Thanks to a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the first phase of the restoration, rebuild and transformation of the Dennis Farmhouse to a museum has begun.
On June 23, The Dennis Farm Charitable Land Trust team met on the Farm, with architect Phil Yocum; structural engineer Fred Baumert; stonemason Jason Cook; and timber frame building expert Charles McNamara to discuss the plans and procedures for restoring the stonewalls in the basement of the farmhouse. Darryl Gore, DFCLT Vice President of Development is project manager. The work on the basement will be completed by December 31, 2021.
During the summer, archaeologists Lynn Riley and DFCLT Board member Wade Catts began archaeological work in the ground outside the house. As the work proceeds, they will continue to excavate the ground around and beneath the basement floor to uncover artifacts that offer clues about Dennis Family life in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Although this first step–restoration of the farmhouse basement walls–is encouraging and exciting, DFCLT has a long way to go in order to meet our National Endowment for the Humanities $400,000 3x matching grant to rebuild, restore and transform the entire house into the Dennis Farmhouse Museum. We thank everyone who has contributed thus far and appeal to everyone who hasn’t done so already, to make a donation to this worthy project as well.
