Architectural Fragments

Architectural fragments are those portions of historic buildings or structures detached from their original locations. The collection, including thousands of architectural fragments ranging in size from tiny paint samples to an entire flight of stairs, has been classified into four distinct groups:

The Historic Area Collection

These architectural fragments have been removed from buildings and structures within the boundaries of the Williamsburg Historic Area. In addition to original features, such as Peyton Randolph roof clapboards, a Moody House mantel, and the Courthouse weathervane banner, the collection also includes good examples of reproduction materials used in the Restoration.

Students work on an inventory of Peyton Randolph
House architectural fragments.

The North American Collection

Fragments in the North American Collection originate from the southern colonies or states, primarily the Tidewater region, but outside of the Williamsburg Historic Area. The collection includes a wide variety of materials, such as Charleston slate roofing, a New Kent County hinge and pintle, and Petersburg weatherboards.

The European Collection

The majority of this group architectural fragments, dating primarily from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was collected by Francis H. Lenygon, English interior decorator and antiques dealer, who took advantage of the fashionable early-twentieth-century taste for dismantling and re-assembling English rooms in American houses. Lenygon’s widow, Jeannette, donated her husband’s collection of fragments to the Foundation in 1972. The collection includes such pieces as architraves from Portman Square in London, a library cornice from Streatlam Castle and strapwork pilasters from Crown and Treaty House.

Interns and staff organize fragments from
the Lenygon collection.

Studied individually and as a group, traditional architectural materials provide information to unravel mysteries about early building technology. Changing modes of construction help us comprehend evolving social ideas and conditions, the reasons behind certain design choices and the resulting effects of material culture on early American daily life.

For more information about how and why fragments are collected, download Architectural Fragments Collection Practices and Procedures (PDF).

Tom Taylor retrieves architectural
fragments from a cellar.

Erin Kuykendall arranges structural members from
the Coffeehouse, part of the Historic Area collection.