Conservator’s First Impressions

gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com

1 year ago

Susan Buck is one of the finest paint conservators in America and England. A native of New England, she currently resides in Willamsburg. Together with her now-deceased husband Ed Chappell, who was the Director of Architectural and Archaeological Research for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, she did marvelous detective work. In my book, Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and Its People, she recounts how her paint analysis revealed the history of Drayton Hall’s interior appearance over the years.

GWM: What did you think when you first saw Drayton Hall?

Susan Buck: While I’d seen pictures, I’d never been to Drayton Hall. When I first saw it, it was a beautiful, clear day with a blue sky. Driving down the entrance drive, we were right on axis. The doors were open, front and back, so we could see through the building to the other side and glimpse the Ashley River. It was so remarkable. I was coming from New England, where buildings are so very different.

Essential to Drayton Hall’s design was to permit ventilation to cool the building in the summer, which was not such an issue in traditional New England buildings. Just to be able to see Drayton Hall in that form for the first time was stunning.

I thought it was the most remarkable survivor! I’d never seen a building that had no plumbing and only minimal electricity or one where the woodwork was almost completely intact.

I thought it the most magical place.

Drayton Hall – Grand Stair Hall – credit Willie Graham

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – George W. McDaniel, Ph.D., is President of McDaniel Consulting, LLC, a strategy firm that helps organizations use history to build bridges within itself and to its broader constituents. The company’s tag line, “Building Bridges Through History,” is grounded in McDaniel’s personal beliefs and his experience. Rather than using history to divide us, he strives to help organizations use history, especially local history, to enhance cross-cultural understanding. Dr. McDaniel led volunteer efforts with Emanuel AME Church and historical organizations in Charleston to use historic preservation to enhance racial reconciliation and healing. McDaniel is also the Executive Director Emeritus of Drayton Hall, a historic site in Charleston, SC, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He retired from Drayton Hall in 2015 after 25 years of distinguished service.

A frequent writer, speaker, and facilitator about such issues, he can be reached at gmcdaniel4444@gmail.com or through his website www.mcdanielconsulting.net.

All images courtesy of the author unless otherwise noted.