 The Washington
House Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
George Washington's Ferry Farm
Saturday: October
7, 12:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.;
Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at 1:30 p.m.
Celebrate the construction of the Washington house at a special
Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony – beginning at 1:30 p.m. – featuring
decorated speakers discussing George Washington’s upbringing at Ferry
Farm as preparation for his important role as the first
Commander-in-Chief. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION highlighting the speakers is
forthcoming at facebook.com/FerryFarmAndKenmore/.
Leaders from the Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge No. 4 – who count among
their early members George Washington and Fielding Lewis – will present
a historical ceremony in acknowledgement of the construction of the
Washington house.
After the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony, for the first time, guests are
invited to view the Washington house! Hear from archaeologists and
artisans about the period trades involved in building George’s house.
Walk the historical landscape and talk with educators about new
programs at George Washington's boyhood home.
Ferry Farm opens to visitors at noon on Saturday, October 7.
PLEASE NOTE: PARKING for the event is off site at the VRE
Fredericksburg Park and Ride Lot G at the corner of Prince Edward
Street and Frederick Street. Buses will transport guests to and from
Ferry Farm—traveling from the VRE lot to Ferry Farm on a regular
schedule from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Bus
transportation will pause during the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony. The
last bus will depart Ferry Farm at 5:15 p.m. Limited handicap parking
is available at Ferry Farm. A map with event parking information is
available at kenmore.org/events.html.
The Washington House Ribbon-Cutting Celebration is a free event and
RSVPs are not required. No pets, please.
Learn more about this comprehensive project at kenmore.org/washingtonhouseconstruction.html
and on the Lives & Legacies blog.
The Foundation is charging forward with its multi-year venture to
physically develop George Washington’s Ferry Farm into an outdoor
living museum. The first phase of the project includes building an
interpretive replica of the Washington house on its archaeological
footprint, reconstructing the kitchen and outbuildings, and recreating
the period landscape. Moreover, the Foundation is establishing a new
entrance to the museum property, erecting a maintenance facility, and
completing necessary infrastructure.
Employing building methods of the period, artisan masons laid the
foundation for the Washington house using hand-cut Aquia sandstone in
an oyster-shell mortar. Next, timber framers joined massive wood beams
to create the frame of the home. Carpenters covered the roof with
traditional, hand-prepared wood shingles and installed
skillfully-crafted exterior doors and window sashes, as well as beaded
weatherboard siding painted a traditional, deep red “Spanish brown”
color.
The masons are completing the brickwork for the three chimneys, each
set in an English bond interspersed with glazed headers, while the
carpenters are fitting paneled doors with hand-wrought iron hardware
and fabricating interior features such as an elaborate staircase in the
center passage.
Accomplished plasterers are currently installing a traditional lime
plaster, strengthened with animal hair, on wood lath across the walls
of the Washington house.
Noted cabinetmakers are crafting furniture for the home, following a
plan conceived by The George Washington Foundation’s Collections
Committee and curators. A corner cabinet produced by Colonial
Williamsburg’s joiners shop, was installed in the parlor in February.
Additionally, a “scrutoire” – or desk with bookcase – is on view in the
Ferry Farm visitor center until it will be placed in the hall of the
Washington house.
Constructing the Washington house and the first phase of improvements
at Ferry Farm is a funding priority for the Foundation as part of The
Future of Our Past Campaign—a $40 million dollar comprehensive
fundraising initiative in support of efforts across its two National
Historic Landmark sites: Historic Kenmore and George Washington’s Ferry
Farm.
George Washington moved to Ferry Farm in 1738 with his parents, Mary
and Augustine, his sister Betty, and their siblings, purchasing the
site from William Strother III, a prominent colonial Virginian. Young
George lived at the farm from age 6 to 22. Referred to as the
Washington home farm in George’s day, the property is later known as
Ferry Farm—a historic ferry adjacent to the Washingtons' house once
linked it to the city of Fredericksburg via the Rappahannock River. The
site was the setting of some of the best-known stories related to his
youth, including tales of the cherry tree and throwing a stone across
the Rappahannock River.
George was eleven when his father died in 1743. Augustine left Ferry
Farm to George, for him to inherit when he reached majority. Mary
Washington continued to live at Ferry Farm until 1772, when she moved
to Fredericksburg to live closer to Kenmore and Fielding and Betty
Washington Lewis.
In 1996, Ferry Farm was saved from commercial development through the
hard work and determination of the Regents and Trustees of The George
Washington Foundation (known then as the Kenmore Association), a long
list of individuals, and several organizations.
The Foundation announced on July 2, 2008 that its archaeologists had
located and excavated the remains of the long-sought house where
Washington was raised. To date, over 750,000 artifacts have been
unearthed at Ferry Farm. Ongoing research suggests that George’s
experiences at Ferry Farm were influential in shaping the man that he
would become.
On Saturday, April 25, 2015, the Foundation broke ground on the
Washington house and the first phase of construction at Ferry Farm,
forever preserving this remarkable landscape and providing a powerful
stage to tell the story of young George and his family. Doris Kearns
Goodwin, renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning
author, was the keynote speaker for the Groundbreaking Ceremony.
The George Washington Foundation is a
501(c) (3) non-profit organization. The Foundation's mission is to
enhance the public understanding and appreciation of the lives, values,
and legacies of George Washington, Fielding and Betty Washington Lewis,
and their families. Please visit ferryfarm.org and kenmore.org for
more information on its two National Historic Landmark sites, George
Washington's Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore.
Ferry Farm is located at 268 King's Highway, Stafford County, Virginia
Kenmore is located at 1201 Washington Avenue, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Visitors to Ferry Farm talk with educators about the Washington house,
view archaeologists at work, see the artifact conservation laboratory,
tour the Visitor Center with a new exhibit, The Science of
History at Ferry Farm, and enjoy the self-guided iPad tour—Uncovering
George Washington’s Youth.
Kenmore guests experience the restored house with its recently
refurnished interior, walk through the gardens, and tour the
orientation exhibit, The Patriots Lewis: What Would You Give.
George Washington’s Ferry Farm and Historic Kenmore are open most days,
March – December—learn more at kenmore.org/visiting.
View a 2017 calendar of special events and education programs at kenmore.org/events_2017.
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