Virginia

The Tanner House, La Crosse, Mecklenburg Co. Virginia (36.63843387, -78.11950296)

(a) Main body of house Felling Date: Winter 1769/70

(b) Reconstruction of roof Felling Dates: Winter 1818/19 and Spring 1819

(a) Braces 1769C3); Joists 1769(C2); Doorpost 1769(C); Studs(1/4) 1769(C); (b) Rafters 1818(C, ¼C2). Site Master (Pine) 1671-1818 TNR (t = 5.96 SJC; 5.75 VAPINEx1; 5.31 PHW; 4.39 LGN).

The Tanner House is a gambrel-roofed timber-frame house that stylistically dates to the early nineteenth century. The house originally was situated near Bracey in the crossroads community of Marengo, just north of Lake Gaston. It sat several hundred yards to the west of St Tammany Road. It had become very dilapidated and due to various reasons of land ownership, it was moved wholesale about one mile south on St Tammany Road. It is of two storeys, four rooms on each floor, and features included hewn and pit-sawn framing timbers and beaded weatherboards. Framing features are typical for the Chesapeake region which includes large corner posts and down braces. Internally the doors, chimney pieces, and panelling are typical for the early nineteenth century.

The dating has shown that the gambrel roof was later added to the building in 1819, and the lower two floors was originally constructed in 1770. Interestingly, the State Architectural Review Board had described it as a late eighteenth-century house with associations with local government officials. Further details of the building can be found in the report by Carl Lounsbury and Jeff Klee dated 31st October 2006.

Miles and Worthington 2010 The Tree-Ring Dating of the Tanner House, La Crosse, Mecklenburg County, Virginia, unpublished Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory archive report 2010/13

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