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Once repaired, the old well should actually work.
David Bronston is enlarging and remodeling the house
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David Bronston has been methodically restoring 55 Butler Road, which he intends to make his home. The top photo shows its condition when he bought it in 2007. The middle photo shows the work in progress in February 2007. At bottom is the house today.
David Bronston found this 1919 photo of the home's builder and first owner, the Rev. Ernest Fisher. |
BY RICHARD AMRHINE
In 1921, there wasn't quite the activity along Butler Road in Falmouth that there is today. Back then, it was called Prince Street, and significant traffic through the neighborhood was a long way off.
But there was some construction going on--the house that the Rev. Ernest Fisher was building with his own hands.
He was 41 then and had moved down here from Washington, where he had served as Worshipful Master at the Anacostia Freemasons Lodge. He was also a Methodist pastor up there, according to his niece Carol Shelton, who still lives in the area.
"They were all Southern Baptists down here, so he changed to Southern Baptist," she said.
The house he built was a modest two-story affair, but its location atop a hill afforded it a view of the Rappahannock River. It sits just east of Cambridge Street (U.S. 1), next to Falmouth Baptist Church.
ENGINEER TACKLES REMODELING
There's more to tell about the home's past, but let's fast-forward to 2004. David Bronston was in the market for a house he could fix up that would let him provide a piano room for his kids.
He discovered 55 Butler Road, known locally as the Fisher House, and decided to take it on even though others who looked at it decided it needed too much work.
"But me? I can do that," he said. "And I've tried to do a lot of it myself."
The house was a mess, with some parts near collapse and a large hole in the roof that had allowed the elements to take their toll. It has been a challenging four years of work, but the open-ended project shows the progress he has made.
Bronston is a structural engineer and runs his own consulting company, Rock River Engineering. His experience has served him well.
There wasn't a whole lot to the original foundation, so he had to jack the house up to rebuild the underpinnings. He ended up raising the house 4 inches, completely rebuilding the collapsing front porch and remodeling the front facade.
The Rev. Fisher had added wings to both sides of the house and to the rear, leaving it with a somewhat haphazard appearance.
Another goal Bronston has achieved was to square off the back of the house, extending it several feet. To further increase living space, he added a second story to the rear portion and wings, and designed a new roof to accommodate the larger dwelling. All-new siding has been applied.
The house now has about 1,900 square feet of living space.
Though he has succeeded in doing much of the work himself, he has called on the services of William King of Alternative Renovations and siding contractor James Heflin.
Bronston is determined to make the house his home, and the rooms that are finished are getting coats of paint. But there is plenty of work left to do, including the kitchen and bathrooms.
Like anyone who takes on a major renovation of an old structure, and intends to retain as many of the structure's original features as possible, Bronston has found the project challenging and time-consuming.
The front door is a good example, as he attempts to fit a new door into the odd measurements created by the original transom and sidelights. He has also tried to reuse as much of the original lumber as possible, but much of it has either rotted or been eaten away by termites.
"I'm making it as energy-efficient as I can afford with a limited budget," he said.
Reminders of another era surround the house. There is the collapsed cabin concealed by the undergrowth behind the house. A nearby shed that gravity also has a hold on contains the remnants of garden and cobbler workshop tools. He had also found a huge assortment of canning jars in the basement. There also is a detached garage that Bronston has a permit to rehabilitate.
There's an old water pump and well out back, and Bronston relates the story of a horse falling into it in the '20s and having to be pulled out by a team of horses. Afterward, the trapped horse was none the worse for wear.
IF WALLS COULD TALK
Bronston's efforts will extend indefinitely the future of a house with an interesting past.
According to Shelton, the Rev. Fisher's niece, he didn't have his own church but would serve as a guest preacher when called upon.
The house was apparently completed by 1924, when the 44-year-old man took 14-year-old Margaret Snellings as his bride, with the Snellings family's blessings. They would have no children.
Not only was Fisher a man of the cloth, and a justice of the peace, he was also a magistrate, helping to keep the local jail filled with ne'er-do-wells. Shelton said her uncle would join authori-ties to chase moonshiners around southern Stafford. He also started and ran Security Cement Co.
After the Rev. Fisher died in 1969, Margaret Fisher continued to live in the house until about 2001, three years before her death at age 94.
According to her obituary, she had been a member of Falmouth Baptist for 82 years, serving as the church organist for 40 years.
Richard Amrhine: 540/374-5406
Email: ramrhine@freelancestar.com
