THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601090102
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
When you think of the Francis Land House, you think of colonial times in old Princess Anne County, but the historic house has been important in many different ways to many generations in Virginia Beach.
One of those ways that many long-time residents will remember is the time in the 1950s, '60s and early '70s when the house was the home of the Rose Hall Dress Shop for the Ladies and Their Daughters.
``Obviously the house and property has numerous eras that may reflect our history. It was a dairy farm before the dress shop,'' said Mark Reed, Francis Land House administrator.
``But the thing about Rose Hall is when people come to visit the Francis Land House today, that's what they remember,'' he went on. ``It's obviously an important entity to some people and they seem to remember it fondly.''
Rose Hall, an upscale dress shop, was far more important to residents then than it would be now. There weren't many shops at the Beach and there was no expressway to take a shopper quickly to Norfolk.
To find out more about the Rose Hall era of the Francis Land House, Melissa Colburn, a senior history major at Salem College in Winston-Salem, N.C., is serving an internship at the historic house in January. She will be researching the years when the dress shop was in the house and owner Colin Studds and his family lived on the second floor.
Colburn wants to interview anyone who was involved or remembers the renovations that were made to the Francis Land House to accommodate the dress shop. What she turns up could be important to many eras of Land House history because some major alterations to the house took place at the time. She may discover something of archaeological value, Reed said.
``As far as we know, they excavated the basement to provide head room,'' Reed said, ``and then paved over the basement floor.''
Colburn also wants to interview folks who worked at Rose Hall and remember what it was like. She would like to talk to customers with fond memories. There also may be people out there with items from the shop, such as dresses or accessories with the Rose Hall label or maybe some promotional items.
``We have a few of these things and we're looking for more,'' Reed said.
He picked up a bright blue Rose Hall shopping bag, a business card and a couple of matchbooks. Reed is sure that other items from Rose Hall are in the area too because when the shop closed, everything was sold, including antiques, office equipment and fixtures like show cases, even the rose bushes outside.
``We are not necessarily soliciting donations,''' he explained. ``It's more to identify them to learn more about what the shop was like and to find out if they might be loaned to us for an exhibit.''
Reed expects the immediate result of Colburn's work this January will be a special exhibit on Rose Hall at the Francis Land House this summer.
``We have enough information to pique our interest,'' Reed said. ``But not enough to provide a good exhibit.''
There is other information about the Rose Hall era Colburn wants to research, too. For example, Reed has been told there was a kennel on the property where the Studds family raised whippets. He also has heard there was some sort of a motor cross track on the property.
``We want to know about the ancillary things that occurred here,'' Reed said.
And this is where you come in. Do you remember the Rose Hall Dress Shop? Do you have any mementos? Did you help with the renovations of the historic house in the 1950s? Was there a kennel full of whippets there? What about a race track?
Melissa Colburn is waiting to hear from you. Call her at the Francis Land House, 431-4000. She'll be there Monday through Friday in January and she's counting on you to keep her busy.
``We want to get a good start while she's here,'' Reed said, ``and then we'll follow up after she's gone.''
P.S. ``SLAVES: THEY HAD A DREAM, TOO'' is the topic of a program at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Francis Land House. The program, presented by the Department of African American Interpretation and Presentations for Colonial Williamsburg, will consist of music, dialogue and story telling. Admission is $5 for adults and $2.50 for students, 6 to 18. Call 431-4000. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater history and traditions? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Melissa Colburn, a senior history major at Salem College in
Winston-Salem, N.C., is serving an internship at Francis Land House,
once a home to the Rose Hall dress shop. Among the mementos of the
era are the shopping bag she holds and a matchbook.
by CNB