August/September 2010
ON THE COVER
The Heart of the Farm: Preserving an Important Part of Our Agricultural Heritage
Liz Loewenstein and Laura Shumaker
Photography by Philip Beaurline
The barn has always been the heart of the farmstead. Barns evoke a sense of tradition and security, of closeness to the land, and to the people who built them. Farmers based their barns on a traditional design in order to best help them work the land. For one family the desire to find their ideal homestead and to "get back to the land" brought them to Albemarle county and the beautiful Virginia countryside.
The perfect place was found to enjoy serenity, privacy, and a healthy lifestyle. Highland Farm, located south of Charlottesville near Covesville, was once home to an apple orchard that formed a large part of the Covesville apply industry. Thanks to the Gillilands, Jonathan, Jennifer, Beck (age 6), and Keller (age 4), it has been repurposed and revitalized, becoming a home to their newest hobby (they now raise dairy goats on the property and produce various goat milk products for themselves such as cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and soaps). The renovation is this family's way of getting in touch not only with the basic necessities of life and small-scale agriculture, but with the rich history of the land, its buildings, and the area in which they live. This preservation effort honors the tradition of sustainability and local self-sufficiency that has existed in our region throughout the years.
As Jennifer Gilliland shared, "as inviting as the property was then, it offered much greater opportunity through thoughtful renovation. Simply put, it wasn't 'done'." This transformation, in fact, was two years in the making.
Jefferson's Dining Room: The Centerpiece of the Monticello Restoration
Sara Hunt
Photography by Philip Beaurline
To provide visitors with a more historically accurate interpretation of the space, the Dining Room at Monticello has been repainted and refurnished. The recent transformation offers a fresh perspective into domestic life at Monticello during Jefferson's time and highlights his celebrated ingenuity and taste.
The most visible update to the Dining Room is the color of its walls. The familiar, frequently copied Wedgwood blue that inspired dining rooms throughout America for decades has been replaced by a brilliant chrome yellow. Research conducted in the 1930s, before the scientific analysis of paint existed, indicated that the Dining Room walls had once been blue.
However, recent extensive research by paint experts indicates that the oldest layer of blue paint on the walls was from the post-Jefferson period and that Jefferson had actually chosen a brilliant chrome yellow for the Dining Room walls around 1815. One of the most fashionable colors of the time and also one of the most expensive, chrome yellow pigment cost $5 per pound, twice as much as Prussian blue and thirty-three times more than white lead.
Elizabeth Chew, Monticello Curator, explains, "Paint analysis has become a very sophisticated subfield within the fields of historic preservation and restoration." Chew said that Williamsburg-based paint expert Susan Buck examined several samples from the Monticello dining room wall under a microscope. "She determined that there are fourteen layers in the dining room on top of the bare plaster," says Chew.
Virginia Histories
Thomas Oldham Sandy was born in Essex County, Virginia, on February 22, 1857. He matriculated at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) in 1875, but did not complete a degree and left the following year. On June 25, 1891, Sandy married Sallie Thweatt Miller and the couple settled at her ancestral home, Locust Grove. Located only a few miles from the small town of Burke-ville in Nottoway County, it was here that he employed his innovative scientific farming methods, which included diversifying crops and enriching the depleted clay-based soil with lime, manure, and other natural fertilizers. Sandy's experimentation turned Locust Grove into a showplace farm, making him a recognized leader in agricultural circles.
Welcome to Jefferson's Virginia, President Sullivan
Sara Hunt
On August 1, Teresa A. Sullivan, becomes the University of Virginia's eighth president. Sullivan, sixty, succeeds John T. Casteen III, who steps down as president at the conclusion of his twentieth year.
Formerly the University of Michigan's provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and a leading scholar in labor force demography, Sullivan is "an extraordinary talent who brings to the University an enormous depth and breadth of experience in every aspect of public higher education," says University Rector John O. Wynne, who chaired the board's Special Committee on the Nomination of a President.
"The University of Virginia has enjoyed strong leadership in John Casteen for the past two decades," Wynne said. "The board is confident that in Terry we have found an excellent successor to lead the University as we work to elevate our teaching and research capabilities and to enhance our student experience. We are pleased to have attracted a person of Terry's integrity, experience, and vision."
Wynne said that he was drawn to Sullivan's confidence in the face of the challenges and complexities of leading a public institution of higher education. "She is undaunted by the challenges and has a deep understanding of the complexities. She believes in public higher education and is committed to leading our university and to building on its excellence," he said.
Last Laugh: Deep in the Heart…
Louise B. Parsley
Some might think it strange to pick up this Virginia magazine and read the last page written by a gal who lives in … Texas. I may be from a decidedly different "culture," but when it comes to storytelling, the well in Texas is somewhat bottomless.
We are a breed apart down here. We talk funny. We're loud. We're proud. Men swagger and women have big hair (one, due to the humidity; the other, sidestepping tumbleweeds). Friday Night Lights isn't just a TV show; it's a way of life.
I'm not from a ranching family; don't have one oil well or a single cow in my backyard. While I am a decent shot, I never was taught how to shear sheep, noodle catfish, or skin deer. But my kids were.