A crumbling stone ruin outside Warsaw, Virginia, sat exposed for decades after a 1930s hurricane and years of weather damage. The structure, known as Menokin, has deeper roots than most people realize. It was built in 1769 for Revolutionary leader Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
After a major structural collapse in the 1970s, preservation advocates formed the Menokin Foundation in the 1990s to raise money and organize a save. By the 2000s, enough funding was in place to begin planning, and preservation architects Charles Phillips and John Lee proposed an unusual approach: replace missing sections of the house with glass instead of rebuilding everything in masonry, a kintsugi-style concept that treats the “repair” as part of the story.
In 2013, Boston-based firm Machado Silvetti won the bid to design the construction. Field work started in 2020, beginning with a large roof built over the structure so crews could work out of the elements. From there, the team restored the foundation to prevent further collapse. In 2022, the south and west walls were rebuilt and stabilized.
The next phase focused on repairing the arched central entryway and the north wall. That work demanded true masonry craftsmanship, including recreating missing stones that were too damaged to reuse after the earlier collapse. The north wall restoration finished last year, and the glass portions planned for the north and east walls are still ahead as fundraising continues.
For mason contractors, Menokin is a clear reminder that successful restoration starts with protection from weather and structural stabilization before detailed stone replacement begins. It also shows the time and planning needed when the scope includes custom stone replication and historic wall repair.
Read the full, original article from Core77 here.