According to Ralph Hamor’s account of Virginia during 1610-14, Jamestown had “two faire rowes of houses, all of framed timber, two stories, and an upper garret or corn loft.” The 1618 records of the Virginia Company cite a “Governors house in James town first built by Sir Thomas Gates Knight.” Gates served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1611 to 1614. Historical records also cite an addition to the governor’s house by Samuel Argall, who served as deputy governor in 1617-19. Jamestown Rediscovery archaeologists found the brick foundations of an apparent addition to the building thought to have been the governor’s house.
The cobblestone foundation of the 66- by 18-foot building under construction at Jamestown Settlement was completed in early 2009. Members of the museum exhibits fabrication staff assembled the timber framework in a service area and began erecting the frame on the foundation in September.
Among distinctive features of the building are two chimneys, each with a back-to-back fireplace, and a second story that extends two feet beyond the first story on the side facing the “street” along the re-created fort wall. The first story is divided into four rooms with wood plank floors. Two doors on opposite sides of the building will open into a small entry space. Walls of wattle (wood latticework connected to the timber frames) and daub (plaster of clay, sand and straw) will be topped by a thatched roof.
After the new Jamestown Settlement building is completed, it will be interpreted as the governor’s house and chief administrative center for the colony. An existing fort building that currently represents the governor’s house will be interpreted as living quarters for high-ranking colonists.
The building project is supported in part by grants and donations.
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A new building is taking shape at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created 1610-14 fort, based on one of two large “row houses” uncovered by Preservation Virginia’s Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project at Historic Jamestowne in 2004-05.