Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Sadler and Whitehead, Architects, Papers, 1992-2001. Accession 41826, Business Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Sadler and Whitehead, Architects, Richmond, Virginia, 27 January 2005.

Biographical/Historical Information

Under the administration of James S. Gilmore, III (1998-2002), the Virginia Executive Mansion underwent an extensive renovation in 1999-2000. Originally constructed by architect Alexander Parris in 1813, the structure is the longest continuously occupied governor's residence in the United States and has gone through a number of changes over the last one hundred ninety years.

First Lady Roxanne Gilmore oversaw the seven million dollar undertaking that restored the historic public rooms on the first floor; modernized and expanded the second floor family residence; updated security and building systems; improved the grounds; and made the entire structure wheelchair accessible. The demolition and reconstruction work, carefully undertaken by skilled professionals, revealed elements of the building's historic fabric. Some of these aspects of the Executive Mansion's construction and decoration had not been visible for nearly two centuries.

As part of the restoration, the Commonwealth hired Mary Harding Sadler and Joseph D. Lahendro to document the entire project, especially those previously hidden aspects of construction and ornamentation, using photography and descriptive commentary. Excavation, demolition, conservation, and new construction were all copiously documented by Sadler and Lahendro. Their materials include not only written information about their observations, but also hundreds of photographs capturing original interiors, decorative items, and structural elements of the Executive Mansion, Guest House/Cottage, and Carriage House.

Scope and Content

This accession consists of records related to the rehabilitation and restoration of the Virginia Executive Mansion, Guest House/Cottage, Carriage House, and grounds, 1998-2000, and collected by Mary Harding Sadler, of the firm Sadler and Whitehead, Architects, and Joseph D. Lehendro. The pair was responsible for collecting visual evidence of historical construction and design elements during the renovation and creating reports regarding the period details revealed during the rehabilitation process.

Series I: Project Files, 1992-2001, includes correspondence, clippings, memos, reports, photographs, negatives, a video, and architectural drawings collected during the renovation project. The series is organized alphabetically by folder title. Of note are meeting minutes and worksite progress reports that convey weekly activity on the jobsite. Additionally, a videotape of the WCVE Richmond PBS program "Virginia Currents," hosted by May Lily Lee, on the Executive Mansion renovation is included in this series.

Series II, Electronic Records, 1999, consists of a database of the documentary evidence collected during the restoration of the buildings. The Executive Mansion Rehabilitation Project Database , the web-interface of this database, is available from the Library's web site. The information collected during this project documents excavation and demolition; floor, window and mantle conservation; masonry construction and framing; new finish applications, and miscellaneous work on the Executive Mansion, Guest House/Cottage, Carriage House, and grounds. Digital photographs taken by the authors illustrate the descriptions in the Notes field of the database.

The database's web-interface is searchable by building location, work type, and keyword. The keyword function searches only the Notes field in the database. The database records may contain all or some of the following fields: weather conditions, photographs, observational notes, location in the specific building, information source, work type, report author, and date. Despite notations of their inclusion in the database, none of the videos documenting rehabilitation work were transferred with this accession.

The raw database files were transferred to the Library of Virginia by the donor. Archivists then processed this material for patron use. No data was manipulated or altered during this process, only the interface was changed to make the database more user-friendly. The database entries labeled "Administrative" were printed out and included in Series I and designated work areas with no records were removed from the web page. All of the documentary information in the accession has been made available to the public. The original raw files have been maintained by the Library of Virginia.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in the following two series: Series I: Project Files and Series II: Electronic Records. Series I is organized alphabetically by folder title. Series II defaults to a chronological arrangement by report date if all records are viewed.