The Fairfax County Courthouse

by Ross De Witt Netherton; Ruby Waldeck

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 balusters, 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 basement. 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 brass doorknobs.

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 73/4 inches long, while the rear bench is 22 feet long, allowing space 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 balusters 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 passage 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 space 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 brass doorknobs and modern locks set in the doors. The wall between the jury room and balcony is a new stud partition which is finished with white plaster, as is the ceiling. Lighting is provided by 3 recessed lights set in the ceiling and equally spaced. 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 61/2 inches by 4 feet 73/4 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 partition wall immediately below.