The Berkeley Plantation

In his book Architecture in the United States, Dell Upton proposes there are two themes in American architecture: The classical, which is “regular, ordered, modular, symmetrical, balanced,” and the picturesque, which is “less obviously ordered, asymmetrical, less obviously unified, often accretive.” Upton’s views echo those of E. K. Rossiter and F. A. Wright, who wrote in their 19th century guide to house painting “There are strictly speaking but two great styles of architecture, the underlying principals of which are based upon construction. One is the classical style, based upon the lintel as its chief constructive feature, and the other the medieval Gothic in which the arch is used to span openings.” Several of my posts have focused on the picturesque (see my posts below on the Cummings house and the LeDuc). In this post I will venture far from the frozen tundra of my native Minnesota and examine a wonderful example of the Neo-Classical Georgian style in tidewater Virginia.


During the 17th and 18th centuries younger sons of English peers and less prominent gentry families found it increasingly difficult to establish themselves financially and socially. Primogeniture favored the oldest sons, who were able to inherit titles and estates, leaving second and third sons with little aside from land grants in the American Colonies. Many royalists also felt threatened during the English Civil War and Interregnum, leading some to emigrate to the colonies where they sought to create a new, landed aristocracy in the wilderness.

An early example of this aristocratic migration to the New World is Berkeley Plantation. Berkeley was founded in 1619 on the north bank of the James River about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, the first permanent, English settlement in colonial America. The estate was acquired by Benjamin Harrison III in 1691 and this mansion built in 1726 by Benjamin Harrison IV. Later inhabitants of the estate included Benjamin Harrison V, a governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, both of whom would become president.

Constructed with bricks fired on the plantation, the building was designed in the Georgian Style. The Georgian Style reflects its classical heritage, where symmetry and order are the rule. The front of the house is perfectly balanced and centers on a pedimented, 8-panel front door (sadly obscured by an ugly, steel storm door). The bricks are patterned in the Flemish bond, where courses are composed of alternating headers and stretchers. Brick was favored in the Middle Colonies and the Flemish bond was characteristic of Georgian style.


The cornice features heavy molding and dentils, which are more prominent than those found on the more refined Federal Style homes of the early 1800s. Try to ignore the ugly, aluminum storm window!


The gable end also shows the characteristic classical pediment with heavy, projecting molding and dentils. Also common on grand Georgian homes in the Middle Colonies are paired interior chimneys.


Berkeley Plantation is open daily for tours during the summer and is located at 12602 Harrison Landing Road, Charles City VA 23030, which is just off of Route 5 between Richmond and Williamsburg, VA.

Interest Rates

Rates remain very attractive, but for how long?


"IT AIN'T OVER TIL IT'S OVER." Yogi Berra. And whether you find those words deeply wise or simply puzzling...The Fed has told us repeatedly that their massive purchasing program of Mortgage Backed Securities is just about over - and this translates to home loan rates rising in the near future.

As you can see in the chart below, the amounts of Mortgage Backed Securities the Fed is purchasing are slowly dwindling, as the program is set to wrap up by March 31st, and are clearly trying to ration out the remaining portion. Last week, the Fed purchased $11 Billion in Mortgage Backed Securities, which leaves them with $66 Billion to spend out of their original $1.25 Trillion allotment. So about 95% of the total has already been spent and has purchased about 3 out of every 4 home loans during the past year. When such a large buyer leaves the market, it is very likely that prices will worsen.

This is very important because as the Fed has less money to last through the remaining months of the program, their ability to keep home loan rates low via their purchasing power will wane. And those who can take advantage of currently low home loan rates do not wait, as the clock on these historically low rates is ticking.

Also last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke provided a speech on a number of topics, perhaps the most important of these being switching the Fed's benchmark from the commonly watched and monitored Fed Funds Rate, to a new benchmark of "interest paid on excess reserves". Banks are required to keep money on reserve with the Fed and may, from time to time, have an excess in those reserves, which the Fed can pay interest on. Since the Fed Funds Rate is only a "target rate", banks can still lend money to other bank overnight at their own negotiated rate. Sometimes near the end of the trading day, banks have been lending their excess reserves out overnight for a rate that differs from the Fed Funds Rate, but is higher than interest on those reserves from The Fed. This undermines the Fed's ability to set a reliable benchmark.

The Fed wants to fix this by using the amount of interest they pay as the new benchmark, since the Fed has total control of this rate, which should be right at or just under the Fed Funds Rate.

There is one major take-away from this discussion - it appears that the Fed is getting their ducks in a row as they prepare to push interest rates higher. And when they do increase rates, the Fed does not want any obstacles that may undermine their plan.

New Bern Home Sales to date 2010

Home sales in all of Craven County to date

2010=62
2009=55

Home sales to date are tracking along about 12% higher than last year so than last year. This is good news and we will moniter this closely for the remainder of the year and keep you informed.

Existing inventory is a little higher than at the same time last year and we do not know why that is the case but don't feel it is a problem at this time.

Stay warm and we will update you again next week