaniel Bacon seized the brick house of Major Allen and fortified it. The garrison, commanded at various times by William Rookings, Arthur Long, Joseph Rogers and John Clements, retained control of the house for over three months while their cause declined. The death of Bacon in October left his forces under the leadership of Joseph Ingram, who proved to be unsuited to the command. Ingram dispersed his army in small garrisons, and as the demoralized troops began to plunder indiscriminately, the condition of the colony was soon deplorable.

Royal Governor Sir William Berkeley began to conquer the isolated posts one by one, some by force and some by persuasion. On December 29, a loyal force aboard the vessel Young Prince captured an unidentified “fort” which many historians have identified as Bacon’s Castle. After withstanding a brief siege early in January, 1677, the loyalists used the “fort” as a base of operations for the last engagements of the rebellion, which ended before the month was out.

The Allen family’s brick home became known as “Bacon’s Castle” because it was occupied as a fort or “castle” by the followers of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. However, contrary to popular folklore, Bacon never lived at Bacon’s Castle, nor is he even known to have visited it. Bacon was the proprietor of Curles Neck Plantation in Henrico County; about 30 miles upriver on the northern bank of the James River. Many historians believe the name “Bacon’s Castle” was not used until many years after Bacon’s Rebellion. In 1769, the Virginia Gazette newspaper in the capital city of Williamsburg used that name when it published several articles about Bacon’s Rebellion.

Between the mid to late-nineteenth centuries, Bacon’s Castle underwent several modifications. An original one story service wing was replaced by a taller Greek Revival wing. Around this time, the entrance was moved from the center of the main block to the hyphen between the original house and addition, and diamond-pane casement windows were exchanged for double-hung sash windows. Moving the door left a scar in the location of the original pedimented surround. All of these changes were maintained in the restoration.

Bacon’s Castle was acquired by Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) in the 1970s and restored. Preservation activities continue while guests visit the Site. Bacon’s Castle now operates as a house museum and historic site with 40-acres of outbuildings and dependencies including barns, slave and tenant quarters, smokehouses, and a rare example of a 17th-century English formal garden.”

When we pulled up this morning, they were not yet open, but because Dianna knew the place so well, she was able to give me a personal tour of the grounds before they opened. We viewed the garden and the back outbuildings.  It was great because she could point out things like an old tree stump that had been there since her childhood and was able to tell me about personal memories of her time there.

Todd, Site Coodinator for Bacon’s Castle.
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

On entering the home, we were warmly greeted and allowed to walk around before our tour.  We also had the opportunity to meet Todd, the Site Coordinator. After telling him about our journey in opening Belle Grove Plantation and that we also had a blog documenting our adventures, he was gracious and gave me special permission to photograph the interior of Bacon’s Castle to use on the blog.  He also gave us access to the house at our own leisure since Dianna knew it so well. So off I went on my own special tour with my own personal tour guide! I felt like mistress of the manor!

English Wine Bottle Artifacts
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photo

Nathaniel Bacon Stained Glass
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photo

Dianna walked me from room to room, showing me the old construction and pointing out restorations and preservations that had been done. She also pointed out personal spots such as the wood carved initials for her ancestors and etching in the windows.

Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Wall Drawing exposed during restoration
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

What the rooms would have looked like back in the late 1600s. Exposed wood ceiling and diamond cut frosted windows. The furniture is also period.
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Second view of room
Special Permission by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Up to the Attic – Dianna
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Looking down from Attic Space
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Attic Space – This is where the servants would sleep
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Basement Kitchen
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Ladies Parlor
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Ceiling Beam Detail
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Wood Craving made by Dianna’s Uncle
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Window Etching
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

Main Room – This is where they ate, drink tea and meet for business
Special Permisson by Bacon’s Castle for interior photos

After our tour of Bacon’s Castle, Dianna took me down the street to the cemetery that her ancestors and previous owners of Bacon’s Castle rest. In the cemetery, there is the ruins of a brick church that was built in 1639. The church, Lower Surry Church in Lawns Creek Parish, burned in 1868 and was later damaged during Hurricane Isabel in 2003. They are currently working on restoring the church.

Lower Surry Church Lawns Creek Parnish built in 1639 -burned in 1868

After we finished touring the cemetery and she took me back to my car, I headed back into Smithfield to, yes go antique shopping! You may remember Smithfield from my “Hamtown” post. While I was there, I found some really nice pieces to add to my tea sets. Today, Smithfield was having their “Heritage Days Festival”. They had closed off the main street and had booths lining the street for five or six city blocks. There was food, art, crafts, and much, much more! And the antiques didn’t disappoint! I stopped by Olde House Antiques to see Patsy and she had some butter pat plates and a beautiful rose plate for me!

Olde House Antiques – Patsy
Stop by and tell her Belle Grove sent you!

Butter pat plates

It was another great time in Smithfield and Surry, Virginia. If you have a love for beautiful old historic homes, you must make a point to visit Bacon’s Castle. You can check out their information through their links.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/baconscastle

http://preservationvirginia.org/visit/historic-properties/bacons-castle

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g58227-d102538-Reviews-Bacon_s_Castle-Surry_Virginia.html

If you would like a personal view of Bacon’s Castle – you can visit Dianna’s blog – Look under Bacon’s Castle

http://thesedaysofmine.com/category/family/bacons-castle/page/3/
http://thesedaysofmine.com/category/family/bacons-castle/page/6/

My Performance

Thank you to Dianna and Todd for a great day!!

Ok, after my disappointment with the lawyers, I need to do some retail therapy. This time, I decided to venture to a new place for some new finds. Brett and I have lived in Chesapeake, Virginia for 20 years now. But in all of this time, we have never gone to Smithfield, Virginia. Well, we have gone there, but only to someone’s house in the outlying areas. What we haven’t seen is the Historic District in downtown Smithfield. So our daughter, Alexa and I headed there for a day of fun. (IMPORTANT NOTE: Our plantation is not in or anywhere near Smithfield)

Smithfield, Virginia – Historic District – Main Street

Now you may know the name Smithfield from the hams that come from there. Paula Dean has recently started promoting them. (Brett asked me if we got to see Paula Dean while we were there. Sorry Brett, Paula is in Georgia.) But there is a whole different side of Smithfield we had yet to discover. According to the brochure “Smithfield Virginia, Historic Downtown District Walking Tour” that we picked up at the Visitors Center along Main Street here is a little about Smithfield:

“Born on the banks of the Pagan River and nurtured by the trade and commerce that sailed on its tides, Smithfield was, from its very beginning, a “river town” and its whole life and growth have been conditioned by the river. On our walking tour of Smithfield’s old town district, you will see a harmonious blend of the 18 century Colonial, Federal, Georgian and Victorian period houses and buildings side by side. Settled primarily by British merchants and ship’s captains, Smithfield, a river port town, thrived for more than 20 years as a British colony before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Today the town boasts fifteen houses that are authentically 18th century, ten of which are brick and ten of which pre-date the Revolutionary War. In the early 19th century, a number of excellent Federal period homes were built, but it was after the Civil War, in about 1876 that the big building boom began. It was in this era of steamboats and the flourishing peanut industry in Smithfield that many of the elaborate Victorian homes were erected. Their ostentatious elegance of turrets, towers, stained glass windows and steamboat Gothic trimmings is easily evident. After the Warascoyak Indians, the first person to own land was Arthur Smith in Isle of Wight County. On September 10, 1637, he patented 1,450 acres of Isle of Wight County, described as ‘a neck of land running southeast along a creek behind the Pagan Shore. It was Arthur Smith IV, who in 1750 had the land surveyed and laid off as a town. Smithfield derived its name from this Smith family, not from John Smith of Jamestown. The town consisted of four streets and 72 lots. The principal streets, as shown on the original plat, are now Main Street to Institute Street, South Church Street to the bridge at Smithfield Station, South Mason Street and Cedar Street from South Mason Street to South Church Street. Within two years after the town was established, 59 of the 72 lots had been sold, and before the Revolutionary War all of the lots were sold. Each lot sold for four pounds, six shillings.”

When Alexa and I arrived I was struck by the homes along Main Street. As you roll into town, first the homes and then store fronts greet you. It is everything you would imagine as a small town. The first place we stopped was “Smithfield Gourmet Bakery & Cafe”. This cafe was in a small older building that once served as a retail store. We were greeted by the wait staff as they rushed to help the large number of guests in and outside the cafe. We were seated in the front window area, which gave us a good view of the street and traffic that passed by. This cafe served some of the best food! And it was not little town style food you might expect. The chef created a sandwich for me of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil and focaccia bread. Alexa had a turkey and roast beef with cheddar cheese on focaccia bread. The bread was made fresh and tasted it!

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella on Focacia Bread – Smithfield Gourmet Bakery and Cafe

After we finished we headed out to shop. Our first stop was “Laura & Lucy’s”. This was a large antique store that once served as a retail space for a large department style store. It was beautiful inside with items arranged in “room” settings. I think I could have bought almost everything in there.

After this stop, we headed to the next shop, “Return Engagement Antiques and Consignments. This store was in an old house along Main Street. Each room was set up as a store area for consignments. Here we walked the main floor, then headed down into the basement. There I found our first find of the day. A beautiful blue salad plate.

Then we headed back up to the top floor up some of the narrowest, steepest stairs I have ever climbed. At the top, Alexa and I got a little laugh that they had even used the bathroom as a store front.

Up here is where we found our second find of the day, a lovely pestle cup.

Next stop was the house next door, “Olive’s”, where I met Donna Lowery. Here we made a find we weren’t expecting! A gift for Brett for Father’s Day. Sitting on a shelf, tucked behind some other pieces was a blue, white and gold plate from Penn State University. Brett is really a devoted Ohio State fan, but just last year he completed his masters from Penn State. So we thought this would be something neat he could place on his desk. Donna was very helpful! We talked about our B&B and she let me know that she could help us locate some of the items for the house. We look forward to talking to her soon!

We headed down Main Street towards more shops, but took a moment to enjoy the beautiful old homes along the way. Brett and I have a passion about old homes. Our first home was built in 1885 and we spent our first two years restoring it. So to see these homes brought back memories of our old historic neighborhood.

Our next stop had to be one of our most pleasant visits. We stopped at “Olde House Antiques” where we met Pasty Privott. Pasty warmly welcomed us as we walked up the stairs to her front porch. We explained our mission and she right away showed us in to view her wares. She pointed out pieces that she thought I would like and allowed me to wander around, looking for those just right pieces for our plantation. We found most of what we purchased here. While she checked us out, we had a grand conversation and I really look forward to returning to see her!

Our last stop of the day had to be one of our greatest surprises! We found a tea shop, “Olde World Tea Company” where we met the owner, Jacki. We discussed our needs for the plantation and she informed us that she could do some research and come up with a blend that they would have used back in 1790! What a great addition to our teas!

After our shopping, we strolled down Main Street and viewed the homes and took more pictures. The homes here all have great charm and we even found an Inn and a Bed and Breakfast! May be sometime soon, Brett and I will have to come back and do some more “research” before we jump into our own project.

Smithfield Inn

Mansion on Main Bed and Breakfast

Today, I did make one more trip out to look for more finds. This time, it was off to Norfolk and the Ghent Historic District. Here we found five more pieces to add.

All and all, therapy kept me busy and helped me forget, if only for moment that we are still waiting. Maybe this week will be the week! Fingers crossed and holding my breath!