History

The place represents a perfect opportunity for a typical historic renovation—paint, plaster and the carefully researched arrangement of pristine period antiques—but that is not in the offing for this National Historic Landmark. There is a much more ambitious plan in the works—one that involves preserving the story of Menokin’s construction through the innovative use of structural glass. If this pioneering restoration effort succeeds, the once-moribund house will be transformed into an architectural teaching hospital of sorts—the first in the U.S. of its kind. Structural glass will recreate missing floors, walls and roof, and be combined with the extant structure to form a skeleton for reintroducing thousands of architectural elements extracted and carefully conserved over the decades as the building has deteriorated. “It’s an extraordinary concept,” says David Woodcock, professor of architecture and director emeritus of the Center for Heritage Conservation at Texas A&M University, who chairs the Menokin Foundation’s advisory committee.

Matthew Webster, architectural conservator and manager of architectural collections for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and another member of Menokin’s advisory committee, explains why: “If you were to reconstruct the house, you’d cover up some of the most interesting stuff,” he says. “[With glass] we can actually see how an 18th century building comes together.”

A preliminary construction study completed in 2007, funded by the Bryant Foundation in Stephens City, confirmed the glass house concept is feasible. But innovation on this scale presents a number of challenges, including the need to raise millions of dollars and marshal support from individual donors as well as foundations and government funding sources—and that is no easy task. While the foundation’s supporters are optimistic, there is no timetable yet for turning the concept into reality, and indeed, many stakeholders say the project is likely to take many years to complete.

Still, the opportunity is significant. The glass-house concept offers not just a chance to rescue a threatened historic Virginia landmark, say its advocates, but also a chance to position Menokin at the tip of the spear in the architectural preservation world. Woodcock says the glass house will make Menokin a “prime location” to experience 18th century building techniques. And that’s not all. As Calder Loth, the former senior architectural historian at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and honorary Menokin Foundation trustee explains, the success of the glass house project could also mean that other buildings like Menokin, whose original fabric is on the brink of destruction, may no longer be considered hopeless.