Re-interpretation

The Museum’s period of interpretation is 1820 to 1827, which is the era when we have the most evidence of early residents in the home. The documentary cornerstones are two inventories – one taken at the time of Isaiah Davenport’s death and the other taken at the sale of his estate. The seven year period spans the time when the house was first listed on the tax rolls until the time of the builder’s death.

Scholarship determined the interior rooms’ appearance. In 1994 Ellen Roger wrote a furnishings plan suggesting how the rooms would have looked in the 1820s and Susan Mason Mays wrote a biography of the house’s builder Isaiah Davenport compiling the documentary evidence of his life in Savannah. With these two research tools, Page Talbott facilitated the period accurate re-restoration of the Davenport House Museum in the early 2000s. Her job was to synthesize the scholarship and provide a selection of correct finishes and textiles for the Davenport House Restoration Committee to chose for the house.

See a transcription of the estate inventory

Craftsmen, Scholars, and Vendors Playing a Role in the Re-restoration and Re-interpretation of the Davenport House Museum:

Adelphia Paper Hangings, Milford, New York
Bob Christian Decorative Arts, Savannah, GA
Sara B. Chase, Preservation Consultant, Lexington, MA
Chris Phillips, Savannah, GA
Culver Rugs, Savannah, GA
Devenco, Decatur, GA
David Flaharty, Sculptor, Green Lane, PA
Malcolm Robson, Robson Worldwide Graining, Ltd., Lorton, VA
Susan Mason Mays, Scholar, Macon, GA
Polar Air, Savannah, GA
Jeff McDonald, Historic Decoration & Restoration, Savannah, GA
Preservation Plastering, Putney, VT
Ellen H. Rogers, St. Simons Island, GA
Savannah Restoration, Inc.
Surber and Barber Architects, Atlanta, GA
Page Talbott, Scholar, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Unicon, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Frank S. Welsh Company, Architectural Coatings Consultant, Bryn Mawr, PA
Jesse Coopersmith, Alan Coopersmith Wallpaper, LLC, Charleston, SC
Chuck Heydinger, Frank Furniture Studios, Savannah, GA
Northeast Document Conservation Center, Andover, MA