A series of restoration efforts began under Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin's direction between 1903-1907 and continued periodically until completed in 1940. In this 1935 photo of the south facade of Bruton Parish Church, the building retains the Colonial Revival window shutters and screen doors installed by architect J. Stewart Barney during his 1906 renovation of the exterior, according to how be believed the church appeared in the eighteenth century. The shutters and screen doors were later removed during final restoration efforts in 1939, given the availability of further research information.
The original wooden frame of a small bull's-eye window (accession # AF-21.1.1), removed from the east end of the church around 1906, is now in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's architectural fragments collection. Otherwise, the building's exterior walls and windows are original and the interior has been restored to its eighteenth-century appearance. Large bull's-eye windows are still visible today in the south-facing end of the church (facing Duke of Gloucester Street) and the east end (facing Palace Green). Bruton Parish continues to serve an active Episcopal congregation and has functioned as a site of worship for the community since the parish was first founded in 1674.
]]>
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 109).
]]>(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60, 105).
]]>(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 60, 105).
]]>The Prentis Store, pictured to the right, was built circa 1739-1740. Another one of Williamsburg's eighty-eight original eighteenth-century buildings, "the Prentis Store is Williamsburg's best-surviving example of a colonial store. The firm of Prentis and Company (named after the store's original merchant-shop keeper, William Prentis), operated a highly successful general store in this handsome original building from 1740 until the Revolution. A classic example of store architecture, its gable end faces the street. Through the door above, merchandise could easily be lifted into the loft. Windows along the sides were located toward the rear of the building to light the counting room and to leave long, blank walls for ample shelving in the sales area."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 52-53).
]]>This building, "...an original structure, occupies a favorable spot on the busy 'downtown' end of the main street. Typical of commercial buildings, it has a gable-end facade, and its interior is divided between a large unheated storefront and a smaller counting office with a fireplace in the rear. Like many buildings, this one served as both workplace and home for its occupants." The first occupant (and later owner) of the building was Margaret Hunter, a milliner, who both "...imported and...made diverse and stylish accessories for men, women and children."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 57).
]]>