Four Mile Tree Plantation Special Event

Inviting All Virginia Conservation Association Members and Friends to Four Mile Tree Plantation

Where: 7741 Swanns Point Rd,  Spring Grove, VA 23881 (Surry County)

When:  Saturday Afternoon, May 23, 2026; Tour at 1:00PM

Please RSVP to Jenna@chrismillsconservation.com by May 20th. 

On Saturday, May 23, Christopher Mills Conservation Services is inviting members of the VCA  to a private and limited site visit at Four Mile Tree Plantation as the firm concludes a major conservation and reconstruction effort focused on the house’s important 1830s decorative finishes.

Four Mile Tree, a plantation house constructed in 1744 beside the James River, occupies a landscape connected to the earliest colonial settlement of Virginia and the wider history of Jamestown. Today, the house stands as a unique example within this early Virginia context and as a significant illustration of changing architectural and decorative styles from the colonial to antebellum period.

Since January 2023, Christopher Mills Conservation Services has led a sustained effort to recover, conserve, and selectively reconstruct the house’s mid-nineteenth-century decorative campaign, with particular focus on its extraordinary woodgrained interiors. Original material was preserved wherever possible through extensive conservation, and where earlier interventions made recovery impossible, finishes were reconstructed with close fidelity to the original work.

All of the painted finishes were reconstructed on the basis of the paint and media analysis of Susan Buck, whose work was instrumental in identifying the finishes, the periods to which they belonged, and the materials used in their faithful reproduction.

The project was undertaken by Christopher Mills Conservation Services, led by Christopher Mills, with assistance from Jenna Hershberger, Bettina Pamplona, Brad Stewart, and contributions from Christopher Shelton, furniture and architectural conservator, in Boston, Massachusetts. The restoration was guided by the Historic Structure Report prepared by Mark Wenger and Willie Graham, with Willie Graham serving as a principal consultant throughout the work.

Christopher Mills Conservation Services is inviting VCA members to this May 23 event along with a small group of other colleagues and institutions with a serious interest in accurate period reconstruction and the preservation of important historic interiors. Because Four Mile Tree is privately owned and not generally open for public viewing, this will be a rare opportunity to see the work before the house closes. 

At 1 o’clock Jenna Hershberger will be conducting a tour describing the home’s history and the conservation work there, followed by a chance for you to wander around the house. Light refreshments will be provided. Chris, Jenna and the other contributors to the project will be honored if you are able to attend.