The first time I walked in, I felt at home, as if I was always meant to decorate this house. I love old houses—I grew up in one built in the 1830s, which is old, but not as old as the Nelson-Galt House, circa 1695. I pinch myself that this is where my husband and I get to live for two years, thanks to the incredible opportunity to serve as the Williamsburg Designer in Residence.
Being invited, and trusted, to reimagine and decorate one of the nation’s oldest frame homes is truly the coolest project I’ve ever been part of, especially because it’s been a family affair. I grew up not far from here in Martinsville, Virginia. My 87-year-old father apprenticed at Williamsburg just before college and once built me a dollhouse influenced by these early American homes—imagine cedar shake and Chippendale railings. My mother needlepointed the rugs. Growing up I didn’t know anything else. The Nelson-Galt House, a simple white frame beauty with a gabled roof and classic dormers, is believed to be the oldest residential dwelling in Colonial Williamsburg and belonged to one family for some 200 years. One of its owners was Thomas Nelson, Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Not much has been updated, so I was working with a blank slate, more or less, with lots of stipulations given the historic easements. For instance, no nails in the walls unless a curator places them, no changes to the original structure and woodwork. The gorgeous paneling couldn’t be caulked or modified in any way, only painted. It was truly a decoration project but one in which I was decorating great bones. The home’s craftsmanship is astonishing. I often encourage clients to splurge on one or two rim locks, and this house has them on every door!
I loved paying homage to the old and classic, and I had my pick of 144 colors from Benjamin Moore’s Williamsburg Paint Color Collection (inspired by artifacts from throughout the city, from baseboards to patterns), along with archival wallpapers and china patterns from the Colonial Williamsburg collection. Local dealers opened their warehouses to me, offering exquisite pieces to borrow—I felt like a kid in a candy store! The Hepplewhite-style bed in the green bedroom was made especially for the room, and from Schumacher I found fabric prints that each have a story. Its Dandridge Damask on a pair of green chairs and a blue love seat, for instance, was inspired by a 1750s silk gown that belonged to Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, which she could well have worn here in Williamsburg, where her first husband had a townhouse and George often visited.
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Other pieces are from my family home. It seemed as if every time I turned around, my dad was offering me this or that antique, like my great-grandmother’s corner cupboard made from Shenandoah Valley pine or the 1820 case clock in the hall, its original brass finials sacrificed to become ammunition during the Civil War. What didn’t come from my family was in many cases made by them. My sister was the seamstress for several draperies, and my brother made the kitchen’s walnut butcher block.
Tour This Historic Williamsburg Home
The challenge, of course, was breathing new life into this old house in a way that felt compelling and fresh—but also beautifully familiar. For this I focused on the details. The living room coffee table’s chinoiserie patterning is edged in black and white stripes, which bring graphic energy, as do ikat slipcovers and pillows and custom lampshades throughout. I also reupholstered classic seating in less-than-conventional ways, like the sunroom’s Chippendale sofa with a roll arm we’ve seen a thousand times. I designed a tight slipcover with the stripe railroaded horizontally, making it appear more modern than it is. In the dining room, I wanted a moody, primitive feel, so I painted the ceiling blue and commissioned a crosshatch texture below the chair rail that brings the room to life. For me the joy of decorating older homes is that the history and patina narrate the story. And here, whenever I got stuck or wasn’t sure how to handle something, I’d just look around at neighboring buildings, and the answer was there, the color stories were there. I didn’t want the kitchen to feel like a kitchen, but rather a handsome, masculine scullery to complement the rustic dining room, so I painted classic Shaker cabinets blue-gray and added local Virginia soapstone countertops and the brass hardware that you see everywhere here. These houses teach us so much about design. I’m amazed at how many details from Williamsburg are part of modern decorating—the way we dress beds, the trend toward patterned wallpapers and upholstery and wall murals that are so popular. In a way design is a bit like me with this project. We’ve both come full circle back to Virginia, back to Williamsburg.
Featured in our January/February 2023 issue. Interior Design by Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Photography by Annie Schlechter; Styling by Rachael Burrow; As Told To Stephanie Hunt.
