JS & Melinda Waggener Farmstead Case Study

Preservation in Action Award Recipient

Barb Fitzgerald – owner
Richard & Anne De Wolf, Arciform LLC – designer & general contractor

 

The Waggener Farmstead is an excellent example of a nearly intact late nineteenth-century farm. Built in 1885, its one of the oldest residences in Washington County. It includes the house, dairy barn, milk house, shop, storage shed, privy, chicken house, wood shed, pump house, and garage.

For decades the house had been slipping and twisting down the hillside on which it sits, being pulled off its foundation of hand-hewn logs on timber posts and rock footings. Structural collapse appeared immanent, but the owner was undeterred!

Preservation of the farmstead included leveling the house, pouring new footings, and building a new foundation which maintained the original log appearance; replacing rotted shiplap; rebuilding the porches and skirting; replacing the roof and adding gutters.

While many felt that the farmstead was beyond saving, owner Barb Fitzgerald persevered. Today the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to remind us of how early settlers lived and thrived.

More Photos of the Waggener Farmstead

Click to enlarge the images below.