I just got back from Palm Beach on Monday. A recurring thought I had while touring the The Breakers, circa 1896, was this: history doesn’t preserve itself.

Following Monday’s meeting of the Wilton House Museum Board of Trustees, I had an opportunity to step outside and get a closer look at the major exterior conservation work underway on this remarkable 273-year-old Virginia landmark.

Pictured are Anabel Smith Bowen, President of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Maeve Woolley, the architectural paint conservator whose team is doing the painstaking work on Wilton’s historic exterior.

This is much more than a new coat of paint. Maeve and her team are carefully removing modern paints and primers from historic woodwork, conserving windows and cornices, and working with paint analysis to better understand the finishes that appeared on the house generations ago.

There’s an important story behind all that scaffolding. The Virginia Dames own Wilton and are the reason this extraordinary house survives today.

When Wilton faced destruction in the 1930s, they stepped forward, purchased it and moved the house from its original location to its present home overlooking the James River.

Built around 1753 for William Randolph III, Wilton has survived a Revolution, a Civil War, six families and an extraordinary relocation.

Its survival has never been accidental. It has depended upon generations of people willing to invest the time, resources and craftsmanship necessary to pass it along.

Not tear it down.

I’m thrilled to serve on Wilton’s board and to have a small part in that continuing stewardship alongside people like Anabel and Maeve.

History doesn’t preserve itself.

Photo credit: Amanda Keller

PS: the fall line-up of special events at Wilton House Museum are something you don’t want to miss! Get plugged in today! Wilton House Museum