The Burgwin-Wright Way

A Room With A View

Welcome back!

First, I must apologize and say that I will not be able to make the candlelight tour at the Burgwin-Wright House this coming Friday. However, I will definitely attend the following candlelight tour on Friday April 3 at 9:00 p.m.

Secondly, I thought I would dedicate today’s post to my favorite room in the house: the dining room.  To be clear, the Burgwin-Wright House in its entirety is a beautifully restored historic house.  Each room has something unique to offer in both history and aesthetic beauty. But the dining room is my favorite for a few reasons with the principal being that it is a bright and vibrant yellow.

When I went on my first tour of the Burgwin-Wright House I was immediately taken by the dining room’s warmth. The room itself feels happy, with the canary yellow walls brightened even further by the natural light streaming through the room’s windows.  Some might think that the yellow walls of the dining room cannot possibly be historically accurate, but this is not the case. Paint analysis has proven that the color of the walls that you see today is the original color of the room when John Burgwin was master of this house. As a matter-of-fact, there are yellow rooms at both Monticello and Mt. Vernon.

For John Burgwin, the dining room was a space for entertainment as well as for displaying his wealth and assets.  In order to achieve this, John Burgwin built his dining room on the second floor of his house-not the first.  Today this might seem like an impractical idea, but in the colonial era this floor plan was quite common in port cities.

As it turns out, Market Street has never been quiet. In fact, it was just as boisterous and noisy in John Burgwin’s time as it is today due to the market and vendors in the streets.  One differentiating factor, however, is smell.  In the Colonial Era it was quite common to find all manner of waste from humans and animals in the roads creating a nasty and lasting stench.  On the second floor, with a fresh breeze and higher elevation, Burgwin could avoid the sights and smells of Market Street.

In addition, as many Wilmington residents will attest to, it gets quite hot and muggy in the summer. And since John Burgwin primarily utilized this property as a summer home, by placing his main room for dining and entertaining on the second floor, he could open the windows to let in the breeze off the Cape Fear River to cool the room and avoid the pesky mosquitos while still minimizing the interference of Market Street when he was entertaining guests. 

Lastly, the placement of the dining room was also strategic because it faces the West so that the room could capitalize on the lasting natural light from the summer sun and afford stunning views of the sunset on the Cape Fear River.  Burgwin also wanted his guests to take in the view of his property and assets as well.  For instance, if he were entertaining a future business partner, he could impress them with his wealth and success by pointing out his warehouses and ships.

As a twenty-first century young woman, I will admit I was, and still am, impressed by that room.  My only complaint is that you can no longer see the Cape Fear River from the windows because of the modern high-rise buildings that obstruct the view.  Regardless, the dining room is absolutely beautiful and the warm yellow walls are a reminder to me that the men and women of the Colonial Era were not as stingy as many stereotypes make them out to be.

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Alex