Restoration

Restoration

From Page B4

structure he sells to an individual owner - to end up in Rappahannock, where his restoration business got its start.

The Mount Joy Estate was built as early as 1695 in Howard County, Md., and - according to Howard historian Joetta Cramm - was home to one of Kit Carson’s longtime friends, Samuel “Santa Fe Sam” Wethered Jr., in the 1800s.

Wethered was said to pass the time in his house, which he named “Santa Fe,” shooting at a presidential portrait that irritated him.

When Carson came back to the East Coast, he spent time there with his friend Wethered. In 1867 on his final trip to the nation’s capital, Carson visited “Santa Fe” with a delegation of Native Americans. He died soon after in 1868 after moving to Colorado.

Mount Joy was slated fin1 a 477-unit development in 2001 and homes and apartments have been planned for most of the 76-acre farm property near Ellkott City, Md.

Like many of Robinson’s projects, the log home was set to be bulldozed before he stepped in to save it.

“My business is a final safety net to buildings that would be lost to development,” he said.

Robinson’s appreciation for historic buildings stems from his teenage years, when his family moved into the pre-1800 Federal Hill, which is located near Thomas Jefferson’s former retreat home, Poplar Forest, near Lynchburg in Bedford County.

“My mqjor was history in college and my father was a carpenter and built churches, and his father and his father. ... It goes way back to my greatgrandfather,’ Robinson said. “I decided something needed to be done about saving these old buildings.”

Robinson said he plans to return to his art and photography work after retiring from Heartland, and he hopes to have his first exhibition at the Middle Street Gallery in Washington.

For more information about Heartland Restoration, call 540547-3838, e-mail tdr6vabb.com or visit www.logcabins.net

E-mail the reporter at kallen@timespapers.com

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