George Read (II) And His House
by Eliza Wolcott, University of Delaware (1971)

• 1 (Introduction)
• II (The House)
• III (The Plans)
• IV (The Construction)
• V (Conclusion)
• Bibliography
• Appendices A, B, C, D Cash accounts for the house construction, Bill for exterior stonework, Agreement with bricklayer, Bill for composition ornaments on mantels
• Appendix E Inventory of George Read (II)'s estate.
• Images of preliminary plans: Plan A -- Plan B -- Plan C -- Plan D

• The Philadelphia orientation of both George Read (II) and his father, the latter having perhaps drawn the plans available here, and suggestions by his brother-in-law in Philadelphia.
• The mixture of Georgian layout and Federal decorative treatments.
• His very busy law practice. When court was in session "he was unable to attend to even the most pressing of his business affairs...construction of his house.."
• Lots of money coming in, and going out for house construction.
• The minute level of detail of the account books: stone for the wharf, rum for the workmen, brick laying ...
• The deprecating naming convention for African-American workers: Negro Peter, Negro London, Negro Richard.
• The Inventory, with details of material possessions and values-- chairs, identified paintings, contents of his library
  
  Plan B, and an overlay of the plan in magenta on a 2012 aerial image. The plan, according to Wolcott, is in George Read Sr.'s handwriting, and shows not only the floor plan of the planned house, but the "old Read D[well]ing with its kitchen in the back, and to the far left a "chaise[? carriage] house to be removed". Click on images to enlarge.
  The kitchen area near the left oval part of the "parterre garden" was the site of a 1996 excavation.
  
  
  
  Jim Meek, NC-CHAP, 2014