Hand Crafted Home

Central Hall Colonial home built by Thomas Hawkins, Master Carpenter. All updated modern conveniences including central heat, soap stone wood burning stove, 1914 Acorn gas burners and electric ovens cook stove, plumbing, updated electrical, furnace. R-19 insulation in all exterior and interior walls, R-30 insulation in attic. Storm windows cover all original windows, double pane, lifetime warranty windows on south side of house, storm door on front. 650 foot drilled well giving 75 gallons water per minute for house and livestock tanks are fed by underground river.

If you want more information, please send an e-mail to address on right column. BE SURE you have your response set to receive a reply...many have sent me questions but have their query set to "no-reply..." and that's why you've not received a response from me. Please check your e-address; make sure it's correct.

House Information

Re. the Central Hall Colonial house above...Thomas Hawkins of Wytheville, VA was a Master Builder of fine reputation in southwest VA. Hawkins built many fine homes including half dozen in Tazewell County. This home is one and has blocks of hand cut local limestone for the foundations of both house and stables.

The attic has awl cut mortise and tendon joists and is notched using Roman numerals. The clapboards are of poplar wood and nails are hand cut. The entire house is hand crafted both when Mr. Hawkins built it and during renovation. 

In 1996, the sun room addition and bath were added by another Master Builder and the outside was built to look original to the house. The floor of the sun room is walnut, from a tree on a neighboring farm. In all bathrooms, floors are 12x12 tiles and the Whirlpool jetted tub is two person with separate walk-in shower.

House Information

Oral history states this farm was originally a land grant from King George II; house and farm are eligible for inclusion in Virginia Department of Historic Properties.

In the 1870's, Shadrach White purchased the land and brick house for $300 in back taxes owed since "The Late, Great Unpleasantness".  During Christmas holidays of 1899, the brick house caught fire and a hired man was sent, on horseback, to tell Shad his house was on fire. The owner, playing a few hands of poker down at the road at the Joe White store, was said to have exclaimed, "Let 'er burn. I'll build me a bigger and better one!"

In 1900 Thomas Hawkins, Master Builder, was hired to rebuild the house but Shad (pronounced in the English manner as "shade") asked for a clapboard house, "because a brick house would burn". Mr. Hawkins was a large man, weighing around 300 pounds, and, during the building process, would stand in the window frames of the house and bounce. If the frames moved the slightest bit, Mr. Hawkins had the workers re-build them. The original windows are about 9 feet by 3 feet with storm windows and screens added and windows have the original weights and pulley system restored and intact.

When adding central heat and electricity, the original slave made bricks were found being used as insulation in the interior walls; some of those bricks are stacked behind the house. The insulation value was R-1 and the decision was made to install R-19 insulation instead in both interior and exterior walls.

There are three porches, the front porch seen above, an L-shaped back porch and a porch off the sun room...all with incredible views. 

The house is approximately 5,500 square feet and, with few exceptions, remains true to the original floor plan. On the first floor, a half bath, sun room and bathroom were added. Adding a half bath under the front stairs made the first floor bedroom and parlor a mother-in-law unit. The sun room is approximately 30x16 feet and uses West windows (guaranteed for life), approximately 5x4 feet, to take advantage of the magnificent view seen in the header photo. The main tiled bathroom includes a two person Whirlpool tub, handicapped shower and toilet.

First floor

The house design is four up, four down with an L shaped addition; on first floor left are parlor and bedroom. The hall runs the center of the house, upstairs and down with two doors to outside. The downstairs rooms are approximately 20x20 feet and the sun room is approximately 16x30.

First floor right are formal dining room, living room, kitchen, pantry, mud room, sun room and handicapped accessible bathroom. A bedroom has door access to the back porch.

There are two sets of interior stairs, the primary are formal with additional "cook" stairs accessible from mudroom. The mudroom has back porch access and leads both into the kitchen and upstairs to the laundry room and rest of house.

On second floor left are bedroom and bedroom. On the opposite side of the hall are bedroom, two rooms which could be either bedrooms or offices, bathroom with original claw foot tub and a laundry room. The back stairs, accessed from the mudroom, exit into the laundry room. The second floor bed rooms are approximately 18x18 feet. The upstairs has a heat pump which supplies air conditioning.

second floor

The kitchen has a 1914 Acorn cook stove with seven propane stove top burners, three working electric ovens and a warming oven. David Livingstone, Massachusetts stove restorer, said this was one of two such stoves in existence; the other is in Ralph Lauren's Colorado home.

Acorn 1914 working cook stove

There are ten fireplaces; the living room has a working Woodstock soapstone stove, the kitchen and an upstairs room have propane gas logs.

The sun room has a free standing propane gas fireplace and wall air conditioner; the bathroom has a wall-mounted propane gas heater.

A mobile phone booster ensures cell phone service and satellite service provides i-net access or television.

The well is drilled to a depth of 650 feet and produces 75 GPM (gallons per minute). the limestone water is sweet and cold...perfection!

Two two-hundred seventy-five gallon oil tanks in the basement feed hot water pipes throughout the house. Should the power go out, the 1,000 gallon propane tank fuels the house generator to ensure heat, electricity in downstairs main living area, television, radio and computer. A Woodstock soapstone stove provides wood heat and a barn contains a winter's worth of seasoned hard wood. A heat pump provides back up heat and air conditioning.

In 1997, a 50 year roof was added.

Farm is less than 2.5 hours from 6 regional airports (in VA - Bluefield,  Tazewell, Roanoke; in WV - Charleston and Beckley and TRI in Bristol, TN), 3.5 hours from NC Charlotte International Airport and 2 hours from Amtrak in Hinton, WV.