Building irregularities at historic Windsor Castle show centuries of changes

Windsor Castle manor in Smithfield has been the subject of both mystery and admiration for many years.

Part of the mystery is why it's called a castle at all, since it bears no resemblance to a castle and no royalty can be traced to it. It's admired as the home of Arthur Smith IV, who founded the town of Smithfield in 1752. But as many as five Arthur Smiths lived in the house, whose site dates to a Royal land grant in 1637.

Over its first 200 years, the house underwent several changes, but uncertain is who actually built the house and what was its original architecture. Within the past year, the town has embarked on a $5 million project to preserve the home and 46 acres of its immediate grounds.

Roger Ealy, construction manager of the project, found evidence of three different time periods for the house by examining both interior and exterior construction.

"The house evolved in three distinct phases," Ealy said. "The original house, probably, built in the 1720s to 1730s, was a one-story, T-shaped home with three rooms." A second phase around 1755 included an addition on the home's west side.

In 1838, the house was purchased by the family of Watson P. Jordan and the ensuing years saw the most radical changes to its original architecture. Changes included an extensive rear addition, a front to rear walk-through corridor, upper level dormers, and double twin chimneys, which gave the house its present Greek Revival/Georgian style.

Ealy backs up his claims with at least a dozen areas showing irregular brickwork throughout the foundation of the house.

"Brick patterns tell time," Ealy said. In several areas English bond brickwork, common during the Colonial era, is set next to three course bond, which didn't appear in the area until the 1800s.

In some areas, scarred and rough-cut brick walls simply abut mismatched brickwork instead of being bonded by skilled masonry.

Other irregularities include an arched chimney base in the cellar – built in Colonial times to support the weight of a chimney – sitting beneath a room with no chimney shaft. Elsewhere, a large doorway is boarded up to conceal a staircase that was built between two rooms.

Outside, Ealy found Flemish bond brickwork on the foundation above the beveled water table, also consistent with Colonial masonry, but machine-made nails in the roof framing and the addition of outside chimneys point to 19th century construction. In addition, the house was covered in stucco scored to resemble stonework but also to hide inconsistent patterns of brickwork.

"It shows that the Smith house has characteristics of the 18th century and changes were made through the 19th century, but the main core of the house is still intact," Ealy said.

Ealy's findings were sent to Carl Lounsbury, adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary and a retired senior architectural historian for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Lounsbury corroborated Ealy's findings and identified a basement dining room and places where doors had been widened and narrowed. Lounsbury concluded that Windsor Castle likely originated as a single story dwelling with cellar and steep roof, constructed by either Arthur Smith III or IV.

Brickwork suggests that a room was added to the house around 1755, Lounsbury continued, and further additions in the 1840s doubled its size and rendered its present appearance.

Documents from the late 19th century first referenced the house as a castle.

The town of Smithfield acquired the home and 200 acres of property in 2008. Much of the property was developed into a river park, but a historic easement by the state protects the home and 46 acres of its immediate grounds and outbuildings.

Completion of restoration is targeted for 2019, pending availability of funding, said Rick Bodson, project manager, Windsor Castle Restoration. Plans are to use the site for festivals, weddings and historical presentations.

James Thomas Jr., [email protected]

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