Katherine H. Purdy

In Early Colonial America, there were several buildings besides the main house and barn that were essential to running the plantation. These buildings, called outbuildings or dependencies were the Summer Kitchen, Smokehouse and Ice House. As the plantations have exchanged hands and technology has made these building obsolete, many have been turned into sheds for gardening equipment or just neglected until they succumbed to the elements. In our research of historic homes in Virginia, we have found most if not all have lost all three of these buildings. To have all three originals is rare.

At Belle Grove Plantation, we have all three original outbuildings! On our first visit, we were astounded to see them and in as good of condition as you would expect for their age. As we have worked on researching the plantation, we have taken photographs and bricks from the Summer Kitchen to be examined by…