chairs and piecrust tables grace the parlor. From the hall comes the
vibrating tick-tock of a fine old clock. Logs blaze cheerfully in open
fireplaces, the flames reflected in old and polished silver. The hall
window frames Catherine Brown's garden, which is divided into three
sections, one shut off from the other by wall or fence, making private
living areas of each. Old trees, brick walks, ivy and flowering shrubs
add their attractions. A tall brick smokehouse stands sentinel, all that
remains of a number of outbuildings which clustered, village fashion,
about the dwelling.

[Illustration: Dr. William Brown. From a miniature.

(_Courtesy Mrs. Bessie Wilmarth Gahn_)]

[Illustration]

Chapter 9

The Peruke Shop

[405 Prince Street. Owners: The Moore Family.]

This house is completely surprising. Many years ago the owners put on a
new pressed-brick front and changed the sash from the usual small lights
to two single lights of large dimensions. The transition from this 1890
front to an eighteenth century interior in a perfect state of
preservation, produces upon one crossing the threshold the sensation of
walking straight through the looking glass. And whither does the looking
glass lead? Right into the parlors of Mr. William Sewell!

The stairway rises on the far side of a fine arch in the entrance hall.
Halfway up, it becomes obscured from view, leaving one gazing at a
paneled ceiling, as it makes an abrupt about-face. The rooms on the
second floor are quaint. Low-pitched, sloping ceilings, off-center
mantels with odd panels and chimney closets and six-paneled doors with
H&L hinges, are amusing as well as charming.

Two parlors on the ground floor, opening off the hall, are formal and
elegant. Fine paneled chimney breasts dominate these rooms. Dentils and
fret trim cornices and mantels. Chair rails, six-panel doors, wide board
pine floors, and double doors opening flat against the walls, making the
two rooms into one, are found here. In the front room the interesting
feature is a Franklin stove set in the fireplace--quite the last word in
comfort in the 1780s.

On July 14, 1749 the Reverend John Moncure bought lot No. 61 for L5
_9s._ On March 28, 1752, the deed for this property was filed at Fairfax
Court House and described as lot No. 61, a half acre of land on Royal
and Prince Streets, as surveyed and platted by John West. Two years
later, June 15, 1754, the Reverend John Moncure, along with othe