University News

Lawn Room Roofs Regain Their Original Profiles

August 23, 2024 • By Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu Matt Kelly, mkelly@virginia.edu

Construction rafters set up in front of building

Scaffolding covers student rooms on the Lawn while Facilities Management workers replace the roofs of a section of the rooms. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

The University of Virginia’s Academic Village is looking more like Thomas Jefferson intended.

This summer, work crews replaced the roof over the student rooms between pavilions VI and VIII, a structure that encapsulates the historic fabric of the original Jeffersonian roofs. When Thomas Jefferson designed UVA’s Academical Village, he envisioned flat roofs over the student rooms, so he designed an angled, serrated roof topped with a flat deck. The water was supposed to run through the deck boards and into the tin-lined valleys of the wood-serrated roofs before running off onto the ground.

Unfortunately, the roofs leaked.

In the 1830s, carpenters installed pitched slate roofs over the Jeffersonian roofs, which stopped the leaks – and enclosed the original roofs, mostly preserving them.

The University is now using modern materials to restore the appearance of the original Jeffersonian roofs, while preserving the historic elements. The first Jeffersonian roofs were made of heart pine; the new roofs will feature a system of plywood sheathing with a rubber membrane.

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“We’re tearing the gable roofs off, back down to the original Jefferson roofs, and then reframing them back in to look more like the original Jefferson roofs,” Blaine Derryberry, the carpentry supervisor on the project, said.

Since the newer flat roofs have a lower profile than the gabled roofs, historic masons will lower the chimneys by a few courses of bricks to make the proportions more to the Jeffersonian period of significance.

Derryberry, who has worked on four Academic Village roof projects, noted that during the roof replacement historic preservationists scoured the original fabric for historical artifacts, which were cataloged and recorded.

“They scanned the whole roof with 3D scanners,” he said. “They sifted through everything before we started to rebuild it. We save every piece – every little nail.”

There were some new discoveries.

Portions of the original Jeffersonian serrated roofs still exist, encapsulated under more modern roofs, above the student rooms on the Lawn. (Contributed photo)

“We found a few places where the shingles on the east of the chimneys were elevated, like they were trying to create water runoff, which we had not seen before,” project manager Amy Moses said. “We also found distinct indentations in the shingles, likely showing sleeper locations (sleeper boards sit directly on top of a serrated roof to provide a flat surface for the decking) for the decking on top. That's the first time we’ve had multiples of those that were very clearly indicated.”

Derryberry, who has been with the University for about 13 years, said he was impressed with the original craftsmen’s work.

“It is interesting to see the original Jefferson fabric and his original design,” he said. “You have to use a little bit of finesse not to disturb the historic parts. Fortunately, we have a quality carpentry crew who remain diligent even in the hot conditions.”

As part of the project, workers are also replacing the Chinese rails that bracket the roofs. According to the 2007 Chinese Rail Investigation, prepared for the University by Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects of Albany, New York, and Williamsburg, Jefferson planned for Chinese rails to be above the student rooms, with alternating field patterns and positioned to coordinate with other architectural features.

“The actual pattern of the lattice within the Chinese rails must be derived from an interpretation of historic drawings and Jefferson’s notes,” according to the Chinese rail investigation report. “The only drawing in Jefferson’s hand showing an elevation of the Chinese rails over the student rooms is his drawing for Albemarle Academy (August 1814) which shows a simple pattern of latticework between the rails. This pattern is the same within each panel, but the pattern alternates by placing an opposite hand lattice at every other panel.”

A framework of low-profile roofs, with modern technology, protects the original roofing system, restoring the original look of the student rooms. (Contributed photo)

Part of Jefferson’s original vision for the Academical Village included wooden rails, which gave way to cast iron railings in the second half of the 19th century and then returned to wood railings in the 1970s.

“We are replacing the 1970s rails,” Moses said, noting the new rails very closely follow the historic design. “If you look at drawings from the era of construction, you can see that the blocks (in the rail design) align with the Tuscan columns in front of the Lawn rooms.”

“The cabinet shop fabricates them all, and they do an outstanding job,” Derryberry said. “They fabricate them, and we install them where the original Jefferson rails were, based on the ghost marks,” signs from earlier construction that indicate where the original rails were.