Dear colleagues:

Since I don't believe it's been mentioned yet on this list, let me post  
the regrettable news that the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is  
selling Carter's Grove.  Although the Foundation is under financial  
stress and doubtless considers this a necessary step, those interested  
in the fullest exploration of Virginia's history can only view it with  
deep dismay.  Not only a beautiful and historic property, Carter's  
Grove represented an unparalleled opportunity to anchor all that  
Colonial Williamsburg offers in the historical realities of the  
plantation world through research, education, and imaginative public  
presentation--an opportunity that had excitingly begun to be realized  
in the uniquely well-informed reconstruction of the plantation's  
eighteenth-century slave dwellings.

This sale represents an immense loss to the potential for broad-based  
historical understanding.

--Jurretta J. Heckscher

 From  
http://www.history.org/foundation/press_release/ 
displayPressRelease.cfm?pressReleaseId=655:

December 8, 2006
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to Proceed
with Protected Sale of Carter's Grove

Foundation Consulting with Leading Preservation Organizations
To Assure Protection of the Property’s Resources

Standards for Preservation of Carter’s Grove Will Serve
as a Model for Historic Preservation Community

WILLIAMSBURG, VA—The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will assure the  
preservation of Carter’s Grove Plantation by offering it for sale on a  
fully protected basis. Under this concept restrictions would be  
implemented for the long-term protection of the site’s historic,  
architectural, visual, archeological and environmental resources.

The restrictions will prohibit residential and commercial development  
of the property. The Foundation anticipates retaining rights to use  
pasturelands in support of its rare breeds program. Importantly, any  
sale of the Carter’s Grove property will include a ‘right of first  
offer’ back to the Foundation, should the purchaser seek to resell the  
property.

The Foundation will consult with the National Trust for Historic  
Preservation, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and other  
preservation organizations on the content of the restrictions.

“Our guiding principle in evaluating the future of Carter’s Grove has  
been the preservation of this important property,” said Colin Campbell,  
president and chairman of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “A  
fully protected sale addresses Colonial Williamsburg’s stewardship  
responsibilities while strengthening the Foundation’s focus on the  
Historic Area and our central program of citizenship education.”

Over the last several years, the Foundation has engaged in discussions  
with parties known to have an interest in historic properties and  
explored options to transfer the property to an entity that would own  
and operate it under specific conditions. The Foundation also retained  
this year the services of D.R. Horne & Company, specialists in  
developing strategies for the protection of historic properties and  
environmental resources, to evaluate the property and propose options  
for disposition or reuse. Following an extensive assessment and  
consideration of a range of alternatives, the firm recommended the sale  
of the property to a private buyer in a fully protected context that  
includes appropriate restrictions.

“Our decision was guided by a thorough evaluation of Carter’s Grove’s  
relevance to Colonial Williamsburg’s interpretive focus. Our mission is  
to tell the story of citizenship and becoming America in the 18th  
century,” said Campbell. “This is best accomplished in the Historic  
Area, where we present and interpret Revolutionary War-era  
Williamsburg. Carter’s Grove, with its multiple stories to tell, does  
not support this strategic focus.”

As this process moves forward, Colonial Williamsburg will be adding to  
the body of knowledge of property-protection techniques. “The  
Foundation will work with partners, including national and local  
organizations, governments and land trusts, to implement the best  
current practices,” said Campbell. “We believe that the standards for  
preservation of Carter’s Grove will serve as a model for others in the  
historic preservation community.”

The Sealantic Fund, a former Rockefeller philanthropy, conveyed the  
Carter’s Grove property to Colonial Williamsburg in 1969. Located along  
the James River eight miles southeast of Williamsburg, the property  
includes Carter’s Grove Mansion, the Wolstenholme Towne site, the  
Winthrop Rockefeller Archaeology Museum and the first slave quarters  
reconstructed by the Foundation. The Foundation’s archeological  
collection, including artifacts related to the Carter’s Grove site,  
will be displayed in significant new exhibition space in an expanded  
Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

In a related development, and pursuant to long-standing legal  
agreements dating back more than three decades between the Colonial  
Williamsburg Foundation and Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated, ownership of  
a portion of the Country Road has transferred to Busch Properties, Inc.  
The Country Road is a one-lane road extending from South England Street  
in the City of Williamsburg to Ron Springs Road in James City County.  
Colonial Williamsburg retains ownership of the road from South England  
Street to Mounts Bay Road. Busch Properties takes ownership of the road  
extending east from Mounts Bay Road to the Grove Creek Bridge.
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html