Garrett Irwin trims a piece of baseboard molding in the main hallway of Ellwood. Many of the finish molding pieces have to be custom cut. View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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Orange home regaining pre-Civil War splendor ELLWOOD WAS HOME AS WELL AS A PLACE TO PLAY

Renovation work begins at historic Ellwood mansion in Wilderness battlefield

Date published: 1/31/2008

By RUSTY DENNEN

Garrett Irwin was extra careful measuring a long, heart-pine board he was about to cut.

He smiled, "This one board is about $300. You don't want to make a mistake."

Nearby, Bob Forbes, a stone mason, was admiring a 2-foot-wide swath of wainscoting that must have been cut from a massive pine hundreds of years ago.

Irwin and Forbes work for Blue Mountain Builders of Charlottesville, which specializes in salvaging antique woods and renovating old houses.

For months the two have been working on a historical gem: Ellwood in the Wilderness battlefield off State Route 20 in Orange County.

Built in 1790s by William and Betty Jones, Ellwood is the only house on the battlefield that survived the war, a house with a rich history that transcends the conflict.

"We've done a lot of tightening up, fixing rotted wood. We've put up a window, made a window," Irwin said.

"As it aged, it started moving and things misaligned. We've tried to stay with as much original wood as we could," Irwin said one day last week.

The project, funded by the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, began after Thanksgiving.

A hallway and two front rooms off the entrance are being restored during the first phase. The work includes the parlor where Union Gen. Gouverneur Warren received a report of horrendous casualties during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. That room will be refurnished to reflect Warren's occupancy.

The other room will house exhibits.

The restoration work should be completed by the end of February. Phase two will be the stairway, hall and breezeway and the west room on the first floor. Then the upstairs will be restored.

"There are always surprises" in working on old homes, Forbes said, "But we try to make everything look original."

That means authentic lumber, period paint and even antique glass salvaged from other houses.

"This is not like building a new home," Forbes said. Following techniques of 18th-century builders is challenge. "Every single step is new, like a puzzle," he said.

1825--The Marquis de Lafayette stops by for breakfast. 1857--James Horace Lacy and Betty Churchill Jones, who owned Ellwood, purchased Chatham Manor in Stafford County. Ellwood became their summer residence. Today, Chatham is the headquarters of the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. May 1863--During Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederates use house as field hospital. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's left arm is buried in family cemetery. June 1863--Gens. Robert E. Lee and William N. Pendleton spend the night on their way to Gettysburg. 1864--During Battle of the Wilderness, Union Gens. Samuel W. Crawford, Gouverneur K. Warren and Ambrose E. Burnside occupy Ellwood as a headquarters. For Carolyn Elstner, Ellwood is much more than a historic house. A member of the board of directors of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, she has a personal connection with the property. Her grandparents, Leo and Blanche Jones, owned the house. She spent weekends and most summers there, helping in the gardens and gathering eggs. "We played and picnicked in the yard, and visited the neighboring farm," said Elstner, whose family lived in Fredericksburg at the time. "Sometimes we'd ice skate on Wilderness Run." The property was a working farm until the 1970s. Her grandparents loved history, Elstner said. Her grandmother "insisted we have some understanding" of the remarkable goings-on at the house. Ellwood stood silent witness to Colonial history, the ravages of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the transformation of the Fredericksburg area from a farming community to a suburb of Northern Virginia. As a girl, Elstner said, "I didn't think about all the famous people" linked to the home, "but now I do. I wish I had a tape recorder when my grandparents lived there." Friends of Wilderness Battlefield have been instrumental in the latest improvements at the property. "We've been raising funds for nearly five years now," said Elstner. Friends volunteers maintain the grounds, and do interpretive and educational programs. Elstner says she's pleased that the interior is coming back to life. "This is what my family wanted to happen to Ellwood." Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, fowb.org

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Date published: 1/31/2008