Each wing has one dormer centered in the front and two on the rear sides of the roof. The center section of the house has three dormers on the front side of the roof. All dormers have a single window, consisting of 6-over-6 lights, set vertically in the front face. All dormers have beaded ship-lap siding laid parallel to the pitched roof. This latter feature appears to be a change made in 1942 since photographs of the house in 1885 and 1936 show the siding on the dormers laid parallel to the ground.
Enclosures. A post and rail fence stands at the edge of the front lawn and, together with a line of hemlocks growing immediately inside the fence, forms a screen between the house and the entrance road leading in from the Little River Turnpike. In the rear, a semicircular screen of boxwood frames the lawn.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION—INTERIOR.
Central Block. The central block of the house, comprising the portion which was built first (possibly as early as 1760), is laid out on the traditional pattern used by many colonial Virginia homes—a central hallway with one or two rooms on each side, with chimneys at each end serving fireplaces in each room. In the case of Green Spring Farm, a narrow (4-foot 6-inch-wide) central hallway runs straight through from the front door to an opposing rear door. Floor boards are of random width (5 to 6 inches), and walls are paneled 3 feet 6 inches up from the floor, with wallpaper above. Doorways open off the central hallway into a library (east side) and a dining room (west side).
Prior to 1942, the rear portion of the center hallway contained stairways to the second floor and to the basement, while still allowing access to the rear door. In 1942, however, the stairway to the basement was shifted to the west (new kitchen) wing, which was built at that time; and the stairway to the second floor was shifted into the library.[91]
In the library, at the rear of the room a narrow (2-foot 6-inch-wide) stairway rises from the corner nearest the hallway to the second floor hallway above (figure 13). This stairway extends over the hall doorway and, together with a panel-and-spindle partition, forms a covered entryway into the room. A small closet utilizes the space underneath the stairs.
The present library is a designed room, created in 1942 by Walter Macomber. The design utilizes the full width of the house and thus replaces two rooms (approximately 12 by 12 feet) which originally had comprised the first area east of the central hallway. This original room design had had a fireplace in each of these two rooms, and in 1942 both were replaced. The one serving the rear room was taken out entirely as the doorway into the living room wing was cut through at that point. The one in the former front room was replaced by another fireplace, specially designed by Mr. Macomber, and built of materials from a late eighteenth century tavern near Peace Cross, Maryland.[92]
Built into the east wall of the library on each side of the fireplace are identical cabinets, the lower parts of which are enclosed and the upper parts are open shelves. The overmantel area is wallpapered, as are the portions of the room’s wall occupied by the window facing the front yard and the wall between the library and central hallway. Open shelving for books occupies part of this latter wall, to a height of eight feet.
The entire room has a cornice molding of stained wood, matching the paneling used for the stairs, the fireplace, and the built-in cabinets flanking the fireplace. 45 Across the central hallway, the present dining room was designed and created in 1942. As in the case of the library, brick interior walls separating two smaller rooms (approximately 12 by 12 feet) were removed to allow the dining room to utilize the full width (25 feet) of the house. The fireplace serving the rear of the original rooms was replaced by a doorway into the new kitchen wing through a butler’s pantry. The fireplace serving the front of the original rooms was retained in the present dining room. Beside this fireplace and extending to the front wall is a butterfly cupboard specially designed for that location. Chair rail, baseboard, and door trim in the room are thought to be original; but the ceiling cornice was added in 1942 and consists of double-ogee design over beaded plasterboard which is typical of the period of the house.[93] A cupboard by the doorway to the butler’s pantry is of modern design and was installed as an added convenience in the dining room.