Dixon (Shacklefords, Virginia) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Dixon, also known as Dixon's Plantation, was a privately owned historic
''Accompanying four photos''
/ref> Later additions which expanded the original five-bay home to a nine-bay home, were subsequently removed. In 1934, a pen and ink drawing of Dixon (see infobox, this article) was made by Elsie, J. Mistie for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (1932–1937). The drawing documented Dixon before the later additions of hyphen-connected outbuildings.
Beginning in 2000, the owner of Dixon removed the flanking 1950s Colonial Revival wings, replacing them with more modern additions, including a master wing, screened porch and guest wing. A completely modern workshop/garage dependency (outbuilding) was constructed nearby, in a compatible 18th century architectural style.
During the restoration of the primary wing, period incorrect slate roofing was replaced with the correct wood shingles (fish scale pattern), nails were forged where necessary and replacement siding was replicated after original attic planking.
Interior furnishings included a portrait of
Historic photographs at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Dixon plantation house.
About the WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection
About Elsie J. Mistie and the WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection
* ttp://www.lva.virginia.gov/involved/f-jms.htm The Fry-Jefferson Map Society
plantation house
A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...
(1793-2021) in King and Queen County, Virginia
King and Queen County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia, located in the state's Middle Peninsula on the eastern edge of the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,608. Its county seat is King a ...
on the Mattaponi River
The Mattaponi River is a tributary of the York River estuary in eastern Virginia in the United States.
History
Historically, the Mattaponi River has been known by a variety of names and alternate spellings, including ''Mat-ta-pa-ment'', Matap ...
—a tributary of the York River in one of Virginia's historic slavery-dependent tobacco-growing regions. The property was situated between the two unincorporated communities
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
of Shacklefords and King and Queen Court House, Virginia.
Dated (by tree-rings) to 1793, the plantation's surviving central residence was a two-story, five-bay, symmetrical frame house with a gambrel roof, brick foundation and brick end-walls—the latter featuring Flemish bond and internal (rather than expressed) chimneys.
Located between two adjacent plantations, the earliest owners of the property were William Meredith and subsequently Richard Dixon, of whom little is known. The plantation and home were named after Richard Dixon, and he is credited with constructing the surviving residence.
At the time of its successful nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
(NRHP) in 2005, Dixon was one of eight surviving gambrel-roof residences from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century in King and Queen County, Virginia.
A fire in the spring of 2021 completely destroyed Dixon.
Description
According to its NRHP nomination, the home featured its original interior wood paneling, and noteworthy interior stairway detailing—the latter with sculptural railings, ''column and urn'' balusters (two per tread) and newel posts with molded caps andmortise and tenon
A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) is a Woodworking joints, joint that connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworking, Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly ...
construction.
Landside and waterside elevations were identical with double doors centered on each exterior elevation, flanked by two "nine-over-nine" sash windows and four horizontal basement windows. The second floor features five flat-headed dormers.
In the 1950s, flanking buildings were added, connected to the main house by segmented hyphens. an''Accompanying four photos''
/ref> Later additions which expanded the original five-bay home to a nine-bay home, were subsequently removed. In 1934, a pen and ink drawing of Dixon (see infobox, this article) was made by Elsie, J. Mistie for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (1932–1937). The drawing documented Dixon before the later additions of hyphen-connected outbuildings.
Site
Records indicate the original site featured out-buildings including a kitchen, smokehouse, barn, wharf, dairy and cemetery. Research indicates a nearby house and kitchen that predate the existing house. Originally nearly 440 acres and now roughly 20 acres, the property at the time of its NRHP nomination featured four non-original outbuildings. The number has since changed with Dixon's subsequent restoration and renovation.2000–2010 restoration
Beginning in 2000, the owner of Dixon removed the flanking 1950s Colonial Revival wings, replacing them with more modern additions, including a master wing, screened porch and guest wing. A completely modern workshop/garage dependency (outbuilding) was constructed nearby, in a compatible 18th century architectural style.
During the restoration of the primary wing, period incorrect slate roofing was replaced with the correct wood shingles (fish scale pattern), nails were forged where necessary and replacement siding was replicated after original attic planking.
Interior furnishings included a portrait of George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
by Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was an English-American portrait painter. He was born in England, became a naturalized American citizen in 1809, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including in the Thomas Sull ...
, mid-eighteenth century Norfolk chair, period correct knee-hole bureau and 18th century Fry Jefferson Map of Virginia.
See also
Historic photographs at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Dixon plantation house.
About the WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection
About Elsie J. Mistie and the WPA Historic Houses Drawings Collection
* ttp://www.lva.virginia.gov/involved/f-jms.htm The Fry-Jefferson Map Society
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1793 Houses in King and Queen County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in King and Queen County, Virginia