Though small by today's standard, structures like this four-room house were home to Morven Park's farm laborers and their families. The homes once dotted large estates throughout the area, and Morven park had as many as nine to house its workers.
Built around 1920, the home has a sturdy wood-frame girt construction and a foundation of local stone. A metal roof cps off the home's board and batten exterior—materials also used on the brooder house. The builder took advantage of other handy materials, including bead-board, framing, porch posts, windows, and exterior boards—all salvaged from other buildings at Morven Park and put to use here.
Modest homes like this have all but disappeared from the region. This one was abandoned for over 70 years before undergoing a painstaking restoration. It retains more than 85 percent of its original materials, and was completed in 2015.
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Farm Family, Virginia, 1911. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
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