Construction
Henry Howard hired skilled craftsmen to work on the house. In fact, 40 carpenters, brick masons, and plumbers lived in tents at the site of the construction while doing their work. They were paid $40 a month, and provided with three meals a day and laundry service. By June of 1858, Randolph contracted with Timothy Joyce for $3,800 to provide other carpentry work necessary for the house. A skilled mason, Newton Richards, was hired to furnish two huge flights of granite steps for the front of the home.
White lead was used as a waterproofing agent, set in the joints of the gallery floors that sloped down so that rain and wash water would drain quickly. The ground floor of the mansion is concrete, and the walls, made of brick, are 14 inches thick. Cypress was used as the framing lumber and on the floors and walls of the upper floors. The interior walls are finished in plaster.
Among the most beautiful aspects of the Randolphs' castle are the extraordinary plaster frieze works on the second and third floors. The frieze work was crafted by Jeremiah Supple, a young, gifted Irishman. Supple, who was paid $1,901 for his work, lined the ceilings with meticulously hand carved molds, using a different design for each room. He also made all eight of Nottoway's ornate ceiling medallions and friezes in the archways.
A combination of mud, clay, horsehair and Spanish moss was used to make the plaster and enormous amounts of the mixture were used - 4,200 yards of plastering, over 1,500 feet of cornicing, and 140 feet of scroll ornaments in the parlors.
White lead was used as a waterproofing agent, set in the joints of the gallery floors that sloped down so that rain and wash water would drain quickly. The ground floor of the mansion is concrete, and the walls, made of brick, are 14 inches thick. Cypress was used as the framing lumber and on the floors and walls of the upper floors. The interior walls are finished in plaster.
Among the most beautiful aspects of the Randolphs' castle are the extraordinary plaster frieze works on the second and third floors. The frieze work was crafted by Jeremiah Supple, a young, gifted Irishman. Supple, who was paid $1,901 for his work, lined the ceilings with meticulously hand carved molds, using a different design for each room. He also made all eight of Nottoway's ornate ceiling medallions and friezes in the archways.
A combination of mud, clay, horsehair and Spanish moss was used to make the plaster and enormous amounts of the mixture were used - 4,200 yards of plastering, over 1,500 feet of cornicing, and 140 feet of scroll ornaments in the parlors.