Ellwood renovations continue

Ellwood, the circa 1790 house which found itself surrounded during the Battle of the Wilderness, is in the midst of a three-phase renovation as the annual Taming of the Wilderness event gears up this weekend.
Ellwood is located in the western portion of the Wilderness Battlefield and, according to the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, is significant to the nation because of the role it played during the Civil War. In 1863, the house served as a confederate hospital for six months following the Battle of Chancellorsville and in 1964, it served as a headquarters for union general Gouverneur K. Warren. Ellwood is also the home to the amputated arm of General Stonewall Jackson.
Once a privately owned home, Ellwood was opened to the public in 1998 as the result of a partnership between the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (FSNMP) and the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield. Though the building was structurally repaired by the FSNMP and the exterior was returned to its Civil War appearance, the interior remained in poor condition. The Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, along with help from two different architects educated in historical renovation, constructed a plan for renovation.
"It's a three-phase restoration," Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield Vice President and Ellwood Chair, Carolyn Elstner, said. "Phase I is a renovation of the parlor, entry hall and north room. Phase II is a restoration of the breezeway, west room and the first and second floor stair halls. Phase III is a restoration of the four bedrooms on the second floor."
To fund the project, the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield is raising money. So far, the group has raised more than $330,000 to be used for Phases I and II, which according to Elstner, are complete. The group is now focusing on Phase III.
"The first two phases are complete and permanent exhibits will go into those areas during the spring," she said. "We are now raising money to do the third phase. We need about $125,000 for completion."
The permanent exhibits are being funded through a grant from the national park service, which matches the funds raised. Once the exhibits are in, the family room will feature a history of the families that once resided in the home and one of the rooms will be a Wilderness room, focusing on the Battle of the Wilderness.
In addition to the interior renovation, a landscape design is also in progress that will restore the grounds to their Civil War appearance.
"I think there will be some new things and some things, like the garden, will remain," Elstner said.
Last year, more than 4,200 visitors toured Ellwood and Elstner predicts around that same amount have, or will, visit this year before the home closes to visitors the last weekend in October for winter. It will reopen the first week of May.
Hundreds of visitors will also flock to Ellwood this Sunday, Sept. 27, for the third annual Taming of the Wilderness. The event, which is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will depict life in the 1790s.
"Taming of the Wilderness is a wonderful event that focuses on the early history of Ellwood, construction, weaving and cooking of the times," Elstner said. "Visitors will have the opportunity to focus on the wonderful history of the house."
Visitors will get an in-depth look into frontiersmen life, learning how the home was built, cooking, clothing styles and basket weaving. Also, kids and their parents will be able to see and play some of the games that families of the early 18th and 19th century would have played.
"The great thing about this event is that the people who come to do it love what they're doing," Elstner said. "As soon as one is done, they want to know the date of the next one."
With the exception of Taming of the Wilderness, Ellwood is open to visitors on weekends and holidays from the first weekend in May to the last weekend in October. It also open Fridays and Mondays from mid-June to mid-August.