Initial work on the site was confined to a survey of the area and the recovery of artifacts such as ceramics, glass, and brickbats scattered on the top of the disturbed clay. The principal concentration of artifacts was encountered in the brick-strewn vicinity of the residence and kitchen, though neither feature was immediately discernible. This scatter was flanked on the west by a windbreak of humus, clay, and fallen trees, and had run out before reaching a parallel windbreak to the east. Finds extending in the direction of the latter break included English white salt-glazed sherds as well as bottle fragments of the second quarter of the 18th century. A similar scatter of later artifacts was found extending down the southern slope of the neck at that extremity of the two breaks. In no instance were any fragments of white salt glaze found in stratified deposits, and it must be assumed that they emanated from the disturbed topsoil.

To the southeast of the eastern windbreak on ground sloping towards the secondary stream was found a scatter of brick dust extending over an area approximately 12 ft. by 14 ft., in the center of which was a concentration of large over-burnt brick fragments with reddened clay beneath. No evidence of any laid bricks was encountered, and it is possible that this was the site of brickmaking rather than of a structure. The only datable artifact found in the vicinity was the base of a wine bottle of the first quarter of the 18th century that was lying in the silted bottom of a nearby rain-washed gully running towards the stream.

Close to the southern extremity of the east windbreak was found a refuse pit (Pit A) containing a quantity of late 17th-century or early 18th-century wine-bottle fragments, among them one with the seal "F I." Some 70 feet northwest of this pit was located an area of laid brickbats that measured 4 ft. 6 in. by 4 ft. 6 in.; around the edges of this area were found a few fragments of early 18th-century wine bottles and one bottle base of the mid-century. This last was the latest fragment found on the site. No explanation for the presence of the brickbats was forthcoming, and no further brick deposits were encountered in the vicinity.

Beyond the west windbreak and in line with the residence were found numerous glass and pottery fragments of the first and second quarters of the 18th century, none of them in situ. It was presumed that they stemmed from the vicinity of the residence and were spread about by the bulldozing before the windbreaks were pushed up. Over and above the artifacts and features listed above, no other evidence of colonial occupation was discovered except in the immediate vicinity of the two buildings.

The location of the structures was at once apparent on the evidence of large quantities of disturbed bricks and mortar scooped into east-west furrows by the bulldozers. Careful probing in the two largest concentrations of brickbats soon located sections of the foundations of both buildings. It was then a simple matter to trace out the plans of each building before any digging was undertaken. This done, test cuttings were made at the corners and across the chimney foundations. Subsequently, additional cuttings were made within each building to determine whether or not either possessed a cellar. In the course of this work on the smaller of the two structures, numerous refuse pits were located that helped to provide a terminus post quem for its construction. Each of these pits was treated as an individual feature and will be discussed in detail in its proper place.

The Residence

The house, as previously stated, was built on a north-south axis with its west face looking toward College Creek. It looked eastward along the track that led to the road linking Williamsburg with Burwell's Ferry (Kingsmill) on the James River. The residence possessed exterior measurements of 42 ft. 3 in. by 19 ft. 1 in. with a chimney foundation at the south measuring 9 ft. 9 in. by 5 ft. and another, at the north, measuring 9 ft. 11 in. by 4 ft. 11 in. These chimneys had sides of varying thicknesses: 1 ft. 7 in., 1 ft. 9 in., 1 ft. 6 in., 1 ft. 11 in., 2 ft., and 1 ft. 6 in. The east and north foundations of the house itself were a brick and a half (1 ft. 1 in.) in thickness, but the south wall was only one brick thick (9 in.), although the two foundations were bonded into one another at the southeast corner. An even more curious situation was provided by the west wall which extended south from the northwest corner at a thickness of 1 ft. 1 in. and for a distance of 24 ft. 3 in., whereupon it stopped. At this point the three surviving courses were stepped back, indicating that although there was no flush end, the bond had not been intended to continue. At a point 9 in. farther south, one brick and two bats were found continuing on the same line. No further trace of a west wall was found until a point was reached 8 ft. from the southwest corner. Here, stepping down as did the northern section, the foundation continued to the corner, rising to a height of four courses, but only one brick in thickness.[107] Neither the break in the west foundation nor the curious variation in the thickness of the foundations has been explained.

It was suspected that the building might have possessed a porch chamber extending to the west, but no westerly projecting foundations abutted against the stepped ends of the west wall. The presence of the west windbreak made any further excavation in that direction impossible, and it could be argued that a porch chamber might not have had foundations as deep as those of the house proper. If this were so, then it is conceivable that they were dismantled along with the rest of the building in the mid-18th century and that any remaining traces have been destroyed by the bulldozing.

A single fragment of a polychrome Bristol delftware charger, with nails and window-glass fragments, was found in the builder's trench at the southern extremity of the northern section of the west foundation (deposit T.N. 27).[108] The sherd is attributed to the period about 1680-1700, and it is the only clue as to the construction date of the residence. In loose fill inside the foundation in the same general area as the above find were located part of a lead-glass tumbler and the front of an iron padlock. The tumbler fragment could not date before the first quarter of the 18th century, and might be later.

Two test cuttings were made inside the building in the hope of locating a cellar, but none was found. However, a neck of a wine bottle dating no earlier than about 1740 was discovered amid the debris of the house (T.N. 28). It should be noted that this debris showed no indication of burning.