Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/106

 86 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [August, ration of the mansion was to be a wooden one ; for large sums, of course, would be needed for the plantations. When the writer visited Mount Ver- non in the year L856, the process of in- sufficient, trivial patching was painfully- evident, all about the exterior of the mansion. In one sense, every pilgrim aided the dilapidation. Visitors, in masses, were only admitted at a certain hour of the day, it is true ; and that was regulated by the arrival and departure of the Washington city steamboat. But the constant treading of thousands of tourists, would soon utterly wear out the piazza and other floors, exposed to their feet. In addition to this, decay, from the weather-stress of many years, was making i-apid progress upon the outside work. The pillars of the piazza had rotted away at the base ; the weather-boarding of the house was drop- ping off; and the balustrades of the balcony roof of the piazza, and of the entrance porch, at the southern flank of the mansion, were fast disappearing. All this, led us carelessly to re- mark to the captain of the steamboat, upon our return trip, that, however laud- able in itself, if the process of patching Mount Vernon should continue many years, there would not be a solitary ves- tige of George Washington's Mount Vernon left ; because a patch, even if the wood were raised upon the estate — which we did not suppose to be the case — could have no association with the original ; and, in a very few years, the house would be all patches. But the worthy captain — perhaps inwardly startled at the thought of the loss of his vocation, or, at least, that of his suc- cessors, although he manifested no out- ward emotion — stoutly insisted, that, even if my supposition should, as an ex- treme case, fall true ; and the entire residence should, in this detail patching, come to be composed of pieces of wood, none of which had ever been seen, or owned, by George Washington ; yet, as lona; as the original form, color and general appearance were kept up, it would still be the original Mount Ver- non 1 Our idea of the true restoration of this wooden abode, fraught with such im- portant patriotic associations to the whole people of a great land and all their descendants forever — is this : Employ the best professional talent. Survey very accurately the present loca- tion and bearings of the mansion, and all the buildings and divisions, at Mount Vernon. Measure and locate all the points of the exterior. Survey, with reference to the exterior survey, and measure all the interior portions of the mansion. Provide a temporary fire- proof building immediately at hand, for storage. Strip room hy room, lettering and numbering every door and window- frame, mantle-piece, moulding, panel and board, as it comes away ; and deposit the materials of each room, in a sepa- rate place, in the fire-proof repository, as above. Continue in the same man- ner, until the entire building is carefully torn apart, without splintering, lettered, numbered, packed away and properly secured. Then put a permanent guard upon the stowing premises. In rebuilding, arrange so that the ex- act interior dimensions, position and relation of every room, hall, stairway, closet, window and door, shall be pre- served. Make the foundations, through- out, deep and broad, and build up the cel- lar walls of large, well-squared and dura- ble stones. Erect the walls slowly and carefully of well-burnt and well-shaped bricks ; and, as the wall rises, carry up its outer, white marble casing, with oc- casional marble cross-joints or dove- tails,* to secure the adhesion of the marble casing to the brick wall. Then construct the piazza floor and steps, its pillars and its ceiling ; the southerly parping-ashlavs, perpeyns, bonders, bond-stones, or thorough-stones ; the first term being applied to squared stones, or ashlar; bonders, also, do not always reach through a wall, but merely across part of its thickness
 * Known to architects and masons, as perpent-stones,