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For Immediate
Release
Contact:
Sarah Dillard Pope, Executive Director
Email:
spope@menokin.org
Web: http://www.menokin.org/
Phone:
804/333-1776; Fax: 804/333-1776
WARSAW, Virginia. The Menokin Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Warsaw, Va., is celebrating its tenth year of preservation activities. A National Historic Landmark in Richmond County, Virginia, Menokin was once the home of patriot Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his wife Rebecca Tayloe Lee. The Foundation seeks to "preserve and interpret the remains of Menokin… for the benefit of the American people for the academic study of architecture, archeology, history, ecology and other areas of the humanities." The organization recently released its 2005 Annual Report that summarizes its ten years of preservation activities.
“I am honored to be a part of the Foundation’s continued work started here at Menokin a decade ago by the late Martin King,” announced current foundation president, Helen Turner Murphy. “We have come a long way toward understanding and preserving this once magnificent home and there is still plenty of work left to do!”
Menokin was built c. 1769 on the occasion of the marriage of Francis Lightfoot Lee and Rebecca Tayloe. Rebecca was the daughter of John Tayloe II, who built neighboring Mount Airy. John Tayloe II gave the couple the large plantation on Cat Point Creek and financed construction of the two-story stone Menokin and its dependencies. Soon after, Francis Lightfoot Lee joined the cause of American independence, serving in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1779 and signing the Declaration of Independence (together with his brother Richard Henry Lee) and the Articles of Confederation. Both Francis Lightfoot and Rebecca Tayloe Lee died in the winter of 1797. Over the years following their death, Menokin went into decline and passed hands several times before coming into possession of The Menokin Foundation in 1995.
Although Menokin is now in ruin, a remarkable collection of Colonial architectural elements remains. Approximately 80 percent of Menokin's original materials have survived, including: original stones, brick and mortar; queen posts and dragon beams; intact framing assemblages; and the interior woodwork. In 1940, while the house and one outbuilding were still standing, the Historic American Buildings Survey produced detailed photography and comprehensive measured drawings of the property. In 1964, the original pen and ink presentation drawings for Menokin were discovered among some Tayloe family papers in the attic of Mount Airy. Four years later, as the house was in serious trouble of collapsing, the interior woodwork was removed by the owner and put into storage. The surprisingly intact woodwork is back at Menokin and can be viewed at the Foundation's King Conservation and Visitors Center. Menokin's dining room paneling is on loan to the Virginia Historical Society where it is now on display.
In the ten years the Menokin Foundation has been in existence, it has constructed a protective shelter over the ruin; stabilized and excavated the southeast and southwest quadrants of the house; transported the original woodwork back to the site and restored the “best” chimney piece; built a conservation and visitors center, as well as a storage and work building; conducted archeological surveys, which located the 18th century slave quarters site; conducted research on the life and importance of Francis Lightfoot Lee; and hosted thousands of visitors. Over the next ten years, the Foundation's focus will be on conducting the most sensitive, state-of-the-art work on the Menokin ruins, while simultaneously training students in building conservation methods and traditional building techniques.
The property is open for tours Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, and on weekends by appointment. For more information, to schedule interviews or for a broad selection of high-resolution photos for publication, please contact Sarah Pope at spope@menokin.org, 804/333-1776.
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