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Dan and Debbie Spear complete work on the reconstruction of an 1812 plantation house moved to their property from North Carolina Date published: 8/11/2006
Builder Spear rescues 1812N.C. mansion
Last of a three-part series. By RICHARD AMRHINE I F HOUSES could speak, In the fall of 2003, it was a strong, but decaying, 1812 plantation house sitting in the middle of a cotton field in Como, N.C., 15 miles south of Franklin in southeastern Virginia. It had been damaged by Hurricane Isabel, and the owner was fielding offers to gut it for its parts. Today it stands tall on the Spotsylvania County property of local builder Dan Spear, completely restored and impeccably decorated. "From the beginning we knew this would be something special. The craftsmanship itself elevated our game--our commitment--to the house and making it true to the period," Spear said during a recent tour. From a distance, the simple design of the house belies its massive size. A closer look at the Greek-revival-style house lends an appreciation for the extent of the restoration. The fresh, white HardiPlank siding, black shutters and standing-seam metal roof make the house look new. But the door hardware, heart pine flooring, rough-hewn structural beams and detailed trim suggest a by-gone era. The rocking chairs on the porch and the electric candles in each window create a timeless, inviting setting, along with the carpet of impatiens and the working fountain beside the driveway. "For something like this to work, you have to have a partner who's willing to stick with it," Spear said, referring to his wife, Debbie. "She's been great. Every day we could feel good about something we'd accomplished--and then realize how far we still had to go." With the experience now in hindsight, Spear is free to revel in his pride in the structure. His company, Spear Builders of Virginia, has built thousands of homes in the Fredericksburg area over the past two decades, but working on this house has given him a new appreciation for the builder's craft. "What they were able to do with what they had, and to do it so accurately, it's just amazing," he said of the home's original builders. And he speaks just as highly of the people who have contributed their talents to the reconstruction and restoration project over the past 2 years.
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