The Fairfax County Courthouse Part 11

_The Interior_

_Foyer._ The double doors in the center of the portico at the east end of the courthouse open inward into a foyer at the rear of the courtroom. This area is 29 feet long, the full width of the building.

The width of the area varies, however, because of the fireplaces across each of the front corners and the curving rear edge of the central (or spectator) portion of the courtroom. At its narrowest point in front of the double doors the foyer is 10 feet 4 inches wide, and at its widest points on either end of the room, it is 12 feet wide. The foyer s.p.a.ce is entirely open, with flooring composed of bricks (8 3-1/2 inches) varying in color from deep red to charcoal gray. These bricks are laid with three-quarter inch seams and white mortar.

The fireplaces in the corners at each end of the foyer have square (2 foot-8 inch) openings, with brick lining and a 5 inch facing surrounding the opening and painted flat black. The fireplaces are entirely framed with plain architraves and friezes, and are topped with simple mantels. Each fireplace measures 3 feet 11 inches wide by 4 feet 3 inches high.

Along the walls of the foyer, panelled wainscotting, painted white, is installed. Because of the unevenness of the floor, the height of this wainscotting varies from 4 feet 2 inches to 4 feet 3 inches. Its panels are of varying width, from 3 to 6 inches, and are beaded. At the base of the wainscotting is a 5-inch baseboard.

Above the wainscotting, the walls and ceiling are finished in plain plaster with walls painted mauve and the ceiling white. Lighting needs are minimal because of four outside windows located in the foyer, and because of light received from the central section of the courtroom. On each side of the double door and at each end of the foyer lanterns are mounted on the wall. These fixtures are of the type commonly used as carriage gate or guardhouse lanterns, and are 9 6-1/2 5 inches, with gla.s.s panels on three sides set in dark metal frames. The tops are of curved metal designed to shield the lanterns from the wind. Inside the lanterns, light comes from a single candle-shaped light bulb, set inside a small hurricane lamp chimney.

The hardware on the double door consists of a box lock with the bra.s.s k.n.o.b polished and the lock-box and keeper painted flat black. At the top and bottom of the door black metal shot bolts of designs commonly found in eighteenth century buildings are installed.

_Central Section._ s.p.a.ce for the seating of spectators is provided in the central section of the courtroom. The floor level of this section is raised 7-3/4 inches above the floor of the foyer, and free-standing wainscotting of the same style and height as are around the foyer walls separate the foyer from the central section. The floor of this section is constructed of 5-1/4 inch dark-stained pine boards.

Entry into this section is along two aisles at the sides, running between the spectator seats in the center of the room and the balcony staircases set against the walls on the north and south sides of the room. Spectator seating is provided in five rows of benches of pine, with natural finish on the seats and back rests, white painted sides and bases, and natural cherry moldings along the top of the back rests and arms. Along the base at the front of each bench, is a 6 inch strip painted black. The back of the back rest is painted white down to a point 6 inches above the floor, where a foot rest of dark-stained pine is installed, and below this the base is painted black.

The five rows of benches in the center section are curved, generally following the arc of the edge of the raised flooring, and measure 17 feet 9 inches from end to end. Each bench seats about twelve people.

The walls of the center section are painted mauve, and the ceiling is white. There are no lighting fixtures in this section of the courtroom. At the rear of the central section, two lightly stained solid oak pillars support the balcony.

_Staircases._ Staircases to the balcony are located along the north and south walls of the central section. The initial plans for reconstruction of the courtroom in 1967 called for only one staircase, on the south wall. The decision to add a staircase on the north side came during the reconstruction when evidence of an earlier staircase on that side was revealed as the plaster was removed. From this it was conjectured that the courthouse of the early nineteenth century had had two staircases, but that one had been abandoned in reconstructing the building after the Civil War.

The present stairways each have 18 steps with 8 inch risers and treads 2 feet 11 inches wide by 10 inches deep. They form a single flight, open style stairs, with no brackets and plain bal.u.s.ters, 1 inch square, painted white and supporting a cherry handrail. Newel posts at the top and foot of the stairway have turned shafts with cube bases and capitals. A flat sphere of solid wood tops the capital of the newel post.

Beneath the staircase on the north side of the building is a closet, and on the south side is a stairway leading into the bas.e.m.e.nt. The doors to this closet and stairway are made of vertical beaded boards similar to the wainscotting, each equipped with two "H" hinges of black metal having a pebble finish and black metal box locks with small polished bra.s.s doork.n.o.bs.

_Balcony._ The courtroom balcony contains three rows of wooden benches similar to those on the ground floor, except that they are straight instead of curved. The rows are arranged so the two rear benches are on daises raised 9 inches above the one in front. Solid-panelled free-standing wainscotting is set along the back of the rearmost bench. The first two rows of benches are 17 feet 7-3/4 inches long, while the rear bench is 22 feet long, allowing s.p.a.ce at each end for the steps of the raised dais.

In front of these benches, across the full width of the balcony between the two staircases, is a railing of plain white spokes (matching the bal.u.s.ters of the staircase) and a plain cherry handrail 2 feet 11 inches in height.

The ceiling of the balcony is painted flat white and the walls are mauve. White beaded board wainscotting standing 3 inches high is around the sides and rear wall of the balcony similar to that on the ground level. Three recessed lights provide light for the balcony.

_Jury Room._ At the rear of the balcony an aisle 3 feet wide runs the full width of the building, allowing pa.s.sage behind the rows of balcony benches and access to the jury room through doors near each end of the aisle. The jury room uses the s.p.a.ce above the first-floor portico, an area 12 19 feet. The doors to the room are 2 feet 10 inches by 6 feet 10 inches, with 4 panels. Doors and frames are painted white, with bra.s.s doork.n.o.bs and modern locks set in the doors.

The wall between the jury room and balcony is a new stud part.i.tion which is finished with white plaster, as is the ceiling. Lighting is provided by 3 recessed lights set in the ceiling and equally s.p.a.ced.

The walls of the room have a 3-inch baseboard, but no wainscotting.

Centered in the exterior (east) wall of the room is a fireplace, reopened in the 1967 reconstruction. This fireplace measures 4 feet 6-1/2 inches by 4 feet 7-3/4 inches, and is framed with a plain white architrave and mantel. A hearth of brick extends 18 inches out from the fireplace. Opposite the fireplace is a 12 by 18 inch plastered masonry pier extended up from the exterior wall at the rear of the portico on the first floor below. In the ceiling next to the pier is located a 30 by 36 inch opening into the attic, with a ladder built into the part.i.tion wall immediately below.

_Bench, Bar and Jury Box._ Across the front of the courtroom is a railing separating the judges bench, jury box, and s.p.a.ce for counsel tables from the central section of the courtroom. This railing, similar to those of the staircases and balcony, stands 2 feet 8-1/2 inches high. Gates 3 feet wide and mounted on double spring hinges are placed in the railing at the head of each side aisle in the central section. Each gate has an S-curve wooden support built into it for added support.

The enclosure formed by the railing or bar is raised 7-1/2 inches above the floor level of the central section, and is floored with yellow pine, tongue-and-groove, 3-inch wide flooring. In the center of this enclosure, against the west wall of the courtroom is the judge's bench, flanked on its right by the witness stand. The bench itself is relatively small, measuring 6 feet 5 inches across and 4 feet 7 inches from back to front. Three steps on each side permit access from both directions, and have bal.u.s.trades on the front side similar to the railings and other bal.u.s.trades in the courtroom.

On the wall behind the judge's bench, there are two, high 12-over-8 pane windows, backed by closed, full-louvred shutters. Behind the shutters is the solid plaster wall of the present courthouse's main corridor. Between and below these windows is a wooden raised-panel screen serving as a back for the judge's bench. Two 6-panelled sections at each end of this screen are flanked by fluted pilasters with modified capitals supporting a plain entablature. Between these sections are 3 panels, the two on either end being composed of 3 tiers of panels edged with fluted pilasters. The center element of this panel consists of two large raised rectangular panels topped by a semi-circular louvred wooden fan design, then a round keystone arch, the whole portion of the composition topped by a high monumental pediment. At its center point, the height of this composition is 8 feet 6 inches.

This ornamental panelling also covers the s.p.a.ce where doorways previously had been cut for pa.s.sage between the courtroom and other portions of the courthouse as they were built from 1930 onward. Prior to the 1967 reconstruction, a doorway in the west wall was located on the judge's left side as he sat on the bench. As presently reconstructed, this doorway has been closed and covered by panelling, but a new door was cut through on the judge's right-hand side, and the inside of the door is constructed and fitted so as to serve as the end piece of the ornamental woodwork behind the judge's bench.

The jury box is in the southwest corner of the courtroom. Across the front of the box is a panelled solid railing, standing 2 feet 8 inches from the floor of the west end of the courtroom. The jury box contains 2 rows of benches, each raised an 8-inch step above the one in front.

The front row is 9 feet 3 inches long, with aisles 18 inches wide at each end allowing pa.s.sage from the second row to the front, and openings in the railing. Not having this function of access, the back row of the jury benches is 14 feet 1 inch in length. Benches in the jury box are designed and constructed similar to those of the balcony.

The witness box is located between the judge's bench and the jury box.

This box is constructed of solid wooden screen, painted white and topped with a cherry handrail. The screen forming the back of the box is plain; the screen at the front is in the shape of half of an octagon, and the face of each element contains a single recessed panel similar to those on the front of the judge's bench. The side of the witness box facing the jury is open to allow entry into the box, and the side next to the judge's bench is formed by the side of that fixture. The flooring of the box is made of 3-inch wide, yellow pine boards, finished naturally, and the flooring is raised one step (7-1/2 inches) from the courtroom floor. The dimensions of the box are 2 feet 10 inches across and 3 feet 8 inches from back to front.

Illumination of the area of the bench and jury box is provided by a variety of fixtures. On the wall at the rear of the jury box two carriage gate or guardhouse lanterns are attached. Opposite these, on the wall at the north side of the room, two other, similar lanterns are located. In the ceiling above the area enclosed by the bar, 10 recessed lights are installed in two rows of 4 lights across the front and rear sections, and a pair are located equidistant between these rows. Hanging from the ceiling over the central area are chandeliers which were found in the attic of the courthouse during the 1967 reconstruction, and refurbished and wired for electric lights. The lighting fixtures consist of six 24-inch arms, made of hollow bra.s.s tubing, extending out from a central hub. The hub, in the shape of a cup and decorated with a series of radial ridges, is on the lower end of a 38-inch hollow bra.s.s shaft, equipped at the top with a hook for suspension from the ceiling. As installed in the courthouse, each chandelier hangs from a fixture in the ceiling by a metal chain approximately 5 feet long. At the end of each arm of the chandelier are plain disc-shaped bases (3 inches in diameter) which holds one candle-shaped electric socket and a gla.s.s hurricane lamp chimney.

_Bas.e.m.e.nt._ A small bas.e.m.e.nt measuring 11 feet in width lies across the center section of the courthouse. An interior entrance to this bas.e.m.e.nt is provided by a staircase located at its south end. This stairway, 3 feet 6 inches wide with 7-3/4 inch risers, has 10 steps, and is not panelled or painted. At the present time, the bas.e.m.e.nt is used to house heating and air conditioning equipment.

Small windows are located at both the north and south ends of the bas.e.m.e.nt. Approximately square, these windows measure 2 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 9 inches, with 3-over-2 panes (6 by 12 inches). Both have sills composed of a single slab of stone 2 inches thick. Both also are below ground level, and open into brick-lined s.p.a.ces for light and air dug out by the wall's foundations. The s.p.a.ce for the window on the north side of the building measures 4 feet 1 inch by 3 feet 3 inches.

On the south side of the building, however, the dug-out s.p.a.ce measures 7 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 9 inches and suggests that this was, at an earlier date, the point where an outside entrance to the bas.e.m.e.nt was located. This is corroborated by markings on the inside of the bas.e.m.e.nt wall which show that a doorway in the north end of the bas.e.m.e.nt has been bricked up, and also that a second window similar to the existing one has been closed up with bricks, leaving the sill slab in place. From the bas.e.m.e.nt, galvanized steel ducts covered with insulating material are run through the crawl s.p.a.ces beneath the courtroom floor to outlets and intakes for circulation of air. These openings are located in the sills of the recessed windows of the courtroom and in the bases of the benches for spectators and jurors, and are covered with steel grilles painted to blend with the fixtures in which they are set.

3. RESTORATION OF THE ORIGINAL WING OF THE COURTHOUSE, 1967

[161] Other members of the Special Committee were Edward D. Ga.s.son, James Keith, John T. Hazel, Jr.; W. Franklin Gooding, a.s.sistant Clerk of the Courts; Senior Circuit Judge Paul E. Brown; and Bayard Evans, Chairman of the Fairfax Historical Landmarks Preservation Commission.

[162] The cost of restoration was originally estimated at $74,488, exclusive of architect's fee, which was to be 12 per cent of the total cost. Ultimately, the cost of the work was slightly in excess of $84,500, including the architect's fee, according to the architect's records; Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Minute Book #45, pp. 192, 301, 406; Cost Sheet, Walter M. Macomber.

[163] The building contractor for this work was E. L. Daniels.

[164] Interview with Thomas Chapman, former Clerk of the Circuit Court.

[165] The frieze was disregarded because it was not considered part of the original courtroom interior, and no drawings, photographs or descriptions of it were preserved.

[166] The sloping floor which was replaced was not dated, but probably was installed when the courthouse was renovated following the Civil War.

[167] On this matter the following statement in the _Northern Virginia Sun_, January 8, 1966, 1, is of interest: "Anyone familiar with the old courthouse will have noticed that it has five chimneys. The two closest to the bench are resting on wood above the ceiling, Macomber discovered. This, he said 'confused' him. He thinks that they probably were connected by long pipes to stoves in the courtroom. Yet he is not sure. It appears to Macomber that they were added at some later time, but he will not know until he examines them more closely during the restoration. If ... [there] are post-1800 andirons [in these fireplaces], out they will go in the restoration."

In an interview on March 2, 1970, however, Macomber stated he felt that these chimneys had been connected to stoves after the fireplaces which they served were blocked up.

[168] The architect expressed the opinion that the addition to the west end of the courthouse dated from about 1900; _Northern Virginia Sun_, January 8, 1966, 1. However, no doc.u.mentary evidence from the county records supports this date; _Fairfax County Free Press_, August 25, 1966.

[169] Transcript of interview with Walter Macomber, March 2, 1970. As to the arch marks, Mr. Macomber said: "On the front wall I found a semi-circle deeply incised in the brick wall. I concluded there had been an original arched design there and I reproduced such an arch as it might have looked based on my studies of colonial architecture."

[170] Transcript of interview with Walter Macomber, March 2, 1970, contains the following:

Question: Do you know what the original color of the room was?

Macomber: No. But since most of the buildings of that period were either white or light gray, I used these colors.

Question: Was any of the original ironwork left?

Macomber: No. The ones installed are new but made from old designs used in the colonial period.

Question: Where did the old chandeliers you installed in the ceiling come from?

Macomber: They were discovered in storage. They are not colonial, but since they were probably used at some time I thought it appropriate to use them.

Question: Where did you get your ideas for the woodwork?