W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1996 The John Page House Site: A n Example of the Increase in Domestic Brick Architecture in Seventeenth-Century Tidewater Virginia Dwayne Webster Pickett College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Architecture Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Pickett, Dwayne Webster, "The John Page House Site: A n Example of the Increase in Domestic Brick Architecture in Seventeenth-Century Tidewater Virginia" (1996). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626030. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-5wp9-ey54 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE JOHN PAGE HOUSE SITE: AN EXAMPLE OF THE INCREASE IN DOMESTIC BRICK ARCHITECTURE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TIDEWATER VIRGINIA A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology The College of William and Maiy in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Dwayne W. Pickett 1996 APPROVAL SHEET this thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, December 1996 / r i - C 1 I Dr. Norman Barka A /.- c — M / Dr. Marley prow n HI Mark Wenger TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................v List of Figures .............................................................................................................................vi Abstract ......................................................................................................................................viii Introduction................................................................................................................................ 2 Chapter I. Changing Landscapes: The Increase in Domestic Brick Architecture ........... 6 Virginia 1607-1650 ................................................................................................6 Virginia 1650-1700 ............................................................................................ 18 Discussion.................................................... 34 Chapter II. The John Page House Site ................................................................................ 44 Introduction...........................................................................................................44 John Page “The Immigrant” ...............................................................................44 House Description ............................................................................................. 48 Artifactual Evidence From the House Site ......................................................57 Outbuildings and Other Features ..................................................................... 62 Chapter HI. Men of Prominence and Post Structures .......................................................66 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................74 Appendix One. Descriptions of 17th-Century Brick Dwellings ......................................77 Appendix Two. List of Unstudied Brick Dwellings .........................................................87 Bibliography ...........................................................................................................................89 i i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS If it was not for the help of a number of people, this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to thank Dr. Norman Barka for allowing me to enter the program and Dr. Marley Brown HI for giving me employment as well as having enough confidence in me to run the excavations at the John Page House Site. I would also like to thank Mark Wenger and William Graham for their help and guidance. The two American Studies classes I took with Dr. Martha Lance were instrumental in forming the ideas behind this thesis. Her comments on my papers were extremely helpful. David Brown’s help has been tremendous. He not only helped with the excavations at the Page Site, but, together, we were able to track down a number of brick dwellings which I used in this thesis and he used in a paper for Professor Komwolf entitled “Seventeenth-Century Domestic Brick Architecture in Virginia.” I would also like to thank my parents for being supportive of me in my endeavor to become an historical archaeologist. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Kelly Ladd for her support and poignant comments on earlier versions of this thesis as well as being there for me when I needed her the most. iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Construction Types of 1 T^-Century Brick Dwellings 31 2. Layout of 1 T^-Century Brick Dwellings 32 3. Entryway Types of 1 V^-Century Brick Dwellings 32 4. Number of Ground Floor Rooms 33 5. Cellar Types of 17tf,-Century Brick Dwellings 3 3 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Typical Post Structure ............................................................................................8 2. Plan of Site 4 4P G 92............................................................................................ 10 3. Plan of Stone House Foundation At Flowerdew Hundred ............................. 13 4. Plan of Mathews M anor .......................................................................................13 5. Plan of First Manor House At Green Springs ..................................................15 6. Plan of Richard Kemp’s House at Rich Neck Plantation ................................ 16 7. Distribution of Brick Dwellings 1607-1650 ..................................................... 17 8. Distribution of Brick Dwellings and Churches Over Time ............................. 19 9. Bacon’s C astle..................................................................................................... 24 10. Plan of Thomas Ludwell’s House at Rich Neck Plantation ........................... 25 11. Plan of Second Manor House at Green Springs Plantation.............................26 12. 1683 Land Plat Showing Green Springs Plantation .........................................27 13. Plan of Miles Cary IPs House at Richneck Plantation ................................... 28 14. Plan of Arlington Plantation................................................................................ 29 15. Conjectural Drawing of Fairfield .........................................................................29 16. Distribution of Brick Dwellings 1650-1700 ......................................................30 17. Portrait of John Page ........................................................................................... 45 18. Overall of Page House Site ................................................................................ 49 19. Drawing of Cellar Floor of Page House........................................................... 50 20. 1702 Ludwig Michel Drawing Possibly Showing Page’s House ....................51 vi Figure Page 21. Brick Cartouche at Page House Site .................................................................52 22. Carved Heart Motif in Hall of Criss Cross ........................................................ 53 23. Brick Area in Stair Tower of Page House ......................................................... 56 25. Carboy Bottle Seal ................................................................................................ 60 26. James and Thomas Bray and Unknown Wine Bottle Seal ............................. 61 27. Plan of Possible Kitchen Outbuilding at Page Site ...........................................63 28. R. Billingsley Wine Bottle Seal ...........................................................................64 29. Plan of Harwood’s Dwelling at Martin’s Hundred................................68 30. Plan of Structure A in Hampton ............................................................... 68 31. Plan of Pettus’s Dwelling at Kingsmill..................................................... 69 32. Plan of the John Washington Site .............................................................70 33. Plan of the Hallo wes Site ........................................................................... 70 34. Plan of Clifts Plantation............................................................................ 71 v i i ABSTRACT In recent years, historical archaeologists have discovered a number of seventeenth-century brick dwellings in Tidewater Virginia, including the home of John Page, the main example in this thesis. The increasing number of these substantial and, sometimes, elaborate buildings appears unusual in view of the prominence of wooden post-in-ground structures during this time period. Although many of these brick structures were built by wealthy, politically powerful people, social position alone does not explain why they were being constructed. In a world dominated by wooden post structures, what