Conservation at Menokin: Register Now for the 2014 Lime Mortar Conservation Workshop
Menokin Illuminated – Join Us For Winterfest
The Northern Neck Tourism Commission has organized Winterfest – a winter weekend of events taking place from Valentine’s Day, Friday Feb. 14th to President’s Day, Monday Feb. 17th.
Spend the weekend making memories in the historic Norther Neck of Virginia. And be sure to add Menokin Illuminated to your itinerary. February 14th hosts a full moon. If you have never experienced a night sky away from the city lights, you’re in for a treat.
Menokin is going to be illuminated from within for a picturesque winter night view from 6-8pm. Visitors can drive by and view the house or take a brisk stroll under the full moon. Meanwhile, over by the Visitor Center, a bonfire will be ablaze for roasting marshmallows, sharing kisses (the chocolate kind) and hot drinks.
See you soon!
Ruins, Memory, and The Imagination: Menokin Revealed
An Exhibition of the
Harvard Graduate School of Design Projects
at the Virginia Center for Architecture
In the spring of 2013, architecture professor Jorge Silvetti led twelve Harvard Graduate School of Design students through an exploration of the complex design and interpretive questions surrounding the c. 1769 Menokin site.
Discover the students’ innovative solutions for the evocative crumbling ruins and surrounding landscape at this 500-acre site in Virginia’s Northern Neck.
This exhibit will feature images of the final concept presentations of the students of the spring studio course. Curated by Jorge Silvetti, the show will feature graphics designed by Carmine D’Alessandro and custom exhibit panels designed and produced by Forrest French.
Visitors will be introduced to the exhibition with an overview of The Menokin Project, putting the work of the students into context of the revolutionary thinking that Menokin inspires. It’s easy to understand that inspiration when reading the observations of the students during their time here…
Bios of the students and descriptions of the Design Program at Harvard in which they participate will also be highlighted.
The exhibit will run from January 30th until April 27th at the Virginia Center for Architecture in Richmond, VA.
Menokin’s Original Presentation Drawing
The Foundation recently purchased a high resolution copy of the original presentation drawing for Menokin from the Virginia Historical Society.
This beautiful image is so well scanned that you can see the creases in the paper, and clearly make out the handsome handwriting outlining the intended use for each room. Though the drawing is not signed, handwriting analysis suggests that John Tayloe II was its creator.
The story of how this drawing came to be the property of the VHS is an interesting one. An collection of oral history events surrounding Menokin, that was created in the Foundation’s early years, tells the story like this:
On that same day in 1964 that the last of three maiden Tayloe aunts moved out of Mt. Airy, Polly Montague Tayloe moved in. Because her husband, Colonel H. Gwynne Tayloe, Jr., was stationed at Fort Monroe, she was alone in the great stone house, the home of Rebecca Tayloe Lee before her marriage, nearly 200 years earlier.
Without immediate neighbors, and not yet knowing the people of Warsaw, Mrs. Tayloe spent her days in the relative warmth of the dining room sorting Tayloe papers into three wicker clothesbaskets. The first basket held piles of papers from cabinets beneath window seats. The second and third were for things to keep and things to discard.
“They had every letter in the world,” said Mrs. Tayloe. “I thought most of it was important enough to keep. I found the bill for the church communion service. It was 100 years old.”
What she found as well was the original 1769 presentation drawing of Menokin, prepared not as a blueprint, but as an appealing pen-and-ink illustration of the proposed finished residence. Although Mrs. Tayloe had never seen Menokin, she was aware of its existence and recognized the drawing immediately by its similarity to the wings at Mount Airy.
Subsequently, after finding a trunk filled with more family papers, she phone John Jennings, then Executive Director of the Virginia Historical Society, to see if he’d like to visit some day to peruse the collection. He arrived one hour later.
“I showed him the Menokin drawing,” said Mrs. Tayloe, “and he nearly fell over.” He took that and other family papers back to the Historical Society. “There were 52,000 pieces in all,” said Mrs. Tayloe, “and some were dated in the 1600s.”
“The odds of locating that drawing were a million to one,” said Taliaferro (Harry “Tuck” Taliaferro III, founding Menokin Trustee and current Honorary Trustee). “Mount Airy was gutted by fire in the 19th century. When Mrs. Tayloe found the drawing, people flipped.”
It is one of the only original presentation drawing from colonial Virginia to survive.
History on the Go: Making history come alive in our schools
Virginia is steeped in history, much of it originating in the Northern Neck. Yet the reality of our locals schools means bare-bones budgets, and few or no field trips for students to learn about and explore the myriad historic venues right here in their back yards.
Enter History on the Go. This local program provides regional elementary and middle school students an overview of some of the great educational resources available to them within the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.
Collaborating cultural institutions develop presentations and coordinate with the schools for an immersion event. Five or six stations are set up in the school gymnasium or auditorium. Each class rotates around the room to visit every station, spending 15 minutes learning about, and participating in, a different activity related to that particular site.
On December 4th participating organizations brought their messages to Richmond County Elementary 4th and 5th graders. A whopping 176 students shared in these programs:
Belle Isle State Park – Animal Adaptations. This station exhibited various animal skins and casts of various footprints. Students learned about living and hunting habits of native species in this region.
Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library – 18th century school, reading and writing. Students discussed a one room classroom environment, using a replica of a classroom. The students practiced writing on slates and used a quill pen on paper. Discipline and games were also discussed.
Middlesex Museum and Historical Society – Historical documents and court 
cases. Students reviewed copies of original court records re slaves, property and possessions, and insurance documents and discussed the importantance of record keeping.
Reedville Fisherman Museum – Life cycle and history of oysters and watermen. Showed live oysters and discussed the body makeup (heart, how they breathe, etc.) Students use tongs to transfer oysters and discussed the work of the local watermen.
Richmond County Museum – Indian exhibit and pictograghs. Pointed out the living habits and clothing, medicine, diet, use of tools of Virginia’s indigenous peoples.
Menokin Foundation – Maps and Watershed. Menokin’s Education Coordinator Alice French, and intern Allie Lyth, introduced the word and concept of conservation. Students got a brief history of Francis Lightfoot Lee and how Menokin is using historic conservation in preserving his house.
They also learned about Menokin’s environmental conservation practices and got to compare a variety of maps,* learning about the types of information these different kinds of maps give us. They then looked at our site and surrounding sites showing the entire Northern Neck in its Rappahannock River Watershed.
*Maps
Captain John Smithʼs early maps of Virginia
Topographic contour maps
Aerial maps
Road maps
Waterway mapsMenokin’s Activity involved studying a map of waterways and locating the headwaters, the tributaries, and the mainstream, and connecting the ends of the river to identify the watershed. The students then became a human
watershed and passed water down through it, learning how water moves within a watershed, that everything surrounding a river affects our water, and that we all use the same water over and over, and that is why conservation is so important.
By participating in programs like History on the Go, Menokin continues to focus and act on its mission to provide educational and cultural opportunities to our regional communities and beyond.
Menokin Welcomes The Wheelin’ Sportsmen
Menokin played host recently to the Virginia State Chapter of the Wheelin’ Sportsmen (VAWS). Our 500-acre property and handicap-accessible Visitor’s Center were a perfect fit for this intrepid and good-humored gang of hunters.
The Volunteer State Coordinator of VAWS, Robin Clark, along with local sportsman and volunteer, Ford Becker, coordinated the event which brought this group to Menokin to take advantage of the last day of turkey season and the opening day of deer season in early November.
VAWS is the largest and most active Wheelin’ Sportsmen program in the country, with roughly 400 members and over 35 annual events statewide. These events are open to anyone with a disability and there is no charge to participate. VAWS is part of the National Turkey and Wildlife Federation’s (NTWF) Hunting Heritage Programs.
Wheelin’ Sportsmen was designed to provide all people with disabilities the opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Participants gain a sense of independence by learning to stay active in the outdoors. Event participants can enjoy activities like hunting, fishing and shooting. In addition to local chapter events, Wheelin’ Sportsmen hosts an assortment of other national events.
The Menokin Foundation was pleased to make our property available for these hunters.
If you have a disability, or have a friend or family member with a disability, and would like to participate in a VAWS event, please contact Robin Clark at 434-249-6154 or at weeeelz@aol.com.
You can also find Wheelin’ Sportsmen events going on in other states here.
Group photo from our muzzle loader hunt.
Robin Clark looks out from his blind during the muzzleloader hunt.
View of the soybean field from an archery blind.
How do you handle a hungry man? Ask Ford Becker.
Archery Hunters gather after lunch.
Harry Lamb of Aylett harvested this nice gobbler on the last day of the fall turkey season.
You’ll Be Glad to Know that Timmy is Alive and Out of the Well!
I received a text from Sarah on my way to work this morning that said – and I quote – “There is something here that’s going to make your day. Hurry up and get here.”
What could it be? I immediately started making a wish list in my head:
- Brad Pitt
- A new puppy (for Sarah, not me)
- A million dollar donation
- A national award for best blogger
Since I was almost already at work, I didn’t have much time to keep adding to the list, but you get the gist. However, what was here was better than all of those things (except maybe #3) and will warm the hearts of baby boomers everywhere.
Amazing, right? By now, you’re probably wondering how in the world Timmy (aka Jon Provost) had ever even heard of Sarah and me, not to mention the Menokin Glass House Project he references in his autographs to us.
Believe it or not, Jon’s nephew, Alexander Jacobson, was one of the Harvard Graduate Students who interned for Machado and Silvetti Associates this summer, and was one of the co-producers of the architectural model of The Menokin Project. During his visit here in July with Carmine D’Alessandro to deliver the model to us, we learned that Alex was from California, near Hollywood. During our interrogation into whether or not he knows anyone famous, Alex revealed to us that his uncle, Jon Provost, played Timmy in the television series Lassie.
Who would have ever thought that this innocent conversation would lead to the thrill of receiving these beautiful autographed photos?
Lassie has come home to Menokin, and she and Timmy are now honorary members of The Menokin Canine Corps. A happy ending indeed.
Virginia’s Favorite Architecture
It is November, after all. So I don’t feel so bad begging for your votes again for Menokin.
Architecture is a very public art form, but is also highly personal. We use the built world to describe and anchor some of the most important events in our lives. It shapes our lives and reveals our history.
The structures featured in this survey were nominated by architects throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia on the occasion of the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects’ (VSAIA) 100th anniversary. The 250 works of architecture — buildings, bridges, monuments, and memorials — in this survey represent some of the best of Virginia’s rich architectural heritage. We encourage you to select your favorites based on design, symbols of innovation, spirit of your community and Virginia. More importantly, select structures that hold a special place in your heart and mind.
Once the votes are tallied, the Virginia Center for Architecture will release the top 100 structures — Virginia’s Favorite Architecture. These favorites will then be featured in an exhibition at the Center. In addition, through the compilation and timely release of a year-long series of top ten lists, we’ll use structures to tell the story of the Commonwealth and the citizens that built it and inhabit it today.
Thanks!
Menokin Featured in Past Preservers Photography Competition
Leslie Staiko Rennolds, Assistant Director of The Menokin Foundation, has entered this photograph in a contest, and she needs your votes! Mainly she is trying to gain exposure for Menokin, but a blue ribbon or large trophy would be nice, too.
Actually, the top twelve images will be selected for the 2014 Past Preservers Calendar, and number one will be used on their Christmas Card. (Who wants to dust a trophy anyway?)
Thanks for helping. And please share!
(c) 2013, Leslie S. Rennolds
Click here (on “Post”) to vote on Facebook. >>>> Post by Past Preservers.
Jones’n for the Joneses
Ever meet someone (or more than one someone, like a family of someones) who you instantly connect with, like a lot and wish you could spend more time with?
That happened here at Menokin yesterday, when the front door opened and in walked the Joneses. Actually, they streamed in, in random dribs and drabs, until they were finally all assembled — Granddad, Mom, Dad and five kids.
The first thing I asked (when a family with five kids visit on a school day) was “Is your school closed for Veteran’s Day?”
“No,” they replied. “We’re home schooled.” Turns out they are from St. George, Utah and are on a road trip.
It only took me a moment to realize that they were all wearing T-shirts sporting the same logo. Dad designed the logo for the shirts. It took me (embarrassingly enough) a lot longer to figure out that Jones was their last name. But they didn’t hold it against me.
We’re the Jones…Nice to meet you. All 7 of us are going out to find the great things in America; Great People, Great Places, and Finding Great Service Projects. Its has been a blast so far, and we have found more than we planned.
(From the family blog.)
Turns out that Granddad lives in Reedville. But they had heard about Menokin and considered it worthy to be included in their list of Great Places.
Part of their goal is to participate in and provide community service wherever possible. They cheerfully went to work picking up and restacking brick pavers that have been spread out around the property of the years. Along the way they asked about Menokin and the Lees and Tayloes, and learned about what we’re doing here.
I tried to convince them to stay just a little while longer in the Northern Neck, but the road was calling. (I did get an invite from the youngest, asking if I would like to come along.)
I hope that we made as big an impression on them as they did on us. I must say that today, I’m Jones’n for the Jones. Safe travels!